The Evil Within: The Executioner is the third - and probably last - DLC developed by Tango Gameworks for survival horror The Evil Within. If in the first two DLCs, respectively entitled The Assigment and The Consequence, the narrative focused on detective Juli Kidman, in this third episode the narrative register is completely changed, allowing the player to play one of the most difficult bosses encountered during the main adventure: take the butcher's jacket out of the closet and pick up the hammer for the meat then, ready to step into the shoes of the dreaded Keeper.
In STEM, once again
The Evil Within: The Executioner tells of a father looking for his daughter. Not much else is explained, if not the essential details to contextualize the story for those who are already familiar with the universe of The Evil Within: the girl, together with other subjects, is already connected to the STEM, the convoluted machinery able to unite the minds of users throwing them into sick and distressing nightmares. The protagonist then connects himself, pushed by a crazy experiment by the scientists of the Modus agency, who intend to verify whether the elimination by murder of the various subjects within the STEM will allow the girl - who is slowly going crazy - to find their memories thus recovering sanity.
Scientists warn the protagonist that his appearance within the STEM may be different from those in the real world, but that this will be a change to his advantage: this is how the player, once the short introductory video is finished, finds himself inside the Victoriano mansion as the caretaker, a portly butcher armed with a hammer whose head is locked in a safe decorated with barbed wire. Thus begins the adventure in search of the girl, during which we will find ourselves fighting against almost all the intermediate bosses already encountered in the original The Evil Within.
Not just hammered
Despite its considerable size, the Keeper is quite agile: it is in fact possible to shoot, dodge enemy shots, hit them repeatedly and grab them to hurl them away or against one of the countless painful traps scattered around the game world. But it does not end there, because in addition to the brutal hammer, the arsenal of the Keeper also offers traps of barbed wire, dynamite, Molotov cocktails, a bazooka and the inevitable chainsaw, whose presence is essential in any self-respecting splatter. The various weapons, as well as the power ups that allow you to improve the Keeper's physical strength, speed and endurance, are unlocked as the adventure progresses as the various bosses are eliminated. By slaughtering normal enemies, however, you get the coins necessary to purchase the upgrades unlocked at the store, represented as a repulsive safe overflowing with entrails usually placed near a save point. Between one boss and another it will be possible to access rooms where you will be asked to eliminate all the enemies that progressively appear: these rooms can be visited several times and their completion is necessary to earn the credits to be used in the shop: these are a fundamental operation, as the role-playing component of The Executioner, as well as being an important part of the DLC, it is also a fundamental help to be prepared for the increasingly aggressive and powerful boss fights.
Unprecedented visual
The biggest difference from the other DLCs and the original game is the choice of view, only this time in first person: no filters, no characters in sight, simply the revolting game world seen through the eyes of the Keeper. It is a not indifferent stylistic choice, able to return without any filter the brutality of the scenes shown on the screen, where the enemies are literally torn to pieces by the hands of the keeper. It's a real shame that the FPS-style visual brings out all the graphic flaws of The Evil Within which, excluding the usual exaggerated reflections and frightening shadows - which are also used artfully to mask the poverty of some polygonal models - appear in this The Executioner even more pronounced and prevent the player from fully immersing himself in the experience.
[signoff predefined = "Signoff 1 ″ icon =" quote-circled "] In conclusion The Evil Within: The Executioner is a DLC profoundly different from those that preceded it: with these it shares a plot - at least initially - interesting and able to to get the player excited about the story of the protagonist, on this occasion yet another tormented anti-hero. The first-person view, being locked up in the Vittoriano mansion and the portals that open into the walls are very reminiscent of Silent Hill: The Room; pity that the pathos is not the same and that, despite the longevity of about three hours, after a while the game is repetitive and sometimes boring. The Keeper's Charisma will push you to continue to the end credits, also facing the extra challenges to take advantage of the role-playing component present in The Executioner. Too bad, however, that in the final there is no trace of that climax we expected and that, once the last boss is defeated, the game leaves a bit too bitter in the mouth. [/ Signoff]
