The Evil Dead franchise has always been ripe to make the jump to video games. Thankfully, it has done just that on numerous occasions (with varying results).
With the brand new Evil Dead: The Game on the way, it seems only fair to look back at some of the various games that have used the ultimate experience in grueling terror as an excuse to wield a digital chainsaw and boomstick.
We begin our tour of Evil Dead video games way back in 1981
Color me surprised when I found out this existed (and Im not the only one). Produced by UK-based Palace Software, the game adheres to a basic idea of Ash trying to prevent demons from entering the cabin and killing him, as well as killing any demons that are already in the cabin (including the ones that possess Linda, Cheryl, Shelly or Scotty).
As the player defeats demons with shovels, shotguns, axes and Kandarian daggers, Ashs energy level decreases. In order to increase Ashs energy, the player must continually pick up new weapons. Once youve beaten all of the demons, you grab The Book of the Dead when it appears and toss it in the fireplace in order to win.
Theres not much more to say about this one. The graphics and gameplay are what youd expect for the time, although its more of a curiosity for modern gamers. I just wish that I had this in school instead of Reader Rabbit.
Developed by Heavy Iron Studios and published by THQ, Hail to the King looked to cash in on the Survival Horror genre by aping Resident Evil. A lot. While youd think thatd be a good idea, the execution wasnt the greatest.
The story for this one takes place eight years after Army of Darkness. Ash (voiced by Bruce Campbell) is haunted by the memories of what happened, so Jenny takes Ash back to the cabin to help him face his proverbial demons. Unfortunately, his severed hand shows up, hits Play on that tape recorder, and summons the demons again. The demons kidnap Jenny and unleash Evil Ash from the mirror, leaving Good Ash to have to clean up the mess.
Yeah, despite the marriage of Evil Dead and Resident Evil, the game was mediocre, at best. Those RE tank controls, compounded by the relentless spawning of enemies and the cinematic-style of camera, made combat a chore. Sometimes enemies respawn so quickly that you barely have time to recover from defeating one Deadite when another appears right behind you. Youll end up running away more often than not to regroup.
While the graphics for the PlayStation version were adequate, the PC and Dreamcast ports suffered from using the same low-res textures and models. Overall, the derivativeness of the game makes you long to play the games that Hail to the King obviously tries to copy. Seek this one out only if youre an absolute sucker for punishment.
THQ handed development this time to VIS Entertainment Limited (who used the same engine from their earlier game, State of Emergency). The story has Ash (once again voiced by Bruce) being down on his luck at a Dearborn bar during a broadcast of Mysteries of the Occult television show. The show, hosted by journalist and sceptic Trisha Pettywood, is attempting to expose the truth about the Necronomicon with her guest, parapsychologist and best-selling author Professor Alex Eldridge (a former colleague of Professor Raymond Knowby). While discussing the book, Trisha plays that same recording of Knowby reciting the summoning of the Deadites. You know what happens next. Ash suits up again to stop the Deadites.
Ditching Resident Evil in favour of open world combat and exploration, Boomstick is an improvement over the previous game. Ash this time can collect pages from the Necronomicon to cast spells that will either power him up or, if you mess up the combination, smack you to the ground. You also have a variety of weapons to use besides your boomstick and chainsaw.
Unfortunately, the game does start to grind a bit as you get farther along. Enemies will still endlessly respawn and follow you until you kill them, the combat is pretty simplistic (though you do get a lock-on feature), and the game relies on annoying staple of fetch quests. Even if you look past the grinding, it also doesnt help that the game can probably be completed within a day. The graphics, simple even for the time, look worse now. But at least Bruce spouts off more than he ever did last time, which helps in the fun.
The game is still a guilty pleasure for me to this day, even with having to go back to the at least its better than Hail to the King line. Its a budget title, but still good for the short time you take to complete it.
Again, Bruce is back to spit more one-liners in this game, developed by Cranky Pants Games and published by THQ. Regeneration is this time unconnected to the previous games and instead has Ash stuck in a mental hospital after being driven insane after the events of Evil Dead 2 (and also if he didnt get sent back in time). Ashs doctor, Dr. Vladamir Reinhard, somehow acquires Professor Raymond Knowbys diary and the Necronomicon. Reinhard plans to unlock the secrets of the Necronomicon, but as the way things go, he unleashes the Deadites once again, leaving Ash to do his thing.
An improvement in some areas over A Fistful of Boomstick, Regenerations draw this time is Sam, a half-Deadite sidekick (voiced by Ted Raimi). You gain Sam early on and can use him to solve puzzles and battle enemies. Hes also the games comic relief, which despite what you might think, doesnt always play as well as youd hope.
It also doesnt help that Sam falls into the annoying sidekick trope with his voice, leaving you longing for solo play (or hitting mute). And the less said about the times you take control of Sam to complete objectives, the better. Plus, like Boomstick, this can probably be completed within six or seven hours.
Fortunately, its not all bad. The combat is an improvement over Boomstick, which is more gratifying and fluid this time. Plus, you now have infinite ammo, so you can go crazy with your shooting. And the graphics and animation have received more attention this time, with environments looking less like a grade-school project. Plus, Bruce makes up for Sams shortcomings in the humor department with his one-liners.
Like A Fistful of Boomstick before it, Regeneration is a flawed but fun experience that can be enjoyed in a day. These Evil Dead games have never have been masterpieces, but for fans of the series, its another chance to have Bruce swing that chainsaw one more time.
Mobile games are a dime a dozen, and that goes double for the Evil Dead series. This game in particular was developed by Backflip Studios and has the player (as Ash) fighting off Deadites in your typical tower defense game. The Deadites come from a tunnel on the right side of the screen, while you defend your castle (which houses the Necronomicon) on the left. Surprisingly, this makes sense when you think of that moment in the film.
Ash attacks with his boomstick automatically (you annoyingly have to upgrade to get his chainsaw), but you can also perform special attacks that recharge after a time, such as a stronger blast from your boomstick, or using the Necronomicon to devour Deadites. To build up your defenses, youll be snagging bars of iron produced by Smithy, the blacksmith. Enemies also drop bars, along with money. The bars are used to hire units, which range from pitchfork-wielding peons to armor-clad knights. The money will be used to unlock new units and abilities.
The biggest problem with the game is the lack of a real sense of progression, as youll just be mowing down wave after wave of Deadites with no real end goal, meaning the game falls into a repetitive chore. Ash and company also spout the same lines repeatedly, which doesnt help, either. If youve played other tower defense games, this one is really no different.
While not directly related to the Evil Dead series, Ash does make an appearance in the game in a crossover. In Phantom Halls, the player enters a haunted mansion to eliminate the undead terrors that lurk inside. Along the way, you recruit two teammates to help you out, pick up weapons and complete an assigned objective.
Ash was eventually added to the game along with his own mode, where he hunts Evil Ash through a series of unique Evil Dead 2-inspired quests.
Probably the only way to have Ash face off against Leatherface, Freddy, Pinhead, or any of the other iconic modern horror figures. This one-on-one freeware fighting game was unfortunately destined to be slapped with a Cease & Desist right off the bat. Fortunately, it got pretty far in its development before that happened. You can still find the final version of this floating around the net if you look hard enough.
The game plays like a combination of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, while trying to tie in a storyline that, lets be honest, is pure fan fiction gold.
Unlike the films (and television show) that inspired them, the Evil Dead games run the gamut of being mediocre to firmly being guilty pleasure territory. They were never going to win awards. But somehow, like the films themselves, they have their own unique charm to them that keeps fans (and developers) coming back for another round. And frankly, we wouldnt want it any other way. Heres hoping the next game will bring more of that charm.
Addendum: Some readers have pointed out that I missed a couple of iOS games, along with Ashs appearance in Poker Night 2. I was bound to miss a couple of them, but it just goes to show the pull of Ash and Evil Dead as a marketable franchise. Or, I just need to be doing better research. Anyway, thanks guys!
Continue reading here:
Six of the Scariest Clowns in Horror! - Bloody Disgusting
- The 30 best classic horror movies of all time - Entertainment Weekly News - March 16th, 2024
- The 23rd Spring, Is Jeepers Creepers Coming Back To Michigan? - 102.5/104.9 The Block - March 16th, 2024
- Winnie The Pooh Horror Movie Dominates The Razzie Awards - 106.3 The Groove - March 16th, 2024
- This Underrated Blumhouse Horror Movie Is Unlike Any Other Creature Feature - Collider - March 16th, 2024
- 13 Horror Movies Where Everyone Dies by the End - MovieWeb - March 8th, 2024
- Willy Wonka Experience Villain The Unknown Gets Its Own Horror Movie - TMZ - March 8th, 2024
- The 13 Scariest Horror Movies Streaming on Peacock: Alien, Leprechaun, The Exorcist: Believer and More - Syfy - March 8th, 2024
- Every Horror Movie Releasing in March 2024 - MovieWeb - March 8th, 2024
- 10 Scariest Movies That Have Won Oscars - Collider - March 8th, 2024
- The 10 Best New Horror Movies To Watch in March 2024 - Collider - March 8th, 2024
- Horror Movie Based on Viral Willy Wonka Experience Coming Soon - Bloody Disgusting - March 8th, 2024
- Where To Watch Imaginary: Showtimes & Streaming Status - Screen Rant - March 8th, 2024
- Immaculate: Eveything You Need to Know About Sydney Sweeney's Upcoming Horror Movie That Will Give You ... - FandomWire - March 8th, 2024
- The 20 best horror movies on Peacock - Entertainment Weekly News - March 8th, 2024
- Horror Movie Based on the Willy Wonka Experience Villain, The Unknown, Now in the Works - MovieWeb - March 8th, 2024
- Melissa Barrera's Scream 7 Replacement Actually Sounds Better Than Fighting Ghostface Again - Screen Rant - March 8th, 2024
- 'Shaitaan' Movie 2024 Filming Locations: Shooting Spots Of The Horror Flick - TRAVEL + LEISURE INDIA - March 8th, 2024
- The Horror Movie Franchise With the Most Sequels Ever Is One You've Never Heard of - Collider - March 8th, 2024
- Jimmy Fallon asked people to ruin a horror movie by adding a single word to its title - Upworthy - March 8th, 2024
- The Absolute Best Horror Movies on Hulu - CNET - March 8th, 2024
- Willy Wonka Experience creepy character 'The Unknown' handed role in new horror movie - The Mirror - March 8th, 2024
- The Best Sea Monster Movies, Ranked - Screen Rant - February 28th, 2024
- The Borderlands Movie's Scary Behind The Scenes Drama That Has Us Worried - Screen Rant - February 28th, 2024
- Netflix Just Quietly Added the Best Holiday Thriller of the Decade - Inverse - February 28th, 2024
- The 20 best scary movies streaming right now - Entertainment Weekly News - February 19th, 2024
- Best Horror Movies of 2024 Ranked - New Scary Movies to Watch - Rotten Tomatoes - February 19th, 2024
- 'Only Murders in the Building' Adds Molly Shannon to Season 4 Cast - Yahoo Eurosport UK - February 19th, 2024
- Why Lindsay Lohan Refused to Kiss Charlie Sheen in "Scary Movie 5" - Best Life - February 19th, 2024
- 15 Best Scary Movies To Stream - Screen Rant - February 11th, 2024
- Eight Skin-Crawling Scary Films That Don't Have Any Jump Scares In Them - Digg - February 11th, 2024
- David Cronenberg names some of the scariest movies ever - Far Out Magazine - February 11th, 2024
- 12 Horror Movies That Will Give You the Biggest Jump Scares - Collider - February 3rd, 2024
- TAROT's Trailer Brings the Iconic Cards to Life and Things Get Weird - Nerdist - February 3rd, 2024
- Review: Baghead - Is the Movie as Scary as it Looks? - Blazing Minds - February 3rd, 2024
- Natasha Lyonne Says James Woods Hit On Her As A Teenager While Filming Scary Movie 2 - 106.3 The Groove - February 3rd, 2024
- The Witcher's Freya Allan explains the challenges of filming her first horror movie Baghead: "You have to surrender ... - Gamesradar - January 26th, 2024
- The 5 Best Uses of Popcorn in Scary Movies - Dread Central - January 26th, 2024
- 5 Horror Films That Transformed The Genre - Study Finds - January 26th, 2024
- Kristen Stewart Wants to Star in Another Horror Movie in the Future - ComingSoon.net - January 26th, 2024
- Best Home Invasion Movies of All Time, Ranked - MovieWeb - January 26th, 2024
- Presence Review: Steven Soderbergh Tells a Ghost Story from the Ghosts POV. It Is Scary? Not Quite. But the Family Demons Lure You In - Variety - January 26th, 2024
- 55 best horror movies that are actually good and terrifying - Digital Spy - January 18th, 2024
- She is a Real Housewife, was in a scary movie franchise, is pals with Bethenny Frankel, has a Hilton connectio - Daily Mail - January 18th, 2024
- The Scream cast talk about the legacy of Scary Movie - Popverse - January 9th, 2024
- The 20 Best Horror Movies on Netflix: January 2024 - Vulture - January 9th, 2024
- Scream cast reveals their favorite scary movies - Popverse - January 9th, 2024
- Horror fanatics are 'desperate' to watch the first scary movie of the year Night Swim after trailer leaves the - Daily Mail - January 9th, 2024
- 20 Scariest Horror Movies That Are Too Disturbing to Re-Watch - Collider - January 1st, 2024
- Raging Grace review politicised critique of imperialism in horror movie form - The Guardian - January 1st, 2024
- 15 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time, According to Rotten Tomatoes - MovieWeb - January 1st, 2024
- The 19 Best Horror Films of 2023 Best Life - Best Life - January 1st, 2024
- The Best Horror Movies of 2021, Ranked by Tomatometer - Rotten Tomatoes - December 23rd, 2023
- This Is What Takes 'The Descent' From Scary to Terrifying - Collider - December 23rd, 2023
- 15 Best Horror Movies Of 2023 - Screen Rant - December 23rd, 2023
- 25 Best Horror Movies Created in the Last 5 Years - CBR - Comic Book Resources - December 12th, 2023
- 25 horror movies that were based on true stories - Yardbarker - December 12th, 2023
- The 30 best horror movies of all time - Gamesradar - December 12th, 2023
- Scary Movies In Theaters Now (2023/12/06)- Tickets to Movies in Theaters, Broadway Shows, London Theatre & More - Hollywood.com - December 12th, 2023
- What Is the Highest Grossing Horror Movie of All Time? - Collider - December 12th, 2023
- The 27 Best Horror Films of 2023 - MarieClaire.com - December 12th, 2023
- Upcoming horror movies: new scary films coming in 2023 and beyond - Gamesradar - December 12th, 2023
- 20 Best Horror Movies on Max (Formerly HBO Max): Dec. 2023 - Vulture - December 12th, 2023
- Scary Movie (2000) - Plot - IMDb - December 3rd, 2023
- The Best Horror Movies on Netflix - Rotten Tomatoes - October 16th, 2023
- The Best Horror Movies on Prime Video to Watch Right Now - October 16th, 2023
- From Psycho to a new crop of horror movies, the genre has some mommy issues - The Seattle Times - May 13th, 2023
- Months After Hulu Controversy, Mike Tyson Makes Major Move in the World of Cinema - EssentiallySports - April 8th, 2023
- Best Horror Movies of 2023 Ranked - New Scary Movies to Watch - March 31st, 2023
- Three cheers for the Moose: Everybody knows the name of beloved '80s sitcom star and 'Masked Singer' eliminee - Yahoo Entertainment - March 31st, 2023
- The 10 Scariest Horror Movies Ever - Rotten Tomatoes - February 26th, 2023
- Films Turning 10 in 2013: Oz the Great and Poweful The Croods Oblivion Labor ... - Latest Tweet by Pop - LatestLY - January 1st, 2023
- Family of slain Idaho student from Skagit County relieved to hear of suspect's arrest - KPIC News - January 1st, 2023
- The 50 Scariest Movies of All Time - Reader's Digest - December 24th, 2022
- 'Airplane!' and 'Scary Movie' director rips cancel culture in comedy ... - December 24th, 2022
- "I was a side piece and you're a str*pper": Nia Long spills tea about Regina Halls role in The Best Man: The Final Chapters - Sportskeeda - December 24th, 2022
- Mother says scary movie guy wanted to kidnap her child in Spains Castellon area - The Olive Press - December 16th, 2022
- The Daily Show To Replace Trevor Noah with Chelsea Handler, Kal Penn, Al Franken, Sarah Silverman & Leslie Jones - Television - December 8th, 2022
- 'Airplane!' and 'Scary Movie' director rips cancel culture in comedy: 'We don't want to try to educate' - Fox News - November 11th, 2022
- 20 Scary Horror Movies to Watch on HBO Max - Harper's BAZAAR - October 2nd, 2022
- Best scary movies of 2022 to watch for Halloween - Dexerto - October 2nd, 2022
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero