The first gameplay trailer for Evil Dead: The Game arrived today, giving a peek at Ash Williams’s ongoing struggle to not get kicked in the dick by zombies. It reminds me a bit of Dead By Daylight and Hunt: Showdown, with artifacts to find, monsters to mash, and one player out there on the side of those face-biting Deadites, able to possess them to come deliver a battering. But what if I just want to taunt Ash by possessing household objects?
See? Dead By Showdown, ish. Having to make it into a competitive video game does seem to lose some of the fun of Evil Dead, though. Evil Dead is slapstick as much as it is action and horror. It’s not just decaptiating zombies, it’s also tripping on a rake then helplessly staring horror-struck as a zombie shouts gallons and gallons and gallons and gallons and gallons of ichor into your face. That’s the sort of dickery I’d want if I were leading the baddies.
The devs have previously mentioned being able to possess the environment and even players, though I think that’s more for murder than mischief. But the best possessions in Evil Dead are about antagonising Ash, not killing him. Why punch someone when you can poke them in the eye with their own hand, or hose them with blood?
Inspired by Noel Edmunds and his Cosmic Ordering, I am putting out into the universe a list of other items I would care to possess:
- A mounted deer head on a cabin wall.
- An annoying cuckoo clock which sproings you in the eye when you try to shut it up.
- Your reflection in a mirror, pulling faces and making crude gestures.
- An ornery chair which jerks backwards any time you try to sit down.
- A rogue nailgun jerking itself along with each shot.
- A door which pretends it’ll let you through then slams in your face, especially when you think you’ve outsmarted it.
- A kitchen hand mixer which tangles your tongue.
- A series of increasingly heavy objects balanced precariously on a high shelf.
- Just blood. Lots of blood. No, more blood than you’re thinking. Like, loads.
I’m probably thinking more of a game like Ghost Master, aren’t I. That’s fine. I suppose not every game needs to let me possess a hoover. But it would be nice if they all did.
Evil Dead: The Game is due out later this year, hitting PC, PlayStations, Xboxes, and Switch. It’s coming from Saber Interactive and Boss Team Games. See its website for more.
E3 2021 runs June 12th-15th, with more events around it. Please see our E3 schedule for more, genuinely useful information on the whole virtual shebang, and visit our E3 2021 hub to stay up to date on all the latest news.