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…
The Evil Dead – Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum (1981)
Color me surprised when I found out this existed (and I’m 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, Ash’s energy level decreases. In order to increase Ash’s energy, the player must continually pick up new weapons. Once you’ve 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.
There’s not much more to say about this one. The graphics and gameplay are what you’d expect for the time, although it’s more of a curiosity for modern gamers. I just wish that I had this in school instead of Reader Rabbit.
Evil Dead: Hail to the King – Sony PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast (2000), Windows PC (2001)
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 you’d think that’d be a good idea, the execution wasn’t 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. You’ll 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 you’re an absolute sucker for punishment.
Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick – Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox (2003)
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 doesn’t 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 it’s better than Hail to the King” line. It’s a budget title, but still good for the short time you take to complete it.
Evil Dead: Regeneration – Windows PC, Sony PlayStation 2 & Microsoft Xbox (2005)
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 didn’t get sent back in time). Ash’s doctor, Dr. Vladamir Reinhard, somehow acquires Professor Raymond Knowby’s 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, Regeneration‘s 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. He’s also the game’s comic relief, which despite what you might think, doesn’t always play as well as you’d hope.
It also doesn’t 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, it’s 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 Sam’s 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, it’s another chance to have Bruce swing that chainsaw one more time.
Army of Darkness: Defense – Apple iOS, Android (2011)
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, you’ll 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 you’ll 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 doesn’t help, either. If you’ve played other tower defense games, this one is really no different.
Phantom Halls – Windows PC (2017)
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.
Terrordrome: Rise of the Boogeymen – Windows PC (2015)
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, let’s 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 wouldn’t want it any other way. Here’s 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 Ash’s 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!
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