Platform: PlayStation 3

Release Date: April 21, 2015

Developer: Tango Gameworks

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Genre: Survival Horror

Nerd Rating: 6/10

Reviewed By: Steroid Gamer 

Notice the pun in this image?

The Evil Within is back with another DLC installment, and the final one concluding Julie Kidman’s story, with The Consequence.  If you had a chance to read my review of the first DLC, The Assignment, then you’ll know that things didn’t turn out so well for detective Kidman…or the player.  The Consequence suffers from some of the same problems that plagued The Assignment DLC but it also improves on a few key areas.

The Consequence is divided up into two sections, chapter 3 and chapter 4.  The first chapter, number 3, is similar to The Assignment with very slow paced gameplay.  Once again players find themselves doing a ton of walking, watching a cutscene, walking more, and then getting a little bit of gameplay.  Luckily, the final chapter dials up not only the gameplay but the action as well.  Kidman is still a weak character to control and can’t take very much damage from enemies, so maintaining stealth is crucial.  Sadly, The Consequence doesn’t allow you to “have your cake and eat it too.”  For instance, chapter 3 is tense, dark, and edgy.   Kidman loses her flashlight and, unfortunately for her, the power is out so everything is covered in darkness.   A new gameplay element is introduced here allowing Kidman to use glow sticks as a source of light.  They work similar to grenades or other projectiles from the main game.  You have an unlimited amount and can throw them in the environment to shed a fade of neon green light to illuminate your surroundings (while your supply is unlimited you can only have three active at a time.  Throwing a fourth glow stick causes the first to “disappear” or dim-out).  When you add in Kidman’s sensitive health meter, dangerous foes, and a dimly lit environment, The Consequence starts off with a bang of creepiness.   The only problem is how slow the first section is.  Aside from navigating around the levels using the glow stick the only thing else you “do” is walk around and watch cutscenes.  I understand that The Consequence was meant to be a story addition DLC, but there is such a heavy lack of anything to actually do that I found myself getting bored early on.

Glow Sticks aren’t just useful for party raids.

Fortunately, once chapter 4 begins things pick up and they pick up fast.  Kidman gets two guns, a handgun and a sawed-off shotgun, and the great shooting mechanics from the main game carry over.  Blasting away at The Evil Within’s grotesque monsters is a pure blast.  It feels great once Kidman gets a hold of these guns as you no longer have to “tip toe” your way around the environment.  While I was thrilled to finally partake in some bullet flying action The Consequence’s gun gameplay isn’t nearly as well done as the main game.  Take the sawed-off shotgun for instance.  It’s only capable of loading one bullet at a time and ammo is very limited.  Keep in mind that you have a stamina meter and Kidman can only run around for so long before tiring out.  As the game gets closer to the end, more enemies are thrown your way.  On one hand, this is awesome and heart pounding that The Consequence brings back one of The Evil Within’s best components, gunplay.  On the other hand, it’s a very “slow” form of gunplay.  With the limited ammo and lack of bullet capacity in your guns and you find yourself doing a lot more running away then you do fighting.  It’s much easier to go in a room blast one shot at an enemy, and then run out of the room and progress forward.  If you choose to stick around you get stuck in an endless game of dodging, reloading, shooting, and more dodging all while managing your stamina meter.  Bottom-line, while chapter 4 brings back some of the main game’s best components it leaves out some of the key ingredients that made it so much fun in the first place.

Ruvik’s overbearing presence taunts you multiple times during Kidman’s story.

The puzzles are more unique and less obvious compared to The Assignment DLC.  Most puzzles required clever thoughts and smart maneuvering as each room was filled with monsters waiting to kill you and chew on your corpse.  Slinking your way around foes while trying to collect, or solve, pieces to the puzzles was a big improvement over The Assignment DLC package.  Kidman also get’s to visit more new locations in The Consequence.  Most of the places you visit are familiar locations, but the environments themselves are new.  For example, you return to Beacon Medical Hospital but you get to explore new areas unique to The Consequence DLC.  There are two boss fights in this DLC and both of them are pretty lame considering this is the finale of Kidman’s journey.  The first boss fight is just a repetitive chore that you’ve already done a dozen times throughout both of the Kidman focused DLC add-ons.  The final boss isn’t much better either.  Mostly, because the key to defeating the boss is something new to the game, and most likely something players will have no idea they were capable of doing.  It’s really the only instance in the whole DLC where you don’t know what to do, but when you finally figure it out you won’t get a sensation of accomplishment.  Instead, you’ll probably just be like “really?  That was even possible? How the hell was I supposed to know that?”

Who the hell is this guy? A question that will NOT be answered.

The story doesn’t do very much either.  If you had a lot of questions after playing The Evil Within or The Assignment then you’re not going to find your answers here.  I was under the impression that the two DLC packs with Detective Kidman were going to fill in the blanks of the story that the main game left behind.  Regrettably, it doesn’t.  The only thing the story does do is shed light on who Kidman really is and how/why she got involved with the whole shebang to start with.  It’s great to get some motives and reasoning behind Kidman’s actions from The Evil Within, but overall both The Consequence and The Assignment bring up more questions and will leave you more confused than you were heading into them.

Poor, Leslie. But can you blame him for having a headache?

The Consequence and The Assignment DLC episodes were split into two parts by publisher Bethesda Softworks and personally I think this was a poor decision.  Separating Kidman’s story into two parts only helps highlight all of the bad things each DLC has.   If it was one larger package I believe gamers would come away with a better overall experience.  That being said, The Consequence is by far a better add-on then The Assignment.  The great gunplay from the main game is back, there is a great eerie vibe in the beginning, and players will get some deserved answers in regards to character Julie Kidman.  At the same time The Consequence is full of missed opportunities and letdowns.  More questions are asked then answered, the boss fights are lame compared to those from the core game, and the first part is filled with tedious boring amounts of walking.  I don’t necessarily want to make an excuse for the DLC, but it is worth noting that The Evil Within’s game director Shinji Mikami did not direct either of the DLC packages.  Instead they were directed by John Johanas.  Can all the blame for this sub-par DLC be put on one person?  I don’t know.  But I do know that The Consequence is an add-on you won’t forget any time soon, and for all the wrong reasons.

Want more Evil Within? Take a look at our full coverage of the main game and DLC packs.

• The Evil Within
• The Assignment DLC
• The Executioner DLC

A Cat Nap sounds like a good idea about now.

Written by Nerd Bacon