A fan boy's wet dream! The Evil Dead have risen and Ash is Back, Baby!
A console later in life (transitioning from the Playstation to the Xbox), I became eager once again to relive the Evil Dead experience in a video game and waited urgently for "A Fistful of Boomstick" to revive my feelings toward mixing the Evil Dead and video games. Though better than "HTTK", "AFFOBS" seemed rather bland, tasteless, and far fetched from the subject.
2005 came with the announcement of "Regeneration" but this time I was not even interested in pre-ordering, thanks to being disappointed by the first two Evil Dead games. My disappointment also led me to never rent or buy the game at all..... No0t even caring to read user reviews.
September 2009....
The Xbox is an expired system, dusty in the closet, in my Xbox 360 retail box. It has not breathed life in maybe 3 years now. While not necessarily evil, it is definitely dead.
As I venture the Craig's List classifieds searching for a copy of "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Repubic", I come across and ad seeling an Xbox game package. While not wanting t sell SW:KOTOR seperate, I was forced to buy the whole package (Not bad considering $20 for SW:KOTOR, SW: Republic Commando, Jade Empire, GTA Vice CIty, Splinter Cell, ED:R, and PGR 2).
What the hell? I might as well try "Regeneration" now that I have it included in a game package that I bought.... And I am damn glad I did. I only wish my disappointment would not have shunned me away from this one at the time of it's original release.
* The Story *
The story in "Regeneration" is well crafted, taking place immediately after the events of "The Evil Dead 2: Dead Before Dawn" minus the ending / beginning of "Army of Darkness".
The story starts with out superhero Ash starring as an institutionalized crazy, that supposedly butchered his friends in a cabin in the woods and blamed it on evil spirits and demonic possession.
But we quickly find out that for 6 months of talking to Ash, that his psychiatrist has become very interested in possessing the poweres of the evil Necronomicon book. Thus, his powerful experiment leads to unleashing the Evil Dead to roam the earth once more.
But.... as you can guess: Ash is ready to kick ass!
* Gameplay*
The gameplay is simple action / slashing, mostly controlling a chainsaw and shotgun. Later you acquire Sam, a deadite accomplice, that you can use to fight with as well. The fights seem well balanced, not being too easy or too hard.
* The Graphics *
"Regeneration" features the best graphics of all 3 Evil Dead games, though it may look outdated in TODAYS standards. None the less, the graphics are well done.
* The Dialogue *
The dialogue is great if you are truly an Evil Dead fan. Bruce Cambell personally reprises his role as Ash, along with the cheesy but classy on liners that we would all hope for in the Evil Dead series