By Jatin Gundara

I’ve always been intrigued – moreso in the past few years – by games developed by smaller studios. There’s no doubting the allure of a huge AAA title; some of my favorites in the last year are nothing other than certified blockbusters like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom. However, games with fewer employees, namely without a development team of hundreds, produce some of the most compelling offerings. That’s perhaps due to the fact that their design process is so straightforward and cohesive. EvilVEvil by Toadman Interactive successfully exemplifies how good games can come from a studio of any size.

The most integral part of this vampire-oriented shooter’s success is in its fluid gameplay. Movement is key, and the developers do plenty to allow the player to maneuver effectively. Unique movement abilities for each of three playable characters (a dash, leap forward, and teleport), provide a varied and exciting experience each time a new mission is started.  Another crucial part of the gameplay is the “feed” mechanic, which allows the player to suck the blood of an enemy to recover health (you play as a vampire). 

While the combination of these mechanics allowed for balanced gameplay, there are tweaks to the current system which could take EvilVEvil to the next level. For example, a lot of FPS games (one I’ve played being called Ultrakill) employ a slide feature to allow for more movement options for the player, something which, while not essential, could improve the game. Another aspect that could be improved on is feeding. While it may be an intuitive (and thematically appropriate) way to regain health, it is also the only way in the entire game. EvilVEvil would definitely benefit from other ways to gain health, to at least partially supplement the feed mechanic.

While its movement capabilities are certainly nuanced, the combat feels “spammy” and almost “point and hold” rather than requiring skill, making the game feel easy at times. Viktor, with his powerful shotgun, is the exception to this rule. The shotgun hits hard but has limited ammo and a tight bullet spread, forcing the player to be more accurate and careful with their shots. Viktor’s mechanics force him to be more close range and hands on, which offers a new challenge as you have to be closer to the horde of enemies. So using melee attacks is a more important part of his skillset than of any other characters. 

I felt that more melee attack options could have been useful to me. One way this could be implemented is through adding benefits to melee attacks in addition to ranged ones. It would be interesting for melee to also heal you in addition to the feeding mechanic, and it would make sense when it comes to lore: slashing enemies up would make them bleed onto you, giving you more power.

While Viktor does introduce a new play-style, I would like to see more completely unique characters added in the future. One of my main problems with co-op in this game is that it doesn’t feel like you are working as a team, but rather that all of your allies are on their own, doing their own thing, and you happen to be playing at the same time as each other. 

New characters could fix this issue, however, by adding support roles that offer healing or buffs. This would spice up online play and make the game more rewarding to play with a party, rather than alone. However, when trying to play new characters, I find it somewhat awkward to level up their guns and abilities. This is because in the current gameplay system, in order to use a lower-level character without dying instantly, you must play an earlier portion of the campaign than you are on, and grind that character up to your current level. The earlier episodes, while much easy to grind in, become especially stale after playing them over and over to upgrade characters you don’t play as often. It would be interesting to see a freeplay mode where you defend yourself and your party from incoming waves of enemies (Reminiscent of CoD Zombies). This has the potential to make grinding XP feel more rewarding to obtain without wearing out the main storyline.

As part of playing a smaller title, the two things I always look out for are how graphics and sound design are handled. The dark, cell-shaded surroundings and the design of the undead and other enemies successfully create an eerie atmosphere that’s immersive. Additionally, the game’s graphics are decent and not taxing on a PC. This allows you to play with high graphics settings and still maintain a consistent and decent framerate, even on a medium-end build. In-game sound design also does wonders for the immersiveness of the game, and while the music isn’t the best, it does the job.

Overall, EvilVEvil is a very good first person shooter effort. Toadman Interactive did a commendable job at crafting a vampire shooter that feels new. With some tweaks to its current gameplay system in the future, EvilVEvil will be worth checking out even more than it is now.

Jatin Gundara, who’s based outside Los Angeles, was our Fair Game Writing Challenge winner and is NYVGCC’s West Coast intern.

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