Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick Screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 5.0 Graphics 4.0 Sound 6.0 Value 4.0 Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick  - reviewed by Ryan Raybould Review Date: 01 July 2003 Review Score: 4/10 Not based on an average  Distributed By: THQ

When you buy a new game today, you expect it to at least have the quality of good games created 4 or 5 years ago. It is fair enough to say that this version of Evil Dead (A Fistful of Boomstick) would have struggled to register in the top ten on the PS1. Dated graphics, arcadia controls and a snooze-time storyline make this game an all-time flump.   The storyline is basically that a weird zombie race is created from the sky when a video is broadcasted from a TV station. You, as the player, must then go on a romping rampage to save the world. The further you get in the game smaller missions become available to complete such as finding certain characters. As you can see it is all very riveting.   The game has a few positives, which should be given credit. These are the fact that the main character has two usable weapons at any one time. One of these weapons must be the trusty chainsaw though. Amazingly using the chainsaw never becomes boring and chomping zombies to pieces is fun. The character voices and humor are good and help make the game playable for a little longer.  The controls in the game are appalling. There is no option that I could find to change from inverted controls to normal. This made it incredibly hard to move the character and fight zombies at the same time. Due to the double weapons both were operated from the X and B buttons. This makes fighting very hectic and as much a fight with the controller as with the zombies.  The gameplay becomes very repetitive and time is often wasted just walking around churning up zombies without any assistance on how to move on with the storyline. As I played through the game I also realized there were only about 8 different types of zombies. This increased the sense of receptiveness and shortened the lifespan of the game.  An arcade mode is playable in the game but maps must be unlocked in the normal mode first. There is also a gallery section in the extras menu, which can be unlocked to reveal design artwork and other fancies. There is no multiplayer option, which is a little disappointing because chomping a mate to pieces with a chainsaw, or playing together through the game would have lifted the experience.  The level design in the game is quite dated but suits the period and style in which the game is set. Although it is not very varied and all action is set in streets and side alleyways different cars, parks and buildings make locations slightly less forgettable.

The animated films throughout the game are good quality. The initial clip raised my hopes that this game might be a blast but then the in game graphics brought me back to earth as the datedness of the game shone through. Sadly it reminded me of the Sega Saturn days with the brilliant animated sequences and then the let down of the in game graphics.  

The sound throughout the game is average with varying music tracks, reasonable voices and the odd squeals and screams in the background. There is a lot of humor integrated into the game such as when the player kills a zombie with the chainsaw the character says “I am an artist”. These jokes are good for about half an hour but then the game is best played with the voices off as it becomes repetitive. The special effects sounds are on par with the rest of the soundtrack, things such as the chainsaw sound quite realistic. 

Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick is only recommended to the hardcore fans of the original or to those who are committed to owning every XBox title, otherwise your money is better spent on similar title like Indiana Jones, Brute Force or Buffy which offer a bit more of a storyline and varied action.

Ryan Raybould