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Evil Dead: Fistful of Boomstick |
by Chad
6/20/2003 |
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Bruce Campbell is coming to your living room, and he’s bringing a chainsaw and a shotgun. It’s about freakin’ time. The zombies are overrunning the neighborhood, and there is only one man who can take them down. Ash and his one-liners are here to save the day with Evil Dead: Fistful of Boomstick. The undead better prepare to be mowed down, zombie style.
Let me preface my review with this disclaimer: everything I say is based on the fact that this game is only $20. It’s not every day that you are able to walk into Best Buy and pick up a new release game for twenty bucks. THQ made the right move with this one. There aren’t many people who would fork over $50 for this game, but there are probably plenty out there who would spend $20. This game is not worth $50, but I think it is more than worth it for $20. Hell, it’s worth $20 based on the title alone.
The main draw of Evil Dead: Fistful of Boomstick is Bruce Campbell, cult hero. Bruce reprises his role as Ash, and brings his chainsaw and shotgun to help annihilate the undead. Evil Dead has always been a campy, whimsical experience that does not pretend to be an in-depth social commentary. The game holds true to this premise, but it shouldn’t be hard to figure out that a game with Boomstick in the title is not going to cause hours of internal reflection.
 
Boomstick was developed by VIS, the company behind State of Emergency. Evil Dead uses the same engine and has the same type of feel to the game. However, this game is far superior to State of Emergency. Evil Dead is not a deep game by any means, but it has more depth than State of Emergency could dream of having. It also has this really cool thing that helps games out a lot, it’s called a storyline. Evil Dead actually attempts to tell a story, albeit the story will not be winning any literary prizes in the near future, but it is a story nonetheless.
Evil Dead is a straight action game with a couple of little twists thrown in. You have an assortment of weapons, including your chainsaw, shotgun, pistol, and other periphery objects like shovels. The game is extremely linear with the player basically following a path, finding keys, unlocking doors and moving on. The action is mostly wasting the undead and moving on, which can, and does, become repetitive. It isn’t so bad that you want to chuck the game out of the windows, but it is repetitive. Again, not to compare the game to the other VIS title too much, the game is nowhere near as monotonous and State of Emergency. It’s interesting enough to keep you interested, and the continuous comedy that flows from Bruce Campbell is entertaining.
 
Graphics - 5
The graphics are not spectacular, but they are sufficient for the title. They are reminiscent of a game ported from the PS2, and they offer nothing groundbreaking that pushes the Xbox and nVidia chip to the limits. This is not what Evil Dead is about, though. It is more about the Bruce Campbell, zombie killing experience. There is obviously plenty of room to improve, but remember that this game is only $20 at release. You can’t have everything and only pay $20 to get it.
Sound - 6
The in-game sound of Evil Dead is also neither groundbreaking nor revolutionary, but it does the job. Ash has plenty to say throughout the game, so keep your ears peeled for his one-liners. The soundtrack follows the on-screen action pretty well, creating dramatic audio when approaching a particularly stressful situation. I enjoy soundtracks that try to follow the game, and Evil Dead follows this model. It adds an element of suspense and allows you to lose yourself in the moment.
Playability - 7
The gameplay flows much smoother that State of Emergency, and the array of weapons available ensures you can take down a zombie-mob by many different, creative means. The spell casting adds a different element to the game, which stretches the uniqueness somewhat. The game can be defeated in a relatively short amount of time. The controls are laid out nicely, and you should be able to simply pick the game up and have at it. There is a story mode and an arcade mode available, with story mode obviously providing more depth.
Overall - 7
This game gets a seven because it is well worth $20. It is entertaining enough that you will want to finish the game. Fans of the Evil Dead with be particularly impressed and will enjoy hearing Ash’s voiceover during his eradication of the undead empire. With Evil Dead, Tetris (THQ), and Aquaman from TDK, it seems that at least a few developers are trying to create a wider selection of more affordable titles, which can only benefit us all.
 
Related News, Images & Links
News
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Nuke
Heckler
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Trivia for
Evil Dead, The (1981)
Page 15 of 35
Sam Raimi originally wanted to title this film "Book of the Dead," but producer Irvin Shapiro changed the title to "The Evil Dead" for fear that kids would be turned off seeing a movie with a literary reference.
After completing principal photography in the winter of 1979-1980, most of the actors left the production. However, there was still much of the film to be completed. Most of the second half of the film features Bruce Campbell (I) and various stand-ins (or "shemps") to replace the actors who left.
Filmed in a real-life abandoned cabin.
Creamed corn dyed green was used as zombie guts.
There is a ripped poster of Hills Have Eyes, The (1977) visible. See also: _Hills Have Eyes II, The (1985)_ , Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984).
Director Sam Raimi and star Bruce Campbell (I) were friends from high-school, where they made many super-8 films together. They would often collaborate with Sam´s brother Ted Raimi. Campbell became the "actor" of the group, as "he was the one that girls wanted to look at."
Some of the book translates as "Sam and Rob are the hitchhikers on the road", a reference to Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert playing the two men on the side of the road at the beginning of the film.
The voice of the professor on the tape recording is that of American Movie Classics host Bob Dorian.
Director Trademark: [Sam Raimi] [3-stooges]
Andy Grainger, a friend of Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi, gave them the advice: "Fellas, no matter what you do, keep the blood running down the screen." They included the scene in the finished film where the blood runs down the projector screen as a tribute to him.
As the car is driving up to the cabin at the beginning of the movie, instead of Teresa Seyferth, it´s Sam Raimi you see from "Shelly´s" window.
The cabin used for filming The Evil Dead was located in Morristown, TN. The cabin mysteriously burned down years later.
The cabin did not actually have a cellar. The cellar scenes were filmed in Raimi´s garage. For the scene where the students descend into the cellar, a hole was cut into the floor, a shallow hole was dug, and a ladder was placed into the pit.
On the tape, in which the daemon resurrection passages are read aloud. The words are in a form of Arabic, which actually mean "Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi are the men on the side of the road".
The @!*% opening sequence of the evil moving over the pond, is actually Bruce Campbell pushing Sam Raimi in a dingy whilst he films the shot.
Ash´s last name is never mentioned throughout the entire Evil Dead trilogy, though Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell did toy around with calling him "Ashley J Williams" and "Ash Holt," the latter revealing how Sam viewed the character...
Was one of the @!*% films to be labeled as a "Video Nasty" in England
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doodx
Heckler
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For 20$ IT WILL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL!!!!!!!!
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IP: 67.31.9.147
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VideoNasty
Heckler
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This looks ok, and for 20 bucks, we can´t rely argue. but on the other hand, 20 bucks saved gets me closer to SOF!!!
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Dude wheresmyxbox?
Heckler
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If you are an evil dead fan then buy this game! For $20.00 you can´t beant it. It is fun and has great extras on the disk like a documentary featuring Bruce Campbell on the making of the Evil Dead and the making of the game as well. kick a**!
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agent 00G
Heckler
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for 49.95 (AUS)it is very cheap and it feels like your playin the movie... kinda
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