MediEvil Review

MediEvil

Release: October 25, 2019
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Other Ocean Interactive
Genre: Action, Adventure, Genres, Platformer, PS4-Categories
PEGI: T
Comments:

 

Comment

I think I only played a demo of MediEvil on the Playstation 1. I don’t think I’ve ever played the full game. So I wasn’t especially excited for the remake for Playstation 4. I did play the demo and thought it was alright. I didn’t expect to review the final game though. Enter Sony Interactive Entertainment Canada, who gave GamesReviews.com a review code for the game. I was picked to review the game and now that I’ve played it…I have some thoughts. Is MediEvil worth picking up this Halloween? Let’s find out!

The story in MediEvil isn’t extremely complex nor is it terribly simple either. Some cool backstory sets our hero off on a journey to stop a supernatural baddy who may or may not be doing all of this so that he can resurrect his dead dog. It depends on how much you trust the narrator/book reader of MediEvil. I don’t know how much of what she says is true or just a joke, but I love her dialogue.

The humor in MediEvil’s world is a perfect relief from the spooky and creepy places that you often visit. MediEvil is a game that pretty much anyone could play, though I suppose you wouldn’t want kids too young to play it. Some of the stuff in the game is pretty spooky! Gamers will love the world of MediEvil.

Don’t let this game fool you though! When you first start the game, you may think that its very easy. Then, quickly, MediEvil becomes brutal.

At first, MediEvil seemed fairly easy. Then the scarecrows appeared, the pumpkins started moving about, and villagers with axes decided the player’s head might make a good soccer ball. At least, we think thats what going on. The game never really says what the villagers are planning to do with those axes other than attack you. Those scarecrows are 100% deadly. MediEvil is not an easy game and you don’t want to see that Game Over screen.

The worst part of MediEvil is that it gives you two (at first) life bottles that’ll bring you back from the dead and after that, game over. No, you won’t have to restart the game like you would in Super Ghouls and Ghosts, however you will have to restart the level where you died and you will have the same health you had right before you died. Back to the very beginning for you, with some extra health challenges on top of it! On smaller levels, this isn’t such a huge deal but when the levels get bigger and there are more puzzles, going back to the beginning of the level, with less health, can be frustrating.

MediEvil could have used some checkpoints. An option to turn on checkpoints would have been handy. Not all 2019 gamers want to play things over and over again until they feel like throwing a controller at the TV screen. Challenge is good but MediEvil can be a little too challenging at times. The only help that MediEvil really gives you is some random health bottles hidden in levels and occasional health springs that eventually dry up. There are also new weapons to unlock as you go. Even with this help, MediEvil is a very challenging game.

Thankfully, the game has pretty good controls and they won’t be why you die. I did think the jumping in the game wasn’t great at times. 3D jumping can be a mixed bag and MediEvil continues the tradition. But combat, running, solving puzzles, and such worked well.

MediEvil is a challenging game, though its world is wonderful to explore. The level design in this game is fantastic. The boss encounters are especially epic. While you die, you will be loving MediEvil’s drool worthy graphics.

MediEvil is pure Halloween goodness for your eyes! Everything from pumpkins, to scarecrows, to ghosts, goblins, monsters of all shapes and sizes appear in this game. And its all so wonderful looking; its basically a Tim Burton cartoon like The Nightmare Before Christmas.

That said, the game did stutter once and slow down; we mention it because it can be very startling in an otherwise amazing frame-rate experiance. The graphics are pretty darn great.

Even better is MediEvil’s music and voice acting. The music in this game just blows me away. It is so perfect. And so is the voice acting! Oh my goodness. The narrator/book voice is especially great but I loved all the voice acting. Yes, even your hero’s mumbled words!

Overall, MediEvil is an excellent game, especially for this spooky month.

MediEvil bleeds Halloween and gives out candy corn to keep you going. If you’re up for a challenging action platformer, this game is an absolute must play for this season. So turn the lights out, turn the volume on your TV up, and buckle in. MediEvil is one heck of a spooky ride!

Thanks to Sony Interactive Entertainment Canada for providing a digital code for this review. MediEvil comes out on October 25, 2019 for the Playstation 4.

Trailer