Evil Dead: Hail to the King

Evil Dead: Hail to the King
Developer(s)Heavy Iron Studios
Publisher(s)THQ
Producer(s)Mark Morris
Designer(s)Matt Coohill
Programmer(s)Kay Cloud
Neil Kaapuni
Artist(s)Ira Gilford
Composer(s)Todd Dennis
Chris Rickwood
Tommy Tallarico
Jack Wall
Platform(s)PlayStation, Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: December 5, 2000 (PS)[2]
  • NA: December 19, 2000 (DC)[1]
  • NA: March 27, 2001 (PC)[3]
  • EU: June 22, 2001
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Evil Dead: Hail to the King is a survival horror video game developed by Heavy Iron Studios and published by THQ. Released for the PlayStation, Dreamcast, and Microsoft Windows, the game acts as a sequel to the 1992 film Army of Darkness. This was the second video game released to be based on the Evil Dead film franchise, following the 1984 title The Evil Dead, and was also the first video game to be developed by Heavy Iron Studios.

Gameplay

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Evil Dead: Hail to the King functions much like a Resident Evil game, containing similar features such as pre-rendered backgrounds and semi-fixed camera angles, as well as limited ammunition and fuel for the chainsaw. The player controls the character by pushing the d-pad or analog stick left or right to rotate the character and then move the character forward or backwards by the pushing the d-pad up or down.

Enemies the player faces include the Deadites, animated skeletons, and possessed "Hellbillies" and Wolverine scouts.

Plot

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The game takes place eight years after the events of Army of Darkness. After regaining his job at S-Mart and beginning a new relationship with fellow employee Jenny, Ashley "Ash" Williams begins suffering from recurring nightmares about the Necronomicon and the Deadites, which haunt him for years. Wanting to help him, Jenny decides to take Ash back to Professor Knowby's old cabin to help him face his demons.

However, shortly after arriving, Ash's possessed severed hand appears and plays Knowby's old cassette containing the Necronomicon's incantation once again. Despite Ash's attempts to stop it, the evil once again awakens in the woods, smashing through the window and kidnapping Jenny. When Ash goes to grab an axe above the mirror, his evil twin, Bad Ash exits the mirror and knocks him unconscious. After awakening, Ash quickly goes out to the workshed and reassembles his chainsaw-hand before going out to stop the Necronomicon and save Jenny.

After reading some of Professor Knowby's notes, Ash learns of a priest named Father Allard, whom Knowby was working with to decipher the Necronomicon and send the evil back to where it came. Upon consulting Father Allard at his church, Ash departs to gather the five missing pages from the Necronomicon and the Kandarian Dagger, the latter of which he obtains from a possessed Annie Knowby in the cabin's fruit cellar. After the two come across a possessed Jenny, Father Allard uses the pages and the dagger to create a portal and exorcise the demon from Jenny's body. However, Allard then reveals himself to be Bad Ash in disguise, who promptly kidnaps Jenny and jumps into the portal with Ash in hot pursuit, the two arriving in an Arabian village in the 9th century.

Ash finally catches up with Bad Ash, who intends to let Jenny be consumed by the Dark Ones and cross over into this world while Bad Ash will kill Ash and use him as a 'calling card'. The two fight, with Bad Ash transforming into a giant scorpion-like deadite. Nonetheless, Ash still defeats him and manages to use the pages of the Necronomicon to pull Bad Ash into the portal. With Jenny now free from possession, Ash uses another of the spells to open a portal and send them back home.

Upon arriving, Ash and Jenny discover to their horror that they've arrived in a version of Dearborn, Michigan that is ruled by the Dark Ones. Seeing several various necronomicon books in a shop window, Ash screams as the game ends.

Critical reception

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The PlayStation version of Evil Dead: Hail to the King received "mixed" reviews, while the Dreamcast and PC versions received "generally unfavorable reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[4][5][6] AllGame said that the Dreamcast version's graphics were "stagnant, still, lifeless" and that it needed "better control, better combat, a better look and feel."[7] Greg Orlando of NextGen quoted Carl Sandburg's poem "Yes, the Dead Speak to Us" in saying that the same console version "belongs to the Dead, to the Dead and to the Wilderness."[25] Atomic Dawg of GamePro said of the same console version, "Fans may find solace in the story line, but most gamers will cringe at the horror";[28][b] and of the PlayStation version, "Hardcore Dead-heads may be driven by morbid curiosity to tackle this evil game, as they hold out hope that a better version will show up some day [sic]."[29][c]

Notes

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  1. ^ Two critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the PlayStation version each a score of 4/10, and the other gave it 4.5/10.
  2. ^ GamePro gave the Dreamcast version three 3/5 scores for graphics, sound, and fun factor, and 2/5 for control.
  3. ^ GamePro gave the PlayStation version 2.5/5 for graphics, two 3/5 scores for sound and fun factor, and 2/5 for control.

References

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  1. ^ "THQ SHIPS EVIL DEAD: HAIL TO THE KING FOR POPULAR SEGA SYSTEM". THQ. December 19, 2000. Archived from the original on April 16, 2004. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  2. ^ "THQ SHIPS EVIL DEAD: HAIL TO THE KING FOR PLAYSTATION". THQ. December 5, 2000. Archived from the original on April 16, 2004. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  3. ^ "THQ SHIPS EVIL DEAD: HAIL TO THE KING FOR PC". THQ. March 17, 2001. Archived from the original on April 16, 2004. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Evil Dead: Hail to the King critic reviews (DC)". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Evil Dead: Hail to the King critic reviews (PC)". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Evil Dead: Hail to the King critic reviews (PS)". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Thompson, Jon. "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (DC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Group. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014.
  8. ^ House, Matthew. "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (PS) - Review". AllGame. All Media Group. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  9. ^ D'Aprile, Jason (January 24, 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King - Dreamcast Review". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on April 8, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  10. ^ Ham, Tom (December 19, 2000). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King - PlayStation Review". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on January 24, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  11. ^ Steinberg, Scott (May 8, 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on March 4, 2003. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  12. ^ Bailey, Joe (August 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 205. Ziff Davis. p. 74. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  13. ^ Einhorn, Ethan (March 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (DC)" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 140. Ziff Davis. p. 110. Archived from the original on March 9, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  14. ^ Lockhart, Ryan; Mielke, James "Milkman"; Einhorn, Ethan (March 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (PS)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 140. Ziff Davis. p. 113. Archived from the original on March 9, 2001. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  15. ^ Miller, Sean (March 4, 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (DC)". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on September 21, 2004. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  16. ^ "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (DC)". Game Informer. No. 95. FuncoLand. March 2001.
  17. ^ "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (PS)". Game Informer. No. 94. FuncoLand. February 2001.
  18. ^ Fielder, Joe (December 20, 2000). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King Review (DC)". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 23, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  19. ^ Todd, Brett (April 30, 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King Review (PC)". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on October 31, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  20. ^ Fielder, Joe (December 11, 2000). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King Review (PS)". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 23, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  21. ^ XianMrtyr (February 2, 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King". PlanetDreamcast. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  22. ^ Chau, Anthony (January 4, 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (DC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  23. ^ Blevins, Tal (April 24, 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (PC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  24. ^ Nix, Marc (December 5, 2000). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (PS)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  25. ^ a b Orlando, Greg (April 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (DC)". NextGen. No. 76. Imagine Media. p. 83. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  26. ^ Baker, Chris (February 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (PS)". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. No. 41. Ziff Davis. pp. 92–93. Archived from the original on February 20, 2001. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  27. ^ Osborn, Chuck (July 2001). "Evil Dead [Hail to the King]". PC Gamer. Vol. 8, no. 7. Imagine Media. p. 64. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  28. ^ Atomic Dawg (March 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (DC)". GamePro. No. 150. IDG. p. 91. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 26, 2004. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  29. ^ Atomic Dawg (March 2001). "Evil Dead: Hail to the King (PS)". GamePro. No. 150. IDG. p. 85. Archived from the original on December 22, 2004. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
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