Review: The Evil Within’s “The Assignment” DLC

“The Assignment” is to The Evil Within as “Separate Ways” was to Resident Evil 4. The latter was a mode added to the PS2 port of the original GameCube RE4, revolving around a strong, female hero and featuring a fleshed-out story and altered gameplay.

That, quite literally, is what “The Assignment” offers.

A piece of DLC following Sebastian Castellanos’ quasi-partner, the previously underutilised Juli Kidman, “The Assignment” serves up understandable chunks of story that not only reveal Kidman’s motivations but make the plot of The Evil Within as a whole somewhat coherent.

If you remember the story of The Evil Within, that is. Or could even remotely follow it as you played.

I must admit that I fell into that latter category, but the brilliance of this DLC is that it’s basically planned for that eventuation. It weaves Juli’s story in with that of main game using flashbacks-but-not to give that ol’ noggin a bit of reference. Where that’s not enough, you’re given a dose of exposition so it all, retroactively, makes sense. That said, it would have been better to see this DLC out a bit closer to the game proper so it was that much more rewarding.

In The Evil Within, stealth was encouraged but hardly necessary. In “The Assignment”, you will not survive without it. Hell, you don’t have a gun for about 99% of its two, lengthy chapters. Armed with only a flashlight, Juli relies on cover to sneak around enemies. By calling out to distract and lure would-be assailants, Juli’s able to sneak around and remain with her wits (and body parts) about her. If she’s is lucky enough to come across an axe, it can be used for a stealth attack… but only the once. Resources are scarce and tension is high… which is exactly how it should be.

On the whole, this new take on the base game is a great breath of fresh air… but it comes at a cost. Because stealth was so underused in The Evil Within itself, it seems a bit half-baked now that “The Assignment” relies on it so heavily. You will die a lot as you play, especially getting used to the sometimes clunky cover-to-crouch control scheme.

Hell, you’ll die a lot just because of the frantic and terrifying ‘duels’ that the game so frequently places you in. They’re highly recommended.

The emphasis on stealth means you’re playing an entirely different game in “The Assignment”. This is the only benefit from releasing DLC so long after a game has hit store shelves. Shinji Mikami and his team have clearly sat down for a long, hard think about what needed to be fixed – or at least actioned from fan feedback – and tried a bunch of new stuff for this instalment. Just like “Separate Ways” did with super-spy Ada and Leon S. Kennedy’s overall story.

It works amazingly well.

While I’m keeping up this whole ‘comparison to Resident Evil’ thing, you can clearly see that Bethesda had cash to spend on both The Evil Within and “The Assignment”. Referential material abounds, but most of this DLC takes place in new, beautifully detailed environments, distinct from those already seen in The Evil Within. Oh, and Tango Gameworks has also added in new terrifying enemies and even creepier would-be ‘colleagues’ with blurred out faces. They gave me nightmares.

At any rate, it’s safe to say that comparing “The Assignment” to any of the four episodes of Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is like doing the same with chalk and cheese.

“The Assignment” has it all – a new take on playing The Evil Within and a story that helps unravel the whole package and make sense of the nigh-incomprehensible story. Above all else, it provides for an optimistic future for what clearly is Bethesda’s next big franchise. It’s definitely worth a look if you were into The Evil Within.

The Evil Within‘s “The Assignment” DLC was reviewed using a promotional code on Xbox One, as provided by the publisher.