Evil Islands Review

Evil Islands Review

Review by Brandon

Memory Loss!

Evil Islands is a 3D role-playing game (RPG) in which you control Zak, a strange man who awakes among ruins with no recollection of who he is. You'll need to explore the world and complete a variety of quests to unravel the mystery behind who you are and how you ended up in the ruins.

Stealth Or Straight Up Attack

You can take on enemies in fierce head-to-head combat, or take a more stealthy approach and sneak past deadly foes. You can even attack individual body parts on enemies to slow their attack speed or weaken them. You have the ability to create and use new weapons, armor, and spells. There's even a multiplayer option to let you quest with others online.

Real Time Fighting

You jump right into the action as soon as you start the game, with your first quest to follow a suspicious group of people. You'll quickly come across enemies that you'll need to battle. Unlike many other RPGs, combat in this game is not turn-based. You can take on enemies using melee weapons, ranged weapons, or magical spells. You can also choose to attack specific body parts of your enemy. Trying to hit their head may be difficult, but will also cause more damage when successful. Attacking their limbs may not do as much damage, but could slow their attack speed so that you are damaged less.

There are also opportunities to sneak or crawl past enemies, which comes in handy when trying to steal from them or avoid what would be certain death in a fight. The one big downside when it comes to the gameplay is the slow pace of the game. Running and magical spells require stamina. You can also only regenerate stamina by standing still and doing nothing. Between running and spells, stamina goes quickly and you'll often find yourself walking slowly or sitting still (which can feel painfully slow).

Adjustable Difficulty, Vacant Multiplayer

There are two difficulty options offered in the game that can be switched between at any point. Novice difficulty makes the game a bit easier, while Normal provides the typical challenge. Multiplayer provides a different experience and level of challenge as well. Unfortunately, there aren't many players online playing this game.

In addition to difficulty settings, there are various hints or tutorials throughout play that explain various mechanics and screens. It will take a bit of time to come across and learn everything, but this game is simple enough for anyone to play while still providing a good level of challenge. The only issue is that you can sometimes die fairly easily and unexpectedly, requiring you to save and reload the game often.

Fairly Easy Controls

The controls for the game are clearly explained through the helpful hints and tutorials early on in the game, and can also be customized. Many of the basic functions of the game can be done with only the mouse, but more experienced or skilled players can make use of keyboard shortcuts to make things a bit quicker.

Unlike many other similar games, Evil Islands has 3D graphics. While they're a bit dated compared to many modern games, they still look good and don't impact the game in any negative way. Some of the voices for the characters, however, can get annoying after a while. The music doesn't really hurt the game, but doesn't stand out in any way either.

Conclusion - Very Entertaining And Recommended

Overall, Evil Islands is a good RPG that is chock full of entertainment despite its age. The slow pace of play and annoying voices can put off players, but the positive aspects of the game are tried and true cornerstones of RPG gameplay. An engaging story tasks you with finding the cause of your memory loss and who you really are.

You can choose to take on enemies in fierce combat, or sneak around and avoid danger. Attacking different body parts will cause different levels of damage and impair your enemies. You can craft new weapons, armor, and spells to use. There's even a multiplayer option that allows you to play and quest with others online. This game is an excellent choice for any RPG fan.