‘Evil Dead: The Game’ DLC Review – Castle Kandar Map and Quality of Life Improvements

Get ready to reload your boomstick because Saber Interactive has released its first large-scale update for Evil Dead: The Game–Army of Darkness style! Despite releasing the game only two months ago, Saber is already back with a vengeance to appease Evil Dead fans and gamers alike with a generous amount of tweaks to the game. This update includes new weapon additions, additional cosmetics, a brand-new game mode, and most importantly for fans of Army of Darkness, the new Castle Kandar map – all of it available as of July 13, 2022.

While the objectives remain the same with the new map–excising the Kandarian Demon as survivors and slaughtering Ash and Co. on the killer side–Castle Kandar is another large-scale environment to explore with countless callbacks to its origin film. The expansive map includes locations like Castle Kandar Keep, Arthurian Outpost, Vazquez Cemetery, and a whole slew of others

Evil Dead: The Game hit the ground running back when it was released in May, but was notably lacking in gameplay variation between matches as it was limited to two maps. The Medieval landscape is a much appreciated reprieve from running through the woods. While Castle Kandar isn’t the biggest map in the game (it’s about mid-size compared to the others), the castle itself is massive, and the option to explore such a large interior adds an interesting depth to the gameplay that I’d be excited to see Evil Dead explore in future updates.

If you’d rather explore the new terrain with lower stakes before jumping into multiplayer matches online, an all-new Explore Mode has also been added to the game. This mode allows players to jump into matches by themselves to get the lay of the land and practice knocking the heads off of Deadites. Test out the two new weapon additions including the melee-based mace and the explosive crossbow (I’ll leave it up to your imagination to guess what that weapon does). But beware: while exploring, Deadites are at free will to spawn whenever, and wherever they like.

The new mode is useful for practicing combat before jumping into the real thing: I actually had some fun seeing how long I could last in Explore Mode by myself before eventually being taken out by some Deadites, and it made me think a Survival Mode would be a fun addition. Saber Interactive, if you’re reading, take notes!

In addition to the new map and cosmetic updates, a handful of quality-of-life improvements have been implemented including a new option to toggle motion blur and a push-to-talk function for the PC version, plus a handful of others related to visual effects. Saber also implemented some patches to balance things out more between both the survivor and killer sides, including weapon power, possession duration, changes to skills, and more.

Saber Interactive has currently released six patches (this one included) since Evil Dead: The Game was released on May 13th, and it’s clear that they’re taking player input in mind to balance out the scales between the survivors and the Kandarian Demon. The damage balances across both sides seem to make matches last longer and deter one side from suddenly dominating the other, and efforts are being made to prevent certain gameplay mechanics from being exploited. While balancing issues have historically been a notoriously difficult hill to surmount in the asymmetrical genre, Saber gives the impression that they’re staying on top of how players are receiving each update to deliver the best experience.

Check out the full list of patch notes from Saber Interactive here. The new update is free to all players who currently own Evil Dead: The Game!