EvilVEvil is a cooperative shooter that turns players into vampires who are the hunters, not the hunted. After a hands-on session, it’s clear that developer Toadman Interactive is ready to give FPS fans a blast. EvilVEvil is an exciting shooter every minute of the game, making players feel powerful, especially when playing with two friends.

Trying out one of EvilVEvil’s three playable vampires quickly dispels any concerns that the game is just a boring-looking shooter with clunky controls. Players are faster and more mobile than nearly every enemy they encounter. However, EvilVEvil’s vampire power fantasy comes with plenty of enemies to fight, and will challenge even the most competent FPS teammates, especially on higher difficulties.

Move Like A Creature Of The Night, Or You’ll Go Back Into The Ground

EvilVEvil’s gameplay feels like a combination of some of the most popular and entertaining shooters of the past decade. While playing the closed beta, elements of DOOM 2016’s incredibly fast movement and Borderlands’ diverse character builds were present. Each of the three playable vampire characters has unique abilities that can be used to take down enemies and get through levels more effectively. Once players understand EvilVEvil’s movements and mechanics, they can get into the swing of things and fill the air with high damage numbers and enemy body parts.

EvilVEvil features three playable characters (or classes), each of which can be leveled up and customized to your playstyle thanks to an easily unlockable skill tree. Victoria can fire a deadly string of shadow clones that quickly and efficiently wipe out squads of enemies. Ramirez employs some popular tank character moves, such as a string of magical chains that pull enemies towards the player. Last but not least, Mashaka can fire explosive fireballs and use teleportation to move quickly across the map.

Attacks, techniques, and even EvilVEvil’s 15 weapons can be upgraded using a progression tree that quickly levels up by completing the game’s missions, each designed to take 10-20 minutes. Additionally, weapon mods and artifacts can be equipped to add special boosts and effects to almost every action in the game. If you’re a fan of PVE multiplayer shooters, have a couple of friends who can create an effective build and shell out the $20 price tag for the game, you’ll enjoy EvilVEvil. However, some issues with the preview version may affect your gameplay.

Vampires Can Live Forever, But The Gameplay Loop Might Get Stale Before That

During Screen Rant’s development of the closed beta of EvilVEvil, the game proved to be incredibly effective at making the player feel like they were a powerful vampire. There wasn’t much difficulty as the enemies mostly preferred to stay in one place and were determined to fight the player by taking advantage of their superior numbers. Later levels feature more formidable demonic enemies, but many sections of the game could use more enemy variety to keep the gameplay from becoming boring quickly.

EvilVEvil’s 15 weapons fire either traditional bullets or energy projectiles, each proving more effective against certain foes than others. In the game’s more challenging but rewarding difficulty, waves of enemies constantly appear, encouraging the player to effectively switch between projectile types. However, the feel of many weapons is very similar. Weapon mods help boost stats, but weapon customizations that nullify various attribute effects or status effects could help take EvilVEvil’s already solid gameplay to the next level.

The story of EvilVEvil revolves around an ancient organization that awakens some of the best vampire warriors and teaches them weapons to stop the resurrection of the evil Dark Lord Zagreus. Over the course of about 12 chapters, players will explore a variety of locations, including a sci-fi laboratory, an enemy-filled warehouse, and a bright neon-lit city. Levels are linear and feature some eye-catching environments, platforming sections, and unique layouts that make each level stand out from the others.

EvilVEvil’s Vampires Have Time To Learn New Tricks

Developer Toadman Interactive has successfully taken steps to make EvilVEvil a fast-paced cooperative shooter that will appeal to almost any three-player FPS gamer. At a fraction of the cost of other games, the closed beta has already proven to be an exciting paranormal shooter that gets players in the mood for a powerful vampire and delivers satisfying combat. As weapons and enemies continue to be improved leading up to the game’s release in Summer 2024, EvilVEvil will be a fresh multiplayer experience to play with your friends.