Evil Diary is a side-scrolling survival shooter developed by the indie developers 9ratones and Angelo GameDev, and published by Ratalaika Games. The game was released on November 24, 2023 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, Nintendo Switch and PC. We played the Xbox version on Xbox Series S.
Evil Diary is set in an alternative version of New York in 1997, where an alien invasion has left the Big Apple in ruins. Following the invasion, people and animals have been transformed into bloodthirsty monsters that attacks anything on their path.
We are a young woman who is trying to escape this hellish landscape and reach a safe zone beyond the city borders. To achieve this, our heroine must confront these gruesome critters using a peculiar alien gun with unlimited ammunation.
The gameplay of Evil Diary is straightforward. You must either kill a certain number of enemies or survive until the timer runs out. The path through each level is restricted, and each stage is quite short, with an average duration of about one minute. You have only one gun at your disposal, but you can also defeat enemies using a melee attack.
If you change your character’s skin, you can play as an anthropomorphic duck wielding a chainsaw. This time, the chainsaw doesn’t require reloading, allowing you to slay enemies continuously.
Evil Diary is a short game, that you can be completed in less than 40 minutes. Despite its brevity, the game features a variety of enemies, although they are not very intelligent. They don’t actively pursue you but will attack if you cross their path
Environments are suggestive but lack of distinctiveness. Sometimes, the settings from one stage to the next are identical. The levels are also quite narrow, limiting your movement to left or right, with very limited vertical movement.
Its short length and lack of replayability make it feel more like a demo than a full game. The standout feature is the metal soundtrack. As it stands, the gameplay doesn’t engage the player enough for a second playthrough, and there are no elements that justify the price tag given its short duration.
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