The Evil Within 2 Laptop and Desktop Benchmarks

For the original German review, see here.

Unlike the first part which was released in 2014 and was technically based on "id Tech 5" by the id Software shooter expert, "The Evil Within 2" uses a slightly newer version of the engine which – fitting to the story – is called "STEM”. Even though the textures could have still been much sharper and more detailed in some places, we can attest to a decent to good quality level of the graphics overall.

In the disciplines of illumination and shadow, which are particularly important for horror games, "The Evil Within 2" convinces almost in every respect. The remaining effects such as fire and smoke are also not too bad. In addition, there are the nifty character models and an overall atmospheric look, which is created by masterful light and color accents. So the developer Tango Gameworks can be satisfied with their work. 

The graphics options also give little cause for complaint. If you scroll to the bottom of the corresponding menu, you can see the access to the additional settings, which contain more than 10 different detail settings. The optional presets in particular are useful, since they adjust the overall appearance with one setting. It is also commendable that all the settings are explained as text and changing them does not require a restart. The introductory video which cannot be skipped could be very annoying. We did also become annoyed after a while that each opening of a preset menu would result in a warning message.

"The Evil Within 2" offered FXAA and TAA as anti-aliasing. Both modes smooth out diagonal edges to some extent only and provide somewhat softer looks. We did not notice any great technical problems during the test. Our only problem was that the resolution setting was often completely wrong and set too low when restarting the game, which required revisiting the graphics menu. 

The performance in lower settings is also a bit strange. Even with high-end GPUs, the frame rate hardly rises in minimal and medium details. This is also related to the graphics quality hardly deteriorating when lowering the details, which is similar to other games that use the id Tech engine. You often have to look for the visual differences between the presets with a magnifying glass. You can only see larger differences in the detail level of the shadows (see screenshots below). The game uses almost 33 GB on the hard drive.

Owners of laptops without a dedicated GPU should forget about purchasing "The Evil Within 2." In the test with an Intel HD Graphics 630, there was extreme stuttering even at 1280x720 pixels and minimal details. For these settings you will need at least a model of the lower mid-range, such as the GeForce MX150.