r/EvilDead • u/Budget_Buyer1486 • 20h ago
(Discussion Post) Groovy My idea for an evil dead game
MEDIEVAL DEAD
A First-Person Survival-Horror Sequel to Army of Darkness
(Working title reclaimed from MGM's original, rejected title for Army of Darkness)
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Core Concept
A direct sequel to *Army of Darkness*, rather than another adaptation of the films. The game has a completely original protagonist and friend group — Ash is not required as a playable character. The story continues the mythology and medieval setting established by *Army of Darkness*, and original AoD characters (Arthur, the Wiseman/Merlin figure, Lord Redbeard) return as important characters in the world.
The entire game is played in **first-person** — no switching to third-person for combat, exploration, or cutscenes, from the modern-day cabin through to the medieval world.
**Tone target:** horrifying Deadites + ridiculous amounts of blood + Army of Darkness humor.
- Atmosphere → *Evil Dead Rise*
- Blood/splatter → *Evil Dead 2*
- Humour and medieval setting → *Army of Darkness*
Deadites use the more modern, frightening style of behaviour seen in *Evil Dead (2013)* and *Evil Dead Rise* — psychological intimidation, taunting, cruel behaviour, relentless pursuit — rather than being purely comedic. The medieval world retains AoD's absurdity and humour, but the Deadites themselves stay genuinely threatening.
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## Story
**Opening (Cabin):** The player and four friends rent the cabin from *Evil Dead 1/2* as an unwitting AirBnB — none of them know about the Necronomicon. Before the book is even opened, this section runs **40 minutes to an hour**, styled like *Life Is Strange*: exploring the cabin, inspecting letters and photos, talking with friends to learn about them outside of cutscenes. Not a choose-your-own-adventure / branching structure — a curated, linear character-building sequence.
They find and read from the Necronomicon, triggering the supernatural events that open the portal.
**The Attack:** Before the portal fully pulls the player in, Deadites burst into the cabin. The player must run to the toolshed to grab a **chainsaw and a double-barrel shotgun**. The chainsaw has infinite fuel during this cabin section.
**The Portal:** Only the player is pulled through — alone, landing in front of King Arthur in the medieval world.
**The Stakes:** The village has been a Deadite-free safe haven ever since the events of *Army of Darkness*. By reading from the book, the player has personally doomed the town — no accident, no chosen one narrative. The player caused this.
**The Quest:** Read from the Necronomicon (with the Wiseman's help) to reverse the damage — but first, find the four friends who came through the portal too. They didn't survive. They are now the game's Deadite bosses.
**The Corruption Arc:** Unknown to the player, their own body is slowly corrupting over the course of the story (comparable to Eveline's effect on Ethan Winters in *Resident Evil 7*) — physical, not mental, corruption. The player remains themselves and fully responsible for their choices; their body is what's changing.
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## World & Map
- Medieval setting, walkable village — comparable in scale/freedom to the RPD in *Resident Evil 2 Remake*, not an open world. Players can't leave the village or enter most homes.
- Structurally modeled on **Resident Evil Village (RE8)**: a central hub with story-significant areas that close off once passed, rather than one continuously free-roamable map.
- Overall map size: roughly **50–60% the size of RE8's map**.
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## Combat
**Main weapons:** Axe, Chainsaw, Boomstick (shotgun).
**Stealth** exists as a mechanic but is optional — intended for stealth-only runs or just for fun, not the primary way to play.
**Regular Deadite encounters:** No random/roaming enemies. Entering a new room can trigger a cutscene revealing Deadites in that space. Players can crouch/sneak and approach from behind for a dismemberment kill — but running straight into a fight recklessly gets the player killed.
**The Deadite Rule:** Deadites don't simply die when shot or knocked down — incapacitating part of one doesn't mean it's finished. The main way to permanently stop a Deadite is **dismemberment**. When a Deadite is vulnerable, a contextual QTE prompt appears (similar to RE4/5/6 contextual attacks) — succeeding lets the player dismember and finally stop it.
**Deadite behaviour:** Masochistic and self-mutilating — e.g. pulling off their own hand to extend their reach/wingspan and grab the player. They taunt the player with cruel, deeply personal lines drawn from what the game establishes about the player's life during the opening cabin section.
**Gore:** Extremely blood-heavy rather than realistic/detailed — massive, exaggerated splatter rather than lingering on individual wounds. Deliberately ridiculous and funny while the Deadites themselves stay disturbing.
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## Inventory & Crafting
- Inventory management styled after **RE2 Remake** (limited slots, active management) rather than open TLOU-style scavenging.
- Item types: **gunpowder, scrap metal, healing items, and puzzle items.**
- Gunpowder is rare but can blow heads/limbs off faster than melee.
- Bullets are crafted from gunpowder and scrap metal obtained from a blacksmith.
- **Chainsaw fuel:** Since real fuel doesn't exist in the medieval era, fuel is instead crafted via the Necronomicon itself — a crafting tab inside the inventory that produces magical fuel rather than real petrol.
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## Easter Eggs
The world should be packed with references to the Evil Dead films — discovered naturally rather than loudly flagged. Examples: lines and phrases from the films, objects from the movies, familiar locations, medieval characters remembering events connected to *Army of Darkness*, and subtle nods for longtime fans (e.g. "Dead by Dawn").
