With Bruce Campbell reprising his role as Ash, Evil Dead is certainly off to a great start. He teased us with his role in Activision's Spider-Man but now ED fans can get a full-on dose of Campbell in his own game. The one-liners many of us grew up on should be well represented with the power of next generation consoles behind it.

The storyline will focus on Ash's efforts to save the town of Dearborn from Necromonicon ex Mortis. The giant environments will have Ash moseying all around the city streets, up one block and down the next slaughtering waves of enemies. And since this is an Evil Dead game, don't expect VIS to be stingy with the blood. It should and in fact will be flowing freely. With 50 enemies on screen at once and your ability to carry multiple weapons, one for each hand, you something's got to give. Even though they're mostly sorry ass zombies who limp and lunge towards you helplessly, it's every gamer's duty to slice through every undead sucker like a rusty screwdriver through peanut butter. This is how you'll get the most enjoyment out of the full dismemberment of enemies.

The presentation of Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick should be top notch. Not only because of Campbell's personal touch on the main character, but the overall feel of the movie series should be well represented. VIS is experience with State of Emergency will be clear from the onset since Evil Dead looks like a darker, spookier version of that Rockstar hit if you squint your eyes. Well produced cutscenes and plenty of tongue-in-cheek, 1980's style humor should do enough to set this one apart.

Outlook: Evil Dead will be certainly have two qualities that make most action-adventure games fun: blood and speed. A bloody fast game with Bruce Campbell on the voice-over should be a homerun, but it will be a matter of how VIS sustains our interest with the puzzles and overall depth of the game. This could be a nice fit in your library come early 2003.