There is no official in-game way to unlock first-person functionality in The Evil Within 2 on PC. Instead players need to open the console and put in the command pl_FPS 1. Doing so will allow them to play through the entirety of The Evil Within 2 in first-person, and as the video uploaded by YouTuber SkacikPL proves, it actually works very well.
In fact, first-person mode in The Evil Within 2 works well enough that it’s surprising it wasn’t included as a bonus for players to unlock. Alternatively, The Evil Within 2 could have offered players the choice to play in either third-person or first-person from the start. However, doing so would make The Evil Within 2 a lot less like Resident Evil 4, and its similarities to that classic title as well as its association with producer Shinji Mikami are big selling points for the game.
However, maybe a future Evil Within game will change the perspective from third- to first-person. After all, first-person viewpoints are a hot trend in the horror genre nowadays, with even the biggest horror franchises experimenting with it. For example, the latest Resident Evil game, Resident Evil 7, is played entirely in first-person, as was the ill-fated Silent Hills playable teaser P.T.
Perhaps the first-person segments in The Evil Within 2 are Tango Gameworks’ way of testing the waters for a future release. Fans don’t seem to have a problem with the first-person segments in the main game, and if enough people try out the game’s first-person mode on PC, it could encourage Tango Gameworks to go down that route in the future.
In the meantime, those that own The Evil Within 2 on PC can test out its first-person gameplay and decide for themselves if there’s any potential there. If anything, it could boost the game’s replayability on the platform, giving gamers more reasons to replay The Evil Within 2 besides hunting down all the hidden collectibles.
The Evil Within 2 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
