The Evil Within is an upcoming horror game you may or may not have heard about. Maybe you've seen some clips of it and said to yourself "Eehhhhh it looks kinda like Resident Evil" or "Eehhhhh it looks kinda like Silent Hill I guess." Maybe it piqued your interest; maybe you didn't see what the big god damn deal is. So let's talk about it for a bit.
Before you know Evil Within, you should know this guy:
You remember Shinji Mikami, right? He's a director who used to work for Capcom before starting his own studio, Tango Gameworks. The Evil Within is going to be his last game as director, and like he says in the picture there, he's focusing really hard on what it means to make a successful survival horror.
He's previously been responsible for some games. He was director and producer of the original Resident Evil, as well as director of its Gamecube remake. Every piece of scary bullshit in that mansion? That's him. Lisa Trevor? Also him. He made Vanquish, which was one of the greatest action shooters ever made.
Also, he made Resident Evil 4:
So if there's anybody you can probably hedge money on in regards to spooky bullshit that is also fun to play, it's probably this guy.
Let's talk about Evil Within a bit.
Sebastian Castellanos is having a bad day. He's a detective for the Crimson City police force, and when spooky shit goes down and a bunch of cops end up dead he's called in to investigate the scene. But when a magical force is killing cops, well, shit isn't going to go so great for more sent into the meat grinder. He just happens to be one of those.
But this isn't some typical "spooky ghost killing police officers" shtick. No sir. In the tradition of every horror game you've ever loved to hate, the world itself is out to kill Detective Castellanos. It's never clear where Castellanos is, or where he's headed next; the world is an organic thing, changing to suit his fears, girding itself to kill him as quickly and efficiently as it can.
And it has got some just incredible bullshit in it.
It is a survival horror game. It has a psychological bent:
And it also has stealth gameplays:
And it comes out on Tuesday.
Who's hyped?