The Evil Within

Josie Krome, Staff Reporter

For those interested in all things disturbing and spine-chilling, look no further than “The Evil Within.” It’s a survivor horror game by Bethesda (you know, they made “Skyrim”?) and Shinji Mikami, the creator of the “Resident Evil” series. It’s set to come out this October on both current and next gen consoles.

My experience with survival horror games is sort of a love-hate relationship. I like to play them because of the scares, but I also hate the anxiety before the scare. I’ve played various games of the “Silent Hill” series, “Shattered Memories” on the Wii being the most memorable since it’s such a physical horror experience, and “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” (which is really good and you should get it if you’re not sure about the survival horror genre yet).

Personally, when it comes to survival horror games, on a scale of sleeping in my desk chair to hiding in my closet, my ideal level of intensity is me jumping in my seat and shouting “holy shit” repeatedly (if that helps you gauge my judgment system at all). And “The Evil Within” looks either absolutely terrifying, at the top of, or at least very close to my maximum horror level. The gameplay video of the game had me holding my breath and swearing continuously.

It begins when the main character (who vaguely reminds me of Booker DeWitt from “Bioshock Infinite”) is hung by a rope by his legs, while a shadowed man chainsaws another victim in a similar situation in half. It’s extremely gory and made very human in ways I’m not sure I could handle. If you don’t want to see dead people or blood, then here is a major trigger warning against this game. It sounds so real; I definitely wouldn’t be caught dead playing in a dark room with headphones (I’m not that hardcore).

As expected from a publisher like Bethesda, the graphics are high quality, which only adds to the immersion into the horror of the game. The lighting is especially eerie; you can expect your own shadow to scare your pants off before you realize what it is.

The beginning of gameplay is set in a closed world, something like a hospital or an insane asylum (a popular trope for these sorts of games; something about facing our own mortality or fragile mentality, I guess). After some seriously tense escapes from your captor, you finally reach a door to the outside which leads to a world in ruins, seemingly after a great disaster. The enemies of the game are humanoid and grotesque, impaled by metal and glass and chimera-like and terrifying.

“The Evil Within” is definitely not for the faint of heart and not for a beginner of the survival horror genre (unless you go particularly hard).

But, I want you (yes, you) to play it and tell me how it is and maybe let me come over and watch because I don’t know if I’m brave enough to get this game either.

In any case, the game looks great and it will breathe some air into (or take it out of?) the genre. Good graphics, great story, good characterization; if survival horror is what you’re into, “The Evil Within” will definitely not disappoint.