The Evil Within is reviving the survival horror genre
The Evil The Evil Within will be released on the 29th of August in EU (for PC, PS3, PS4, 360 and Xbox One).
Upon making their way to the scene of a gruesome mass murder, Detective Sebastian Castellanos and his partner find that a mysterious and powerful force lays in wait. As he witnesses fellow police officers being killed one by one, someone attacks and knocks Sebastian unconscious.
He wakes to find himself in a place where monsters roam. He is trapped in a world where death and madness are forever entwined, yet he must fight in order to make sense of it all. Confronting unimaginable horrors, as he struggles to survive―Sebastian has set out on a dread-filled journey so that he may uncover the mystery of the terrible force that lurks within.
Shinji Mikami of Resident Evil, has returned to his roots for his latest, and allegedly last, directorial effort with The Evil Within, a third-person survival horror game touted as a ''realization of pure horror". It's debut intended as the beginning of a franchise.
We should all hope that him retiring doesn’t bear fruit, as it would be a shame to lose such a critically acclaimed artist. This debut could also mean, that Mikami is trying to establish a successor to Resident Evil finally as wel.
As the self-proclaimed “father of survival horror,” Shinji Mikami took on this endeavor specifically because he believes there is a noticeable lack of survival horror games in the market. What often passes for survival horror is considered too action-focused by Mikami, and he hopes to bring back the balance of experiencing the fear of a horror game with the thrill of an action game as the sub-genre. This iconic thrill, was heavily destroyed by the Resident Evil franchise when Resident Evil 5 was released, and has yet to be resurrected.
Mikami has stated that the Winchester Mystery House played a part in inspiring the look and design of some of the environments. And they look very impressive. From the backgrounds, to the cinematics in the trailers, they are rendered beautifully; so much that you could have a tea party without being afraid of what would sit with you.
Labelled as a “Pure Survival Horror Game,” The Evil Within is designed to strike a certain balance between horror, and action elements. While not as expansive as Resident Evil, it will feature action, and platforming elements. Donning a third person perspective, the imagery on display is intended to be much more gruesome, and unnerving in order to separate itself from the Resident Evil series.
The horror elements are to be much more twisted, and a lot darker. You will experience environments shift, and change to disorient players and throw them off their guard. Much like Eternal Darkness on the Nintendo Gamecube did at one time, you'll find yourself paranoid, and stressed out perfectly.
To take us back to the Survival Horror roots, ammo and health is said to be extremely scarce. The player will need to resort to traps such as land mines, or melee weapons. I would also like to think that environmental areas will play a significant role as well.
I hope we have access to Furnaces, meat hooks, and chainsaws. Stealth can also be capitalized at specific points, such as when Sebastian eludes a chainsaw-brandishing monster, who could be a reference to the village mid-boss from Resident Evil 4.
The Evil Within will be an entirely single-player experience, though Mikami has hinted that Tango may decide to experiment with certain multiplayer elements, in the same vein as Dark Souls, via DLC. What this could also mean is a Season Pass, for more single player content, and a future movie adaptation. This would make a very good movie, just from the namesake.
In an attempt to disassociate survival horror games with “clunky”, unintuitive controls, The Evil Within will allow players to move and shoot at the same time. Weapons and items can also be selected in-game with the D-pad, or browsed through in a radial menu, whichever you may find preferable. These elements, and probably many others are borrowed from the Resident Evil franchise, although it should be smoother; and not as desperately taped together.
As in other recent horror games like Dead Space, HUD elements will be kept to a minimum in the interest of immersion. What few HUD elements there are can also be turned off in the options. I could imagine these will prove useless, as when you leave temporarily, then return the area being changed will cause you to need to familiarized yourself once more with the environment.
The Evil Within will feature 4 difficulty levels:
- Casual
- Survival
- Hard
- Akumu – which means ''Worst Dream'' in Japanese.
Filming the live action trailer:
The trailer that officially introduced the game was produced by the company Prologue Pictures, and was directed by Kyle Cooper. It was made using effects such as prosthetics, and makeup rather than CGI. To add to the bloodied effect of some of the characters shown in the trailer, such as the multi-armed 'Reborn' called Laura, the performers were to sit in a bath filled with fake blood for hours on end. The trailer took 3 days to complete.
Executive-producer Alex Dervin stated that some actors suffered discomfort during filming, but this served to instil ''some of the anger'' necessary for the roles. You can certainly appreciate the quality over the quantity, especially because it gives you the feeling of realistic gameplay. Also with the actors being themselves, it makes one believe they will be called upon for the Movie adaptation, were it to happen.
Will the comic be just as evil as the game?
Prequel Comic:
Produced by Titan Comics, there is to be a four-part comic series set before the events of the game, as it follows a young student called Dana as she searches for her lost friend. The first issue will be released on August 27th, only a day after the main game's US release. The series is to be written by Ian Edginton, with Alex Sanchez producing the art.
/Kenay Peterson
The Gaming Ground
