14 DAY TRIAL // The Evil Within is a video game that well-known game creator Shinji Mikami is using to return to the core of the survival horror genre and deliver an experience that can scare gamers and create some interesting gameplay moments.
During E3 2014, Bethesda, the publisher of the title, is allowing gamers to test the title and see whether it lives up to expectations.
Sebastian Castellanos, the leading character, remains mostly a cypher and does not seem to have an actual personality, but I was frightened a few times while playing The Evil Within, and fans of the survival horror experience might find plenty to like here.
This is truly a game about scarcity and about overpowered enemies and it always makes sense to be cautious and move as silently as possible, trying to take out adversaries by stealth instead of spending precious bullets to take them out at range.
Choosing the easiest difficulty level, I went in guns blazing, making noise and breaking doors and I was quickly taken down by three shambling zombie-like enemies who managed to surround me and deplete my reserve of bullets.
A stealthier approach on a higher level of difficulty yielded better results initially, but again ended in failure when an enemy I thought I had killed turned spectral and finished me without offering me a chance to harm him.
Running away, something that AAA titles rarely ask of the player, can be the key to survival in The Evil Within, which might mean that the game could be a great experience for longtime Resident Evil fans.
Tango Gameworks might need to work more on the detection mechanics of the title, which seem a little random, and on the way the camera moves around the main character, which often left me blind when I needed to see where I was going.
The Evil Within initially seemed like a gimmicky title that used jump scares and rivers of blood to unsettle the player but did not have a clear idea about its core gameplay.
Shinji Mikami does have some great idea to work with, but the entire experience seems to need a little more polish.
The Evil Within will be launched on October 21 of this year in the United States and on October 24 in Europe on the PC, the Xbox One from Microsoft, the PlayStation 4 from Sony and current-gen consoles.