Well, how about kicking off the Halloween season with some survival horror? It's more recent than other games I've reviewed, but feels old school enough. Back in 2005 I played this great game called Resident Evil 4. It would be the last time an entry in the main Resident Evil canon was worked on by the series director, Shinji Mikami. A few years later, he would leave and form Tango Gameworks, a studio I kinda like. The first game under this new label would feel like some of the past trying to blend in with the new, but changing very little with Psycho Break, localized as "The Evil Within", a worse name, in my opinion.

Released in 2014 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 4, The Evil Within is Shinji Mikami's return to psychological thriller/horror, seemingly blending elements seen in the Silent Hill franchise with the gameplay philosophy of the modern Resident Evil games at the time. The plot follows Sebastian Detective Sergeant Sebastian Castellanos, his partner Joseph Oda, and junior detective Julie Kidman investigating a murder at a mental hospital. It doesn't take long before they are pulled into an unreal, supernatural world. I won't go too far into spoilers, but they essentially end up trapped in the mind of the killer, and the blend of Silent Hill's style of metaphysical terror stems from the allegories from both Sebastian's past and the antagonist forming into physical manifestations and monsters. The ideas are interesting, and despite the game being 15 chapters, it feels like there isn't enough time to explore the ideas introduced, leaving aspects of this place you're trapped in kind of rushed. 

The gameplay is a mixed bag for me. It bears similarities with Resident Evil, but a little clumsier. People are more familiar with the Capcom game's control scheme may feel at home, so there isn’t this huge learning curve to master in order for some novices to combat the odds. But that’s where I get pissed off. The game’s opening scenario, where you are pursued by the Sadist, feels like tactical misdirection in hindsight. As he’s chasing Seb, he slices his Achilles tendon with the chainsaw, hindering your movement. The only thing you can do is limp helplessly away as your pursuer shows no sign of relenting his attack. He even goes as far as turning on some vicious blades that close in on you once you immediately escape his reach. Tension picks up as you don’t seem to be sure if you are fast enough to survive this ordeal! 

This is where I figured something; suppose this game went as far as retaining lingering damage to the point that it hampers your movement? You would have to constantly find antibiotics and bandages to not only recover your health, but keep your injuries from seriously hampering how agile you are. Or perhaps a Psyche Meter, like in Betrayal At House on the Hill, that slowly deteriorates as Sebastian gets warped around (Psycho Break is a much better name, BTW) these manic locations. It begins to crush his mind and he loses control of himself, making him slightly less responsive and throws his aim off, harder to recover health unless you can find items that remind him of better days and who he really is in life by finding keepsakes, lockets, and whatnot. It would keep you intuitive to your surroundings while maintaining an eye on Seb’s health in more than just HP.

Nah. It's essentially Resi 5 after that. Just get your shotgun and the Agony Crossbow, blow up some barrels to clear out villagers and hordes, harvest those resources to build up yuor skill tree, and you're good. 

Talking graphics, The Evil Within’s better attributes is a lot of the visual tricks it pulls off throughout the course of the game when Sebastian gets pulled and yanked around in various locations. A lot of psychedelic filters, even grainy filters are added to further try to sink the player into its twisted world of madness and carnage. It does look cool for a while, but it starts to get old and takes you out of the game for seemingly no reason other than to show off how impressive it looks. You go from a sewage drain full of blood and sinew to a clean lit hallway, and then out in the woods with your lantern as your only light source. Perhaps I would care more if these locations meant anything more than trying to shock the player since nothing you do initiates them. It just hops you around when the game wants you to, so I’m temporarily jarred before I reset myself and press on. Nothing sinks in, nor is it given time to, so nothing matters. Ooey-gooey blood isn't the same as spine-tingling.

The voice acting is pretty good, while it won’t blow anything else out of the water. Ruvic and Sebastian sound way too alike for my tastes. While listening to the various recordings of a doctor’s research, I assumed that Sebby was talking. The music is eerie and kind of the only thing that will keep players on their toes.

It's too bad this potential franchise has been cut short, due to the sequel being essentially stolen through a game leak, because there was definitely room for improvement. This first game is playable, yet rather rough around the edges, in both plot execution and its controls. The first Evil Within feels like a title caught between generations, as the survival horror genre was evolving a little beyond the template, but not a terrible game.