The Evil Within has just been officially revealed, after being teased as Project Zwei by Bethesda. This survival horror will be helmed by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.
This game has been described by Mikami as being “committed to creating an exciting new franchise” and “providing fans the perfect blend of horror and action”. He has also made the very tough to keep promise of game of “a true survival horror” in which the player “confronts and overcomes fear”.
Some gameplay details have also appeared on Bethesda’s japanese website which says that The Evil Within will be using id Tech 5 and will feature “a distorting world”. Silent Hill, anyone?
Mikami also had this to say about the project, “”I’ve found my focus and once again I’m striving for pure survival horror,” he said last year. “I am being very hands-on in the development of this game to ensure that the quality is there. Rest assured.”
The images, which you will see below, look very promising indeed. I am hopeful, but not too expectant of a true return to AAA horror, which has seen nothing but a flux of boring action “horror games” that have a few paltry jump scares and flickering lights amongst a heavy smearing of guns and action. Which is not what I, or most horror fans, actually want. I think the success of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Slender / Slenderman’s Shadow and all the recent indie hits shows us that what they really want is the Japanese style of psychological horror. Slow building tension, skillful use of sound and silence, and genuine fear instead of the “Boo!” factor of recent years.
I yearn for the days of Silent Hill 2 & 3, Fatal Frame and the true psychological horror. As a horror fan, I have been firmly in the indie camp for some time, keeping company with games who truly know how to shake me to my core. So it will be quite interesting to see if The Evil Within can save AAA horror from the thundering of heavy weapons.
The Evil Within will be launching 2014 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC and next-gen consoles.
You can view the screenshots in the gallery below.
