The Evil Within: Scary Enough to Make You Question Your Life Decisions

The Evil Within is a game that consists of three phases when playing: horror, panic, repeat.

Developed by Tango Gameworks and released in October 2014, it is a brutal single-player survival horror game where your fears become reality, which takes at least 18 hours to beat. The Evil Within is available to play on Xbox, PlayStation, Windows, and Steam. 

Personally, The Evil Within is the scariest game I’ve played to date. I knew from the very beginning that I was in for a ride. I hadn’t even started the game when I got scared for the first time- I was in a setting screen, a screen all video game players believe to be a sacred safe place, when a jumpscare came out of nowhere. Safe to say, I lowered my volume.

Right off the bat, The Evil Within feels very similar to Resident Evil, and that’s likely because both are created by Shinji Mikami. The Evil Within, thankfully, isn’t a Resident Evil clone; it has the same tropes, but it brings its own personality to the table. For example, it focuses more on the scares than Resident Evil does. 

The game starts with the main character, a detective Sebastian Casianos, who arrives at a hospital with his partners. They’re there for a crime scene, and that's all you know. Once inside the hospital, it's a blood bath, which gives the player a taste of the gore in The Evil Within. 

The story gets wild right away. You’re immediately forced to question what’s real and what’s not real. A question that lingers for the whole game. That uncertainty is a big part of the plot and the fear factor. 

The plot continues with the whole city seeming to be destroyed. The player escapes from the hospital, and the rest of the story is about trying to piece together what is happening to the city and how to stop it.

There’s a minor subplot about Sebastian’s character, which is kind of forgotten about, leaving him to be mostly a mystery to the player. Typically, I’d have an issue with knowing so little about the main character since that can cause a character to not be as loved, but The Evil Within had me so focused on everything else happening that I completely overlooked how little you get to learn about Sebastian. 

The Evil Within combines stealth, scares, and epic set designs to make a very visceral and challenging game. A game that is pretty much 90% surviving your nightmares and 10% pure panic. 

The Evil Within is a heavy fighting game with a weapon set up very similar to the Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogy. Something that stands out is how big the stealth component is in The Evil Within. The stealth encourages the player to assess their environment and use it to their advantage to take down enemies. 

Hidden in the environment are traps and puzzles. While the puzzles were rather simple, the traps had me holding my breath and rounding corners slowly. Not only do the traps affect the player, but also enemies as well, meaning the player could use the traps to their advantage.

The safe room is the only place you get a moment to drop your shoulders. It’s here that the player learns pieces of the main character’s backstory and parts of the main story. The safe room is used to upgrade your character and get supplies. Upgrading your character is a must and lets you customize abilities to meet your play style. 

I will admit there are a few things about The Evil Within that aren’t all that great. The game is rather complicated and can get frustrating, especially because The Evil Within doesn’t hold your hand and provide guidance; you just get thrown into the darkness and have to fend for yourself. 

The Evil Within is just a little bit too long. It drags a handful of times and has you wishing you were just in the next chapter already. This is especially apparent between the fantastic opening few chapters and the rather slow final few. The last chapter thankfully picks up pace again before the end. 

I looked into why The Evil Within isn’t as popular as I think it should be, and from what I could find, it's because a lot of people don’t like the story and characters. Personally, I loved the story and was almost immediately invested in our characters. The story is rather confusing and convoluted. Not a whole lot is explained, something I like because it allows your imagination to add to the madness. 

The ending was the only thing that I was disappointed in. Not everything is explained in the end, leaving a feeling of confusion. However, when I finished, I was completely unaware of the sequel, The Evil Within 2. I haven’t played it yet, but it could very easily fill in the gaps to the end of the first game, as well as Sebastian’s character.

There were plenty of things that made me love The Evil Within. It’s a game meant for people who love horror; it provides the ultimate horror experience. If you don’t like horror, then The Evil Within is definitely not for you. 

This pure nightmare fuel of a game is challenging and hard, something that is deemed to be not fun, but The Evil Within isn’t meant to be fun. It’s a game where your fears become reality; nothing about that is supposed to be fun, and that’s something the game challenges you to face. The Evil Within is crafted to be a terrifying psychological horror. 

For a 2014 game, The Evil Within has graphics and visuals that still hold rather strong today. Its strongest element is its sound design. The whole game is eerie and stays that way because of the music and environmental sounds. All the little noises, the sounds of creatures, and the soft classical music in the background are perfect for creating a tense and horrific atmosphere. 

The Evil Within has become one of my favorite horror games. It has a game opening I’d consider to be almost as powerful as other iconic horror games like Until Dawn. The pure panic I felt during certain scenes and then that uncertainty of whether you’re safe or not that settles over you makes The Evil Within the perfect horror experience. 

Anyone who loves horror, can stomach extensive gore, and make it through mind-numbing horror, The Evil Within is a must.

My Rating: