The Evil Within

King Krimson

Release date: OUT NOW!

Format: PS4 Also available on: Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, PC Publisher: Bethesda

Shinji Mikami,

creator of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4, is the true father of gaming horror. Producing credit on 2010’ s Shadows Of The Damned aside, his recent years were spent on pure action titles until the lure of creating an all- new, horror- focused studio became too great and he returned to the genre he birthed. Four years in development, this is his big scary comeback.

Should we be disappointed that it’s turned out to be Resident Evil 4 Mk II? Not at all. What starts off as a routine callout to Krimson City’s Beacon Mental Hospital turns into a trippy third- person action slog through deadly rural villages as detective Sebastian Castellanos is dragged deeper into a world of nightmares. For the majority of its 17- hour run time the plot fails to progress, yet it hardly seems to matter thanks to intense combat and memorable setpieces.

Monsters are key to The Evil Within’s success. Battling regular enemies is always a tense affair when even the lowliest zombified creature can shrug off a headshot, but it’s the range of iconic boss characters that makes the game such a thrill ride. The hulking chainsaw boss; the teleporting “spider girl”; the hammer- wielding brute with a safe for a head… One- hit- kill monsters and traps abound, making it the cruellest game in years, but the solid mechanical foundations ensure the punishment is always goodnatured, making The Evil Within another addition to Mikami’s long list of greats. Matthew Pellett Upcoming DLC includes two chapters centred on supporting character Juli Kidman, voiced by Jennifer Carpenter.