The Devil

What lies beneath, in this brutalist survival horror.

An enigmatic survival horror game, The Devil is set in a big tower that’s all brutalist concrete and askew camera angles. You play as a nameless shlub who is sent to investigate a disappearance, so off you go, fathoming your way down the structure, the tension building with every ladder you descend, with every cryptic conversation with your fellow drones, and with all the worryingly numerous ammo boxes you collect.

It’s a wonderfully bleak, oppressive setting, primarily thanks to the camerawork: a mixture of Resident Evil-style close-ups, over-the-shoulder following shots, and superdistant long-shots where you can barely make out the protagonist.

Combat is simple, but functional. You don’t have enough ammo for everyone, of course. Exhilaration turns to boredom, and then frustration as you die again. After all that build-up, and all that thrilling development getting down to the swamp, it unfortunately felt as if the atmosphere had been popped like a very grey, bleak, brutalist balloon. I almost quit but then I noticed cheats listed on The Devil’s itch.io page...

TOM SYKES

It doesn’t stick the landing, but this taut survival horror is an absolute masterclass in building tension.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★