It’s time to dive into another horrific timeline of events curated by Supermassive Games with another entry into The Dark Pictures Anthology. Supermassive Games paves the way for interactive drama horror video games with iconic titles like Until Dawn and The Quarry. While some entries in the anthology have been weaker than others, they always guarantee an enjoyable and tense experience for the player.
The Devil In Me is the last entry of the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology, succeeding Man of Medan (2019), Little Hope (2020), and House of Ashes (2021). Man of Medan had us aboard a ghost ship with phantom creatures, Little Hope had us trapped in a town surrounded by fog, and last year’s House of Ashes had us fighting vampiric entities in Iraq as US Armed Forces. So does The Devil In Me capture the essence of a thrilling horror experience like its predecessors? Only just.
Image courtesy of Bandai Namco Entertainment
The Devil In Me takes place in the modern day and follows a diverse group of documentary filmmakers invited to visit a replica of serial killer H. H. Holmes’ “Murder Castle”. As they start filming the documentary, things start going horribly wrong. The group must fight for their lives and make tough decisions to survive.
Once again it is your job to navigate the narrative trying to save five characters who have been thrown into a series of unfortunate events. These characters are the filmmaking crew mentioned earlier and consist of director Charlie, reporter Kate, cameraman Mark, lighting technician Jamie, and intern Erin. During the 7-8 hour experience, you learn a lot about these characters and who they are. I found myself creating an attachment to a few, which had me determined to save them even more. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way.
The formula of The Dark Pictures Anthology remains the same for this entry into the series with some welcome additions to the core gameplay. Staple features such as quick-time events and death premonitions return, while new features like an inventory system, more movement capabilities, and tool-based puzzles are added to the mix. The new inventory system is great, each character has certain tools specific to them. Two of the most daunting items to use were Erin’s headset and microphone which played ambient noises when pointed toward subjects, and Mark the cameraman uses his camera flash as a torch which means you are constantly taking photos to light up a room which can make navigating the murder house even tenser.
Image courtesy of Bandai Namco Entertainment
This is one of the most horrifying experiences out of all The Dark Pictures titles with jump scares galore. Most death scenes that I witnessed or narrowly escaped looked like they were taken straight out of a Saw film. They were brutal, which made saving the group even more paramount. I love nods to classic horror films in games like these; with previous titles in the series referencing and taking inspiration from Predator, Silent Hill, The Crucible, and more.
While the atmosphere is constructed well, the tension can fall flat outside any cutscenes or QTEs. I was on edge during traversal through the dark halls of the Murder Mansion, but in the back of my mind I knew that nothing will jump out at me or stab me in the back unless it “loads in”. The slight delay between controlling the character and a cut scene really took immersion out of the game, but these performance issues can be fixed in future patches.
Image courtesy of Bandai Namco Entertainment
The puzzles were straightforward but still enjoyable, and I’m glad to see that the developers are expanding the much-loved formula that they have constructed for their games. I would like to see them expand even more in the next season of The Dark Pictures Anthology, which was teased in a post-credit scene.
Performances by the cast were terrific with the standout being Jessie Buckley who you may know from Fargo and Chernobyl. The cast was the most diverse cast seen in a Dark Pictures game, which was a nice departure from the typical teen horror film archetypes found in previous games.
THE VERDICT
The Devil In Me is another entertaining addition and finale to the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology. While the story’s ending may be more predictable than others, it still delivers an enjoyable and captivating experience for players to enjoy solo or with friends.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me is now available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.
