The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me is about to arrive and we had the opportunity to try it in preview: this is ours review. Our test happened on PC via a Steam code.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me review – back to basics
Throughout his career Supermassive Games he has accustomed his audience very well, offering stories chilling e very different from each other. With House of Ashes the bar of adrenaline and anxiety has been slightly lowered to make room for graphic sectorat the magnificence of the settings and al movement.
Con The Devil in Me but it goes back vaguely to the origins. Supermassive Games gives us one compelling storywhich often keeps us on the a razor’s edge. There is also no shortage of news and new features that will certainly make fans of the series happy.
An interesting cliché
The story is told to us by Curatorwhich with elegance and mystery introduces us to this new story, so much cliché how exciting. The core of the story is in fact one television crewconsisting of five people, which was invited to shoot the episode of a documentary in what appears to be the Castle of Horrors – or at least an excellent reconstruction – of the infamous H.H. Holmesone of America’s most ruthless serial killers.
Our protagonists have been invited by Grantham Du’Metshy and reserved billionaire who seems to have a strong passion – or obsession – with the killer and everything that concerns him. However, the crew is excited to make a career change, particularly as things have gotten a bit degenerate lately.
However we are on aprivate islandwithin a gigantic castle with who knows how many rooms and a rather homeowner suspected, we dare say. We know how these things play out, right?
New additions and mechanics
In the course of our adventure we have the possibility of control all five characterseach of which will have a small inventory and of the objects that he can use. This is one of the first novelties that we can notice in this chapter, the inventory. Each character will have one or more items that will come in extremely useful as you progress through the game.
However, the inventory is not the only novelty introduced in this new chapter of the series. You will notice immediately, in fact, that the characters will have the possibility of run (yes, that’s right, run!) and of to climb on ledges or crates that we can move by approaching and interacting with them.
However, it is the inventory that amazes most of all, since it allows us to solve some environmental puzzles. Kate Wilderthe host of the show, for example, carries a amethyst crystal which helps her to calm down; Erin Keenanthe sound of the group, instead will have with him a inhaler (asthma is a nasty beast) and also a directional microphone.
This means that, depending on the situation in which we find ourselves with our characters, we will be able to use these objects for keep our friends alive (well, it depends on your previous choices, of course).
Characters, as mentioned, can also run, jump ed to climb, thus allowing us to further explore the room or place where we are. In fact, in this new chapter we have the possibility of explore and observe more carefully the surrounding environment. We can also find objects, papers, codes that we will need later and also gods small collectibles.
Regarding this, Supermassive Games introduces another novelty: the possibility to hide.
There will be some situations in which we will have to decide whether to hide or flee / act; in the case in the first, we will have to later keep calm e our heart rate under control. An interesting addition, which gave us that extra pinch of adrenaline – especially when we couldn’t find the hiding place.
As for atmospherethe total – or almost – lack of light and the disturbing music help us to get into the part. The Devil in Me focuses more on sense of anguish, which grows more and more in the course of our adventure. We are thesiswe walk on a razor’s edgewhile an enveloping sense of restlessness it squeezes us, more and more and more and more strongly. However there are those jump scare put there purposely – some more focused and studied, some slightly more predictable.
As for the riddles we didn’t have any problems. The instructions provided by the game are enough for quickly solve the various puzzles that are around. However we hoped to be able to challenge ourselves more and we would therefore have appreciated it more elaborate puzzles.
Relationships and characters
We know that the choices have always been an important element within The Dark Pictures Anthology series. Here, in this new chapter, they seem to be even more significant e serie. In the course of our experience we will have to make the characters communicate and this will allow their particular relationship to become more or less soliddepending on your previous choices.
Between some of them the tension is cut with a knife and it will be up to us to decide in which direction to take the report. As usual, as you progress forward, the choices will always become more complicated and a single mistake will suffice – exactly, only one – to make one or more characters die.
This aspect, for some players, may result frustrating. From our point of view, however, it could instead push the player to try the title again. By replaying the game, in fact, different decisions can be made that will lead the player towards new horizons.
In this context, moreover, the famous premonitions. They work exactly like in previous games, offering us a kind of preview of how that character might die. So pay attention to your surroundings because premonitions can be found in the most unlikely places.
Some flaws
The Devil in Me managed to introduce cool features, complete with a compelling and mysterious story. However, there are still some issues that can make your gaming experience frustrating and difficult. We are talking about the character movements.
Having introduced features like running, climbing and hiding, we were convinced that Supermassive Games had also fixed the movement of the characters, making them more fluid e natural. Unfortunately it was not so.
Movements continue to result coffee e cumbersome, almost woody like old video games from the 90s. Furthermore, the climbing, ledge jumping and exploration often gave the impression of being fake, unnatural. Instead of increasing tension, which until then was almost skyrocketing, these wrong moves risked ruining everything.
With regard to bug o problems, we can be satisfied. Throughout our adventure we had to restart the game just once: in a certain section of the game, in fact, the character’s hand did not move and this did not allow us to insert a code. However, the problem was resolved quickly.
The Devil in Me review – in conclusion
House of Ashes didn’t excite us much but The Devil in Me has changed the cards on the table. We are faced with a full gamealbeit with some flaws, which gave us an experience intense e mysterious. And perfect closing chapter for the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology.
The Devil in Me boasts characters much more layered compared to the previous ones, e built more carefully. From a graphic point of view we have noticed a clear leap in qualityespecially with regards to expressions of our characters. This time the emotions are seen and felt, making it even more realistic.
Also, the mystery of the murderer is really interesting, and will keep you glued to the screen. In this chapter of the series, one is told superb storywhich, however he will never be able to give us all the answers that we seek. Maybe it’s because we couldn’t save that character? We cannot know for sure; the only thing we are sure of is that we want to play it again to see what we’ve been missing and that’s an incredibly good thing.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me officially debuts Friday 18 November. And you, are you ready? For more information, you can consult the official site.