The contents of the demo showcase, in my opinion, were a bit of a mixed bag, though mostly good. I think it might be easier to just layout the contents in a digestible list. The extended demo I watched was found here and is the most comprehensive gameplay footage (without stage commentary, thank god) I've seen to date.
What I Enjoyed
1. The Varying Locations
I guess this is a bit preemptive as I can only draw from the 10 minutes of footage, but the entirety of the game seems to take place in a recently post-apocalyptic city, as revealed in the last segment of the prologue. I say recently post-apocalyptic because our main character seems quite surprised to reach the outside only to find the crumbling leftovers of a once populated city before him. I'm sure there will be some sort of amnesia involved as a plot device.
But in the demo alone, we've seen some sort of butcher's den, a hospital or asylum, and a small cabin in the woods (very reminiscent of Resident Evil 4). Sometimes, switching up the locations too fast can break the gameplay flow and breach into the immersion. There is no point in minding your surroundings, if you aren't going to need to backtrack, which I feel is a staple to classic horror. But, the gameplay seems to showcase some backtracking elements, such as finding keys and items to progress further into the environment. So the multiple locations could be a great asset to the game by giving us plenty of settings to create different types of tension and shock, or it could go south if we're never allowed enough time to become fully absorbed in an area before being whisked off to the next one. For now, I'm seeing this in a positive light, because the entire game taking place in an asylum borders on cliche and sometimes you need to change things up so the audience doesn't become familiar and bored with the same jump-scare tactics.
2. The Enemy Design
We really only got a glimpse at three enemy types in the demo. The hulking butchers, armed with chainsaws and knives, the standard lumbering zombie, and well, one of the most terrifying takes on "creepy girl with black hair and pale skin, crab running around" I have ever seen. These are all monsters we've seen before in film and games, but the design looks great. The zombies really are standard, but certain touches like their clumsy movements and being wrapped in barbed wire makes you question their fate. They almost seem more of a tribute to Ghouls from the Fallout series than a classic zombie, and the hint of mystery surrounding their origins makes you question if there is any humanity left within them.
It also seems like enemies like to pursue you through most of the area, a similar element present in Nemesis from Resident Evil 3 and the Regenerator from the Dead Space series. Now a lot of gamers hate that mechanic; a somewhat invincible monster that will relentlessly chase you, rarely giving you a moment to rest and compose your thoughts. I think a lot of the hatred stems from the waste of resources that tends to come with those enemies. Most bullets and ammunition you use tend to be for a good cause; you're permanently destroying an obstacle hindering your progress. But with the unkillable baddies, all ammo dispensed is for nothing. They won't stop and you can't find that moment of peace with them continuing their pursuit. I personally welcome the chase and find the horror I see in it to drive home the scariness of the game, but I can understand why many gamers see it as an annoyance.
3. Psychological Thrills
The dumpster full of bodies in the butcher's lair, blood streaks on the ground, abandoned wheel chairs, and tidal waves of blood rushing down a hallway in a shameless tribute to The Shining. No matter how many times we've seen these things make their way into a horror title, I don't think I'll ever get sick of them. I'll admit, my initial reaction to waking up on a meat hook in a slaughterhouse was pretty tiresome, but you can't deny that after a few minutes in that environment, the chills start creeping up your spine. These things are horror stereotypes for a reason; they work. Being in an asylum, abandoned hospital, or creepy cabin are staples to the genre and I'm in full support of sticking to the classics, since we are fully aware how well those classics can be executed.
Your character also seems to be suffering from some sort of mental trauma as he imagines blood flooding towards him. Having your character imagining things puts you at the mercy of the game designers, as all breeches of reality are fair-game. Monsters are scary in their physical form, but at the same time, you know you can run away; you know you can defend yourself and that they are limited to the rules of this world. But once you start diving into the psychological scares, you need to be prepared for anything. One moment you can be walking into a room, and the next a giant twisted mouth could be forming from the ceiling, slowly descending upon you. Is it all in your head? Who knows; all that's certain is that its there, its coming for you, and it could happen when you least expect it.
What I'm Hesitant About
1. Another Third Person Shooter
I had an intense excitement during the first part of the demo, when you're extremely vulnerable. You have no weapon, no form of self-defense, and you have to sneak your way through a hazardous environment. The intensity was doubled when you sustain an injury that has you limping for the rest of the segment. With limited mobility and no protection, you are truly exposed and nothing could be scarier.
But then, the latter part of the video shows you defending a small room from waves of zombies as they try to break through the windows, which is about as subtle of a nod to Resident Evil 4 as a brick to the face. You're armed with a revolver and a scarce amount of bullets. Okay, that's fine; limiting your character's ammunition is a great way to add to the intensity. But then all of a sudden your character has access to mines. Mines? Really? Talk about breaking the immersion. What kind of cabin is stocked with some hunting trophies, a few bookshelves, a revolver, a handful of bullets, and time bombs? Being armed to the teeth is not an element of horror and is one of the primary reasons the Resident Evil series began to suffer. Give your character an arsenal, and you get rid of the tension. Hopefully, these are just sections of a much bigger experience to break up the gameplay. But for now, I'm remaining skeptical.
2. Fetch Quests and Linear Puzzle Solving
As I stated before, I enjoy backtracking in horror games. I think it gives you a reason to take care in your actions and the enemies you dispose of, since you're going to need to re-enter that area at another point. I also like puzzles contained to an area that force you to examine your surroundings and recall certain aspects of environments previously explored. But, puzzle solving was killed off in Resident Evil 4 as the experience was meant to be more linear. You find a locked door. You go a different way, fight your way to the end, find a key, loop back around to said locked door, and continue on your way. There was no search and discovery or necessary backtracking, only a short lived obstacle.
The Evil Within showcase demonstrated this early on. You find a locked door, look to see the key hanging from a hook, you sneak over to get it, and make your escape. Now I fully realize this segment of the game seems to be extremely early on, if not the beginning, so I have no problem with that existing as a tutorial. It does, however, worry me about their further use of such "puzzles" and how they will handle the exploration of your environment aiding to your progress.
3. What The Story Will Bring Us
Now there's a few ways of executing a story in horror games, but typically your character either exists as the hero tasked with saving the world, or just some sad sap who got caught up in the wrong place at the wrong type. I'm a firm believer that the latter is a much stronger way of a capturing the horror genre than the former. The Resident Evil remake for the Gamecube, one of my favorite games, keeps the characters human; they are just some people who got wrapped up in some shit they were far too unqualified to handle. It was about surviving a nightmare they were unprepared for and simply escaping with their lives intact. The Last of Us is a similar experience and I think driving home the point that your character is vulnerable and just as clueless as you are drives the mystery and strengthens that aspect of the story. It wasn't until later Resident Evil titles that the characters became the heroes; the ones meant to uncover the secrets, battle giant monsters, and save the planet. When something of that caliber is already expected of your character, all fear is out the window. You already know you are capable of incredible feats, and a few zombies or mutated freaks in your way isn't going to stop you. This form of narration kills the suspense of whether or not you'll succeed or even survive and leaves the story drained of mystery and the overbearing unknown.
It is obviously far too early to tell what direction The Evil Within will go in, but I think its a fair criticism to be worried. Overall, I think the game will be refreshing, even if we've seen some of it done before. The context of the setting and the discovery of your character is what makes the first entry to a series a great experience. There is no expectation; just a blank slate to captivate us with.
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