Supermassive Games has positioned itself as the face of choice-based survival-horror. Since its 2015 smash-hit, Until Dawn, the studio has teetered the line of triumphs and mishaps with its Dark Pictures Anthology, as well as Until Dawn’s spiritual successor, The Quarry. The games are essentially horror movies where you’re placed at the helm of deciding who lives and who dies–a formula that has been explored in other games like Telltale’s The Walking Dead or Dontnod’s Vampyr. The first three entries of The Dark Pictures Anthology have been divisive: while praised in many ways, they’ve also each carried unique flaws as well. The latest entry, The Devil In Me, which is dubbed the “season one finale” of the anthology, is certainly an anthology highlight; however, it has some quirks of its own that can’t be overlooked.
Stepping away from psychological scares and supernatural creature features, The Devil In Me is the most true step in the traditional slasher direction for the anthology yet, and the closest to replicating the campy slasher tropes of Until Dawn. A ragtag crew of five filmmakers desperate to save their company are serendipitously invited by a stranger to film in a replica of serial killer H. H. Holmes’ famous Murder Castle. The catch–which oddly doesn’t seem to bother the crew–is that they don’t know much of anything about the person who has invited them, that they’re forced to forfeit all of their phones, and that the hotel is in the middle of an isolated island.
The tropeiness is a bit on the nose, but it’s fun and classic–the sense of tension is palpable, and Supermassive took extra care to fully lean into the slasher genre. Like previous entries in the anthology, a continued highlight is how The Devil In Me takes inspiration from seminal horror classics and incorporates it into the cinematography. Expect POV shots from the killer watching the characters that you’re controlling a la Black Christmas or Halloween, which is incorporated seamlessly for a setting like a booby-trap laced mansion and a killer molded to be as sinister as H. H. Holmes.
In terms of gameplay and performance, it’s a bit more of a mixed bag that may be more reliant on personal preference. On the plus side, Supermassive has implemented expansive accessibility options that range from easier to read audio and visual queues, to more simplified versions of quick-time-events (QTEs), which had been scrutinized for being a bit too unforgiving in the past.
When it comes to actual gameplay, the verdict sits more on middle-ground. In an effort to combat linearity, The Devil In Me is the most interactive title of the series to date–for better or worse. Personally, I enjoyed the interactive additions. Simple puzzles, like moving a dumpster to help me climb up a wall or hunting through documents to find a numerical code needed to advance, made it feel more like a classic horror game and helped maintain my attention. However, I could see how this could be a hindrance for folks who are seeking out the more choice-based-movie angle of the game who don’t want to get slowed down by having to solve puzzles. I preferred the slowdown that the puzzles provided, as it allowed tension to build again after narrowly avoiding being killed, but again, I can see this being a divisive aspect.
Unfortunately, I was surprised with the lack of polish that The Devil In Me had in comparison to its predecessors. As someone who has played both single player and multiplayer modes of every previous title, this was by far the glitchiest experience I’ve had with the anthology to date. These glitches ranged from minor quirks, like characters levitating through crevices that they should be squeezing through, to one character appearing in a cutscene alive and well despite being crushed to death by a wall just moments before.
Other times, in multiplayer, the game would arbitrarily decide that one player had “failed” certain QTEs despite being completed properly, leading to some frustrating deaths that felt unfair. There’s also a noticeable decline in character graphics–while the vocal performances are fine, the character expressions look notably more stiff and awkward, which is jarring given that this wasn’t an issue in any previous game. I can’t help but feel that The Devil In Me was more of a rushed product than the previous entries, but this could potentially be fixed with near-future patches.
Rearing back to the plot and characters, they’re some of the best of the anthology thus far. The killer is the most viscerally frightening antagonist to date (which is no surprise given the serial killer he’s based off of). He’s an omnipresent predator that likes to chase and play with his food, leading to some devastating traps with near impossible choices, and some pretty gnarly death scenes. Even if you don’t vibe with the entire cast of main characters, you’re sure to pick out at least one or two members of Lonnit Entertainment that you’ll fight tooth and nail to keep alive through the night. I resonated most with the girls of the group (including Kate, portrayed by Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley), who each exhibited Final Girl qualities in one way or another when they weren’t running away screaming down the halls Scooby-Doo style with the killer chasing them.
Without spoiling anything, some of my favorite aspects of The Devil In Me involve its lore and endings, which I’d argue will be very satisfying for fans of the series who have felt prior titles had trouble sticking the landing. There’s quite a few possible endings, each with interesting implications, including an extremely devastating ending that can only be achieved through specific means. I’d argue The Devil In Me has the most alluring replay value of the entire anthology.
The Devil In Me is an effective and satisfying conclusion to the first round of games in The Dark Pictures Anthology. It’s been an exciting ride seeing how each new game builds off of its predecessor, and The Devil In Me is a clear amalgamation of Supermassive Games’ lessons learned of the past three years since the anthology’s inaugural release of Man of Medan. While it did have some surprising pitfalls in terms of performance and polish, I can easily see The Devil In Me sitting firm near the top of many fans’ rankings of the anthology.
If you’re eager to book a stay at the Murder Castle, The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me is available on Playstation 4 & 5, Xbox One, and PC.
The post ‘The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me’ Review – A Satisfying Season Finale That’s Still Rough Around the Edges appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
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