The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me was playable during GameForce 2022 and as a fan of all things horror, I couldn’t ignore this demo. A convention isn’t the best place to test a horror game but nevertheless, this might easily become the scariest entry in the franchise yet.
H.H. Holmes’ ‘Murder Castle’
The Devil in Me is the fourth and final episode in the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology. After the deserts and tombs of House of Ashes, the franchise returns to its true horror roots. You’ll follow a small group of documentary makers who mysteriously got invited to a perfect replica of the infamous Murder Castle. H.H. Holmes was America’s first serial killer who got executed in 1896. Since he was the first of many more to come, people didn’t really know how to respond to such violence. Needless to say, a lot of dark lore got created as some kind of coping mechanism. Surely no man could be that evil if he didn’t have it all planned out. His infamous ‘Murder Castle’ is one of those central lore pieces. Allegedly, Holmes operated in a house filled with hidden rooms and torture devices to trap his victims before he killed them slowly. Not all of those claims were true but one fact never changed, Holmes was one scary man. His Murder House, or at least a perfect replica, sets the stage for The Devil in Me and after spending a couple of minutes inside, I wished I never entered the dark place.
Explore before you choose
The demo introduced four of the playable characters and was set inside the house. The moment I started playing the demo, I immediately noticed the high leap forward in graphics. I tested it on a PlayStation 5 and I was very pleased to see the added details. Where the first games of the Anthology franchise suffered from basic graphics and fixed cameras, this one follows the path of House of Ashes, giving you complete freedom over the camera which makes exploration so much easier. During the demo, I was able to explore some white corridors filled with a dark and gloomy atmosphere. From junk lying around and collapsed ceilings to the paint chipping off the walls. The tone is set from the moment you start playing and that’s exactly what you expect and hope from a game like this. The horror vibe is real and I loved it instantly. That being said, I did miss some decent audio while testing this. Since the demo was part of a bigger open convention, I didn’t really hear what was going on, which is a shame of course. A game like this is meant to be played in a smaller room and preferably in the dark, it’s then that you’ll get the immersion you need. Of course, I can’t expect this from a convention demo so I continued my exploration instead.
If you played a Supermassive Game before, you know that a lot of lore is just lying around and waiting for those who find it. The Devil in Me is filled with notes and hidden messages revealing more and more of the story the more you explore. Besides exploration, you’ll need to make some tough choices too. In the demonstration, you had to choose between certain characters and decide who lives and who dies. It’s something you know from the other games in the franchise and the moment missed its impact since I didn’t have the time to connect with the characters just yet but it’s clear that this one will force you to make some brutal decisions. As always, whatever option you’ll go for, it all comes with a price and some consequences. I love this about this franchise and the first glimpses of The Devil in Me certainly got me hyped. It feels like a darker more brutal version of the Saw franchise since you’ll bump into more deadly traps than you would want. To increase the tension, even more, it looks like you’re not alone in the house at all… I can’t wait to experience this story at its full potential later this year!
Early Conclusion:
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me is shaping up to become another great horror game set in an extremely dark and brutal atmosphere. This could easily become to scariest entry yet.
