The Evil Within: 5 Reasons Why This Game Can’t Scare Anyone (with GIFs)

The recently launched trailer at PAX East indicates that more than failing at horror, this game doesn’t seem to scare anyone at all.

[AaronPS]

I don't know. This game still looks great to me. Just because a demo was shown at PAX that seemed to be without explanation. I think the reason he isn't crapping his pants at every turn is because the demo takes place a while into the story, it would get annoying if he was crying over everything. As for the scares, the article says that its the same old scares from older games yet is this not the reason people were so intrigued by the game in the first place?

[randomass171]

It's from Shinji Mikami. And he's a fantastic game designer. It sounds like the PAX demo video just wasn't up to snuff. I reckon the final build will be much improved.

[Palitera]

I agree. Even with all the negative media, I still have lots of faith on the game. I NEVER disliked a Shinji Mikami game.

To me, it is a anti-AlienColonialMarines, which the press loved but screamed FAIL non-stopping. Like Brink, or Homefront, or Hunted: Demon's Forge. Or (...).

[Lord_Sloth]

Agreed. I point to Dragon's Dogma as an example. Fantastic game but had a very crummy demo.

[Matt666]

only because Shinji Mikami doesn't make it automatically good mean look how he ruined the RE series with RE4, it was no longer a survival horror game but more like a action game.

[SaturdayNightBeaver]

There must be hundreds of reasons why character is acting the way he is. No one even knows him yet, maybe he isn't scared as much ? Or just remember older games like RE and Silent Hill , i don't recall any of those characters shitting their pants at every zombie, they compare it to whiny characters like Amnesia and Outlast where we had to wrestle with and control a whiny little crappy pants through half scripted game. They were ok but they don't mean the only way action horror game can be done. Also if Shinji Mikami doesn't know how to make horror game , then no one else does either.

You can see here what he said about the game: http://www.gamespot.com/art...

[MadLad]

I am pretty sure the shift in public opinion is scaring the developers.

[mezati99]

even shinji mikami ?! i mean seriously what the fu**k happened to good survival horror games ?!

[Lord_Sloth]

How many letters do you believe are in f***?

[aLucidMind]

Should be roughly 25, right?

[VTKC]

good survival horror games started dieing in the birth of Resident Evil 4. The horror survival feeling came from the limited ammo and health as well as the limited amount of times one could save their game progress.
Resident Evil 4 had given the players the reassurance that ammo was plenty by killing enemies they magically drop. Health is the same with the ammo. The player even had cool ways to kill enemies by having the option to strategically shooting them in the face or leg and approach with a follow up attack that did severe damage to the enemy. Yes some of the enemies/monsters/creatures were very imaginative than giant mutated killer frogs and dead rabie like dogs and giant spiders but not to worry as the player is given a complete arsenal of firearms enough to excite any gun-nut enthusiast.

[on_line_forever]

i start to hate this game because its remember me of RE4 .

RE4 its like the curse affect the whole survival horror feeling .

we really must stop thinking RE4 is survival horror its NOT . even it has a good rating its not belong to the series of resident evil at all .

[VTKC]

I agree with you Genius. Resident Evil 4 is a good game but its not what Resident Evil is as in survival horror-it just wears the name. and wears it very badly.

[crusf]

This game tripped and fell... hard. So much potential what happened Shinji Mikami! You were my only hope for the struggling survival horror genre!

[mogwaii]

Cmon! There are plenty of games out and coming out that prove the survival horror genre is alive and kicking, go play outlast....you will crap yourself, daylight looks to be very creepy, the forest looks again looks awesome and creepy as hell, there are also the slender man games and many others.
Resident evil has not been scary for a long time so shinji mikami being at the helm on this one meant the same fate, i dont know why anybody thought things would suddenly change. We need to look to new blood to creep us the hell out.

[on_line_forever]

all the games you mention it its a first person view .

and for me i don't like first person view specially in games like resident evil and evil within and this is the different between them .

[UnwanteDreamz]

Man did you just call Outlast survival horror? That pile is so far removed from survival horror the only common thread is horror. Once you realise surviving in outlast is as easy as running it stops being scary or entertaining. You must have been born in early 2000 to call Outlast survival horror. Jump scares and running, that's Outlast.

[Neonridr]

@UnwanteDreamz - whether or not you call Outlast a survival horror game or not doesn't change the fact that it was actually a scary game. The first good scary game in a while. Survival Horror doesn't have to involve combat, Amnesia never did and was considered by many as one of the best Horror games out there.

[nope111]

Oh my god. Seriously guys? All criticism this game is receiving is really unfair. I've read several negative previews and they all point out the same thing: detached character.

But honestly, is that really a big deal? isn't the player suppose to be scared?
whatever, the game got the atmosphere right, and it reminds me of RE4, which is a good thing.

[DaleCooper]

The characters in the RE games were detached and emotionless too when it came to scares.

Remember Jill being freaked out when the ceiling was about to crush her? Or when she ran by those windows and the dogs jumped out? Oh, that's right, the character on-screen didn't even flinch, it was us players that tensed up!

I agree that the detached character criticism is weak and unfair.

[theDECAY]

Seriously the game you are talking about was on Playstation One. The characters didn't show emotions because the graphics were horribly young to what they are now. That's like saying Link in A Link To The Past didn't show emotion, so there's no reason this new guy in The Evil Within should.

[Ratty]

Characters in horror games NEED to be detached. It's the player that is supposed to feel scared, not the character. It's always been like that. Resident Evil and Silent Hill are perhaps the best examples of it too.

[MassOnesumis]

When you say needs to be detached do you mean in gameplay or in cutscenes or both?

[Ratty]

Gameplay.

[MassOnesumis]

I can understand that you want the audience to project themselves upon the game character. Its one of the things that separate games from films.

I think these arguments stem from the idea that games should be treated like films. And without audible/visual communication the audience wouldn't know how to feel.

[mogwaii]

Yes, the character IS supposed to be scared hence the dissapointment at a detached character! And resident evil 4 was far from scary, RE hasnt been scary for a long time, if ever. Silent hill wore that crown back in the day, not silent hill.

[theDECAY]

Silent Hill, not Silent Hill?

[ExitToExisT]

I think critism before release is a good thing. The developers have exactly 4 months (counting a day 1 patch) to improve the game.

[cfc78]

Don't know what to make of this game at the moment but im hoping its sorted by release or else it will be just another survival horror without survival or horror and that just wont do it,sort it Shinji i know you have the knowledge i just want to see the desire.

[ltachiUchiha]

I was excited about this game but there are alot of bad previews. I hope the final product improves before release.

[DaleCooper]

Where did all the hate for this game suddenly come from? It's so strange to me. Even poorly reviewed games will get positive previews, but The Evil Within is the one game the press decided to criticize and bash in a preview well before the game comes out.

[hankmoody]

Once IGN came out and said the game didn't seem to be that scary, now all these sites are coming out trashing the game. I could care less, I've still got my preorder in place.

[SaturdayNightBeaver]

IGN spreading their cancer , one dude opinion to screw the game lol? People should stay away from IGN.

[Akuma2K]

I got my game pre-ordered too, can't wait to play it.

[HonestDragon]

It does seem rather sudden for there to be a negative shift against The Evil Within. I know survival horror is a genre people really want to be well done these days, but we haven't seen a lot of the game yet. I'm going to leave my impressions of it for later when it comes out and what I hear from others. For now, I'm still interested in the game.

[Biohazard8860]

It's crazy how many sites are bashing this game over 20minutes that they seen of it i'm still getting it day 1 i do not let the gaming media make up my mind on weather i should play a video game or not.

[kingdom18]

Get rid of the gun. Having no weapon tends to make things scarier.

[Blacklash93]

There's nothing wrong with having weapons. They just need to be designed to be horror-friendly.

I do want to see the horror genre reach further than the defenseless, run-and-hide type of gameplay that's been popular for the past few years. It's a great type of gameplay that has been done very well by the likes of Amnesia: TDD, but it shouldn't be the only thing the horror genre can pull off.

[kingdom18]

Good point, bubble up for you :D

[SaturdayNightBeaver]

Thats what i try to say , but no one seems to understand , every older horror games had guns and most were amazing. RE had infinite ammo machine guns, shotguns and even bazookas but still is a masterpiece survival-horror game or look at Doom3. It can be done , if done right.

[nerdman67]

We see a few bits of the game here and there and it is branded as a failure.
Looks far better than Resident Evil 5 and 6. I will have tp wait until I play to judge, but so far Good enough for me.

[e-p-ayeaH]

The game looks ok nothing too amazing, people have too many high hopes for this game in my opinion.

[Imalwaysright]

It is made by a legendary dev that goes by the name of Shinji Mikami. Of ourse that many, me included, have high hopes for this game.

[hankmoody]

Wow, that article was a huge joke. They've already tossed the game into the huge bin based on what exactly? A couple of minutes of gameplay? Ridiculous. I'll be playing this game at night, with the lights down low and the sound turned up high. You know... PROPERLY.

[CrossingEden]

A great horror game is still terrifying in broad daylight. If you NEED to turn off the lights and turn the sound up high like pewdiepie then the game isn't as scary as it should be. Period.

[hankmoody]

Playing Dead Space for example works much better when you're playing in a proper environment. I've heard people say Dead Space wasn't scary only to find out later that they were playing the game in broad daylight with kids running around the house carrying on. Setting definitely matters.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

to crossingEDen , Why is it when i go see a horror movie in a movie theater, how come they don't leave the house lights on full bright and have a sun roof and put the sound on at a low volume? They don't because both movies and videos games of all genres are better with no lights and loud sound, because it adds to the immersion ! And i guarantee you, most people here at this site, do not film their faces and scream like a girl, like pewdie pie, when they play video games!!!!

[Bonerboy]

Oh dear me, not another 'scary' sutured bad guy with a hooded cloak giving us the old "slow raise of the head with the evil angry eyes look!" OOooooo, run away. If THIS is the main protagonist then bloody well shoot me in the face with double barreled salt rounds now as it would be much more entertaining. I am more scared and intimidated by the literal shit my cat has left for me in the litter box when I get home.

Call me petty, but if ^^this^^ kind of passe' generic crap sums up the direction this game is taking then I wont be bothering until it's on Steam for 4.99...maybe 2.99...maybe. So far it looks like a compilation of uninspired crap we've seen a hundred times before. Limp.

[TheOneWhoIsTornApart]

Why don't you play the game first before you call it generic and uninspired.

[Bonerboy]

No. I knows its when I sees its. yaarrr. If I am wrong I'll send you something nice.

[TheOneWhoIsTornApart]

I am not giving up hope on this game. I think it looks absolutely like a gritty,surreal psychological nightmare and I can't wait to dive into it. I trust Shinji Mikami.

[bienio]

Still day one for me😜

[Gore-Content]

Oh my. We're so full of shyte, aren't we? Basing your judgment off of a trailer. Wait and see, me says.

[ghostface9]

hahaha this guy talks like hes played the game all hes seen is a demo. As someone who has played it as a play tester just wait for the reviews this game plays like re4 but with new game mechanics and way more horror like environments. at the demo they showed more of the out in the open action moments. Do not write this game off it is great.
side note they were probably playing the game on easy on normal mode there is barely enough ammo to go around they just put a lot in the demo to make sure they get through the game

[Donnywho]

Resident Evil 6 was so bad... Can we just just be patient and have a little hope?

[sander9702]

I don't really know what's going on at Bethesda now with them releasing that shitty MMO and rumors of this game being bad, hopefully it won't be bad and the same goes for Wolfenstein

[J_Cob]

Some of the textures are pretty bad in that PAX video. Hopefully it's because the game isn't finished yet. *fingers crossed*

[DJrantz]

If the games difficulty is an issue, how hard is it to just put the game on hard.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

yes i agree with your statement " Just put the game on hard" I always put my game on hard setting, when playing campaigns from 7th and 8th gen.
: MONEY is the root of all EVIL:my problem is with both the studios who put out the games , and some of the so called journalist who review them! 1 / Game studios : My problem is the DEFAULT levels are actually the EASY levels in most 7th and 8th gen. games and the hard setting is actually the default setting! I think that the game developers are making the games for the hard setting. Then they test the games and the DUMB TESTERS complain because they are dying all the time , so they probably write on the comment cards "THIS GAME SUCKS" ! , "I WOULD NEVER BUY THIS CRAP GAME" ! and more comments like that. So some idiot from the studio says to the developers. "MAKE THE GAME EASIER because people will not buy the game!" / 2;Journalist who review the games: Some of the journalist who review games, whether if it a written review or video review will play on the default setting (easy) just so they can be one first review out to get more CLICKS and VIEWS! Then they have nerve to say "this game was easy" like this guy did in this article!! That is why i like JEFF GERTZMANN and GIANT BOMBS reviews, because they take their time and play the game the way it was meant to be played! ANGRY JOE also, really takes his time to do his video reviews ! the person from GAMESPOT who reviewed INFAMOUS SS on default setting gave a very good score for the game. Then played INFAMOUS SS on a harder difficulty setting and uploaded a second INFAMOUS SS review and said now the game is even better and more fun to play on harder setting! Which proves to me all journalist should review game on hard setting ! better review scores equal more sales ! Unfortunately some game studios and game journalist do not think that way!

[Ravenheartzero]

I like what I have seen so far regardless of what critics are saying, I'll be getting it

[Sleebs]

I had high hopes for this game, but after I saw this gameplay video, I knew things would go amiss. https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Stiff mechanics, bland and redundant attempts to scare, enemies don't seem like a challenge ...

I'm still hoping though.

[blackbirdi]

the only thing that make a game not scary anymore is that there is too much information and videos about the game the first time i played resident evil i had no idea whats the game is i just bought it becaUse the cover was apealing to me something with dead space one the biggest part of a scary game is mistery factor that make a game great

[Max-Zorin]

Resident Evil 6 must have left a huge psychological scar on people to the point where they start jumping to conclusions.

[Pinkdolphinyfg]

I don't care how this game turns out in the end becuase it will still be miles better than that atrocity called resident evil 6. It's sad capcom managed to do worse than my already rock bottom expectations.

[Ashunderfire86]

Well Evil Within looks to be better than Resident Evil 6, but not that scary, especially when the player can blow up zombies with mines. It destroys anything about being scared when they constantly do that. The Horror gen should of been more scarier during the PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox generation. Games like Outlast, Amnesia, and Slender could easily be done on those consoles. Well the graphics wouldn't look as good as today, but it still would work.

Horror games should be like this: You give the player lighter weapons(pistols and etc), or no weapons, to not make them feel overpowered. Make the Monster A.i. unpredictable, where they can appear at any moment from any direction. Make those Monsters truly go bump in the night, moving and manipulating objects to scare the player. The player will get the feeling of being uncomfortable. This throws the player off balance, and then the monster can reveal itself. It could be ghost as well, because they can manipulate the environment, like suddenly turning on a TV making loud noise with no signal. That stuff makes people jump in real life.

Game Developers can learn so much from horror movies, if they actually take note of these movies for reference. In a Jason movie(Well lets be honest)its the stupid college kids in the movie that are the ones truly scared, but us as the audience are always in laughter(not taking it seriously). Well the concepts for the movie that was suppose to scare the audience can work better in a game than a movie, even when the player is playing as one of the stupid college kids. In a game Jason's A.I. could be unpredictable sneaking, and surprising the player with his famous whisper sound before the kill. This could work for a survival horror story driven multiplayer, or singleplayer. Project Morpheus, and Oculus Rift can make this even more scary too .

[Pinkdolphinyfg]

No the point of survival horror is supposed to be about overcoming your fears and feeling that rewarding satisfaction afterwards according to mikami the father of the genre. Mines are just another tool in doing so. The games you mentioned are in another sub-genre that leaves the player powerless defeating the purpose of "survival horror" those games are just horror games.

[Ashunderfire86]

Yeah but its still you trying to survive against psychopaths and monsters. Its still is the same genre. Its not just horror. Stupid how I got 2 disagrees for stating the facts. Well(spoiler alert)the main character in Outlast had no weapons, but a camera throughout the whole game. At the end you had to shutdown the machine that had Ghost Billy's body, so you have to run and hide to survive. So in a sense he is trying to overcome his fear of things psychopaths, and ghost, even though Billy tookover his body as the host at the end. Its the same type of horror Resident Evil, and Silent Hill are suppose to be, even in third person. Look at Last of Us for example with those clickers. The zombies in Resident Evil should of been more like that, instead of being cannon fodder. Zombies should be like the clickers that can kill you with just one bite. This will force the player not to kill every zombie in the room, cause sometimes the best thing to do is run(Like Last Of Us). This way the player don't feel like an overpowered badass with assault rifles, and rocket launchers. Isn't that the purpose of this article anyway? To be scared?

[iNFAMOUZ1]

Agreed, this game wont be scary and isnt, its another re horror turned action horror. Not scary at all, just suspense, but suspense and fear are different.

I feel bad things about dying light too :/ hope not
Day light is a perfect example of a true horror game. I can't wait to hear from my friends I was right and they say it wasnt scary

Like another guy said, atmosphere scares not monsters with chain saws or Spider legged things.

[con4g23]

i dont care, it seems really great to me

[LightDiego]

The developers are not paying the game journalists for good previews.
I'm really excited for this game, will be way better than the shitty Amnesia, i hope so.

[Derekvinyard13]

Gotta play it first

[floetry101]

This article is ridiculous beyond reason, and the idiots in the comment thread are eating it up as fact.

Firstly, Shinji Mikami, if you aren't aware, redefined and revolutionised the survival horror genre. Secondly, the article cherry picks scenes taken from a TRAILER completely out of context and writes a critique on it with no basis for argument. Lastly, he hasn't actually played a minute of the game? That virtually refutes any stupid pre-conceived notion he might have had for the game.

Tag this post. The Evil Within will be the best horror game released in 2014. I'm looking forward to Daylight, but Mikami is the master.

[Mugen90]

That list is completely dumb.

[just-joe]

I really want this game to be good, I'll have to look into it more before deciding to get it or not.

[ibrake4naps]

I bet morpheus will help horror! With a good set of surround sound headphones! :-D

[gantarat]

Shinji want action-horror game if you want game like re remake please go find another game

[on_line_forever]

And that's is the problem .
We trust him to make this game look like resident evil 0,1,2,3 and code veronica but he fool us And take crapcoom route by make it action-horror .

He really disappoint us

[Nano_predator]

Are you still posting that comment with a straight face ?
Do you really know what the hardcore survival horror fans want ?
Oh man these new comers to the horror genre and their tastes are just beyond me O_O
How about you go back to your beloved RE6 and have fun with your delusional taste for loving this terrible new character called "Jake" , I'm not surprised these comments coming from someone who likes a ridiculous new character from RE6

[Clown_Syndr0me]

Gutted, I had high hopes for this.
But then again I really enjoyed both Saw games and this cant be any worse than those!

[mixelon]

Reminds me of.. Resident Evil 4! Which is one of my favourite games of all time.

It had it's scary moments but generally it was ridiculously silly. I like the idea of more of that.. I don't think TEW is trying to be Amnesia/Outlast... It's just been a case of unfortunate marketing and people's weird expectations..

I'm happy to see more games along these lines. :)

[DarkLord1003]

I think the game looks great. I'll buy it - no matter what...

[finito82]

there hasnt been a good thriller game since silent hill in my opinion.

[wheresmymonkey]

yeah, this reads like someone who's seen some trailers and made their minds up based soley on that. HAving actually seen the game up close and personal. rather than vicariously through trailers, i can say it's actually rather great to look at, and incredibly grim. It is tense cool and i can't wait to get my hands on the full game.

I'm not allowed to link to my posts in comments but look through my subs and you'll fin a preview from last years EGX.

[greenking45]

Shinji Mikami clearly hasn't paid any kickbacks to any game review sites yet.

[EditorAtGNG]

Hold your horses. I can admit the demo preview was a tad bland but that doesn't mean it can't win you over once you get the whole picture.

Resident Evil 4 wasn't by any definition, scary. It had its moments, sure (like those, things in the freezer) and the atmosphere itself was very creepy at times, especially the loneliness factor. However, it was far removed the "survival horror" and The Evil within seems to be following that formula, at least to a degree (having bombs, ammo and shit to throw at zombies kinda proves that point).

With that being said, RE4 is considered one of the best games of all time and we're OK with that. Having great games, no matter if true horror or not shouldn't bother us much. So, as long as it is good, who gives a shit?

[Ohhaiari]

I remember when people thought that Halo was going to fail just from judging the unpolished E3 demo that Bungie showed.

[RealtorMDandDC]

...Any way...how is someone reviewing/speculating about a 2min game trailer and the game is not out on any platforms yet news...?

How can you throw massive speculations about a game that is not even out yet from a 2min trailer?

The game is not released, yet there is an article about how it is not scary and how it fails....

This article fails on so many levels and hopefully this is not called game journalism.

Personally the game looks like it has potential.

[jeenyus]

Retarded article based on assumptions and attachement to different titles. May as well give it a rating since you know so much.

[CorndogBurglar]

I guess these guys never played the old Resident Evil games.

1. In those games, the graphics did not allow for facial expressions to change at all, yet the game was still scary.

2. You could also turn and run into another room to escape most enemies.

However, even having said that, this game still looks awful

[SCW1982]

I think this article is jumping the gun a bit the author makes it sound like he has a full understanding of what this games about and he even says one of the game mechanics is you can shut doors on enemies. I doubt this person has actually has any real hands on time and his 5 reasons seem mostly based on his perception instead of facts. That makes this whole article a made up false claims piece of click bait. Let's put a little trust in SHINJI people.

[andrewer]

What about, we play this game, and see it for ourselves?

[DOOMZ]

The game looks cool as heck!!!! I don't know What these people are talking about, SMH...

[Skate-AK]

I still have faith. Horror is hard to translate in a hands-off preview.