The Devil In Me could be the electric season finale The Dark Pictures Anthology needs
A nice place to visit
Early last week, I had the opportunity to get hands-on with the demo for The Devil In Me, the upcoming fourth entry and season one finale of The Dark Pictures Anthology. I'm a big Dark Pictures fan, but had some reservations about this latest outing due to its subject matter, which this time around draws more inspiration from real-life serial killers than supernatural legends. Still, by the end of my 90 minutes or so with the game, my feelings had evolved considerably, and I'm happy to say I'm now way more excited for it than I was. In fact, I think this could easily end up as the best Dark Pictures game yet.
The Devil In Me follows the misadventures of the film crew behind a true crime documentary, who are lured to an isolated hotel with the promise that it'll be a great location to get some footage for their episode on H.H. Holmes. Holmes is sometimes called "America's first serial killer", but his real-life murder hotel has been long since demolished, making it hard to get that sweet B-roll. Never mind, because their mysterious host is so obsessed with Holmes that he's recreated that murder castle down to the last detail, only this one's on an island where no-one can hear you scream. The situation is so full of red flags it's hard to believe that the crew even entertained the idea, but they are really desperate to get renewed for a second season.
The demo picks up at the end of the game's first act, and runs more or less up to the point where you can witness the first of DPA's signature optional character deaths. You can see in the video how well that went for me, as well as taking a first look at some brand-new exploration and puzzle-solving sections as I creep in terror around the nightmare hotel. There's also a more in-depth chat about the demo there between myself and vid bud Liam, wherein I convince him to play this game on the basis of some pretty compelling Resident Evil comparisons.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me is out on November 18th on Steam, where it will cost you £35/$40/€40.