The Devil in Me - Gamescom 2022 First Impressions

The fourth installment of the first season (named like this by Supermassive Games) will be delivered this year, from the The Dark Pictures horror games anthology. As in previous deliveries, The Devil in Me will put us in the shoes of a group of poor wretches who will have to survive a heartbreaking experience in order to save their lives, even if they lose their humanity.

Every story of The Dark Pictures has a real base in which the plot is built. Man of Medan is based on a lost ship during WWII. Little Hope is about the American pilgrims' witch hunting. House of Ashes is based on the monsters' story during the Iraq War. And now, The Devil in Me highlights a closer tone being based on H. H. Holmes real story, who was the first serial killer in America's history. Holmes was a doctor who, in the middle of the 19th Century, managed a hotel in the centre of Chicago, called World's Fair Hotel, in which guests went in, but never came out.

Holmes designed the whole building introducing secret rooms, trapdoors in the floor, and a basement with acid vats and quicklime wells. Everything with the only purpose of satisfying his owner's yearning. As he confessed on the court, Holmes murdered 27 people and hid them behind the walls, although it is believed that it could have been many, many more. And before he was hanged, he begged to be buried under concrete for his spirit couldn't keep killing innocent people. Holmes justified his actions every time saying that his inner devil forced him to commit them. "The Devil in Me" is, in fact, a quote he made. His hotel was demolished, with the nickname of "Murder Castle".

Besides from the macabre real story, cinema was another great inspiration for the game, specially the Saw movies saga, with its quandaries and mechanisms with which to murder their victims in the most cruel and original ways, something The Devil in Me has also demonstrated to be able to take to the next level. Likewise, The Shining, Halloween, and Friday the 13th also provided ideas to the title, and it will be very satisfying watching the gamers community looking for every tribute the design team introduced along the whole story and scenery.

But, let's talk about the game itself, since The Devil in Me has many differences regarding the remaining Supermassive games. First, we can highlight that it will be the largest game in The Dark Pictures until today, lasting more than 7 hours in total of the adventure at a normal rate. There, we will take, by turns, the control of 5 members of a television group on the verge of their dismissal who are recording a series about American serial killers. In their desperation for losing their job, they take a mystery call from a businessman called Granhem Du'Met, who is the owner of a hotel in an island which is a reliable recreation of Holmes' Murder Castle, and the team travels there in order to record an episode. No one knows that more than a fortunate recreation, it is rather a real and deadly experience.

The detail level Supermassive put in every room, corridor and object inside the hotel is devilish. Besides, due to the constant moving walls opening and closing paths, and catching characters, it is impossible to orientate. Luckly, The Devil in Me allows players to run now, which is useful to explore scenery in a faster way and look for every possible clue in order to survive.

It is also important to highlight that we can now interact with the environment in many more different ways than before in The Dark Pictures: moving objects to open new paths, climbing ladders, traversing high edges... exploring will be more exhaustive than ever.

And last but not least, every member of the team now has a little inventory in which to carry useful items, such as a card to force drawer locks, or a directional microphone with which to listen behind walls. Every option and item will make puzzles to be more challenging than ever.

We think every novelties we've seen in The Devil in Me are a natural step in this series evolution and a proof that the feedback between the players and the developer has been heard. We'll be able to enjoy this new horror adventure very soon, since The Devil in Me will be released for PC and console this november 18.

As Jigsaw would say: "Let the game begin"