Discover The Inspirations Behind All Things The Evil Within

The Evil Within

Three new developer diaries for The Evil Within have gone live from Bethesda and Tango Gameworks and this time they discuss their inspirations for the game, sound, and visuals

Last week we had a good long view inside the minds behind The Evil Within. At least that was in the terms of the game’s director and creator. There are a whole lot of other aspects and designers involved in making The Evil Within so it looks like now we get to dig into the grey matter of all those other people on the team over at Tango Gameworks. This time it is in the general inspirations from Shinji Mikami and all of the aspects of visual and audio design that is sure to scare our panties off when we dig into the game and not the team’s brain.

First up we have all of the inspirations that Shinji pulled from to make The Evil Within. It is no big shocker that some of the great films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn Of The Dead, and The Evil Dead are in the mix there as it is easy to see it over his career. Granted these may not be full aspects that have been included into The Evil Within but I am hoping that they are used more for us Westerners as I am not a fan of Japanese ghost stories. Even when you bring in the creepiness of Laura the monster that looks pulled right from The Ring.

The Evil Within — Inspirations: The Origins of Evil

 

Next up we have a nice long look at the audio for The Evil Within and how it has been tailored to add a sense of dread. Yes we’ve had a small look at this before but that felt more comical rather than how the little nuances of sound force human brains to react. One of the fun things that they bring up is the use of annoyance sounds to drive the player to want to run from an enemy to end the grating audio more than just survive. I’ve never noticed that in the past but I am sure it is used constantly in games but I think the team here sums it up well for The Evil Within.

The Evil Within — Audio Design: The Sounds of Evil

 

Last on the list here for The Evil Within we have the visual direction that the game has taken. Some of it sounds much like the direction Alien Isolation has been taking, the grainy look and feel, but in The Evil Within it is supposed to give us the sense of not knowing where we are or what is going on. At least when you mix that with the location jumps that run rampant throughout the game that we have seen thus far. That alone has me question what is going on and leaving me with a feeling of helplessness since planning an attack can be ruined quickly just because Ruvik shows up.

I also find it interesting that the designer here brings up the loss of being able to be scared. This isn’t due directly to The Evil Within but the horror elements that he has to put himself around on a daily basis. When you think about it here, if the scares and frights he has designed for the game made him a bit frightened then most of the standard public will need a change of pants just to make it through The Evil Within. If my excitement wasn’t already at 110% it would be now.

The Evil Within — Visual Design: The Aesthetics of Evil