Supermassive Games’ The Dark Pictures Anthology is a four-part, roller-coaster ride. Following its underwhelming start with Man of Medan, the horror series just got better and better with Little Hope and House of Ashes. The latter, however, may have been the peak of what the franchise had to offer, at least as the first season came to an end. Disgusting and feels too safe.
America’s first serial killer H. Castle” is based on the season finale. The crew sees the opportunity as a lucky chance, as funding for a second season seems unlikely. They happily hop into a blacked-out limousine, hand over their cell phones, and head to their residence.
The team soon discovers that HH Holmes’ copy of the device is far more lethal than expected. A trapdoor divides the members and a deadly contraption is ready to take their lives. Inside the mansion a killer has escaped and the team must escape.
Below is a typical Dark Pictures incident. With cinematic brilliance, control an entire crew, make choices for them, and guide their actions in life-defining moments. Play any previous title, Until Dawn or The Quarry If you’ve ever done it, you know exactly what to expect. Explore environments, pick up files and lore, cutscenes seamlessly connect him from one scenario to another, decisions must be made, and quick time events to master along the way. It’s basically a gameplay loop that hasn’t changed in eight years, and while The Devil in Me introduces some new features, it does very little to change the game.
Characters now have more objects to interact with and a simple inventory system to help them overcome puzzles and obstacles. Push and pull crates to reach new areas, solve environmental brain teasers to restore lights, and use tools to access locked drawers and cabinets. L2 can also be used to shimmy across narrow ledges, jump from one platform to another, and hide from other characters.
This doesn’t change how you play the game, but at least it gives you more things to do and think about. As you explore the haunted mansion, the pace-changing puzzles complement other mechanics, such as mini-games that keep your heart pumping as you hide from enemies. Supermassive Games has done enough with The Devil in Me to maintain its gameplay appeal, despite sticking to the same formula for almost a decade.
However, the game’s biggest failure is won’t conduct. Murder of HH Holmes and saw The movie franchise, the seven-hour experience, doesn’t explore the hotel’s moving walls and corridors and the deadly traps that await at the end as much as we would have liked. Given that it’s to the point, it’s a shame there’s so little screen time for the elaborate traps hidden within the walls of the bed and breakfast.
It really feels like a wasted opportunity, as The Devil in Me’s premise somewhat beats past Dark Pictures games. The moving walls are of little use other than shots of the killer moving quickly through different parts of the hotel, and there are very few traps. The latter is also frustratingly basic. Puzzles are part of the game, but they never exist in these life-or-death situations, at least in the ones we’ve encountered.
You’re only presented with decisions, one option likely to kill your character, and the other lead your character to safety. For example, it’s disappointing to see so much potential wasted on a basic judgment call when Trap could have been far more involved in a puzzle to solve within a time limit.
At least its simple nature made it easy to keep your favorite characters (mostly) alive all the way through. Our firm favorite is intern Erin, who delivers a strong performance alongside presenter Kate. Played by Jessie Buckley, her delivery has a wide range of past relationships to deal with, a feud with lighting expert Jamie, and the events of the night to deal with. Charlie, the director of the TV crew, occupies a considerable depth of character who warms to the character as events unfold. is.
In true Supermassive Games fashion, their models are years ahead of most other developers with highly detailed faces and fitted clothing. However, in some environments, especially outdoor ones, it’s not good enough. The gardens surrounding the hotel look rather poor, with dull foliage and a dull landscape. With a sublime character in the foreground, what’s around it is noticeably degraded in quality, giving it a rather inconsistent look.
More concerning are the many strange and jerky transitions between scenes. The game gets a bit confusing as you try to piece together one scenario into the next, with fades to black, short load times, glitchy load-ins, and breaks that don’t seem like they should be. Textures are not fully loaded on start, causing animation and lighting bugs. As far as we know, it’s a bad look that hasn’t been an issue in past Dark Pictures titles, so it’s a minor disappointment to see the issue come to an end once the season is over.
Conclusion
The Devil in Me is another capable and thoroughly enjoyable entry in The Dark Pictures anthology, but it falls short of the heights of House of Ashes and Little Hope. With so much potential wasted, we leave the familiar gameplay of past installments to his loop to deliver a robust title. With a few new features, the Season 1 finale offers just enough to make the deadly journey worthwhile for fans.
