Parents Guide to The Evil Within (PEGI 18)

In the first of a series of posts looking at what PEGI 18 games have to offer adult players, as well as how to find out more about PEGI ratings, here's a look at The Evil Within with the help of father and writer Mark Clapham.

Genre and Story The Evil Within is a survival horror game where you need to survive while investigating this evil force. While there is combat this differs from  an action game - bullets are limited, some enemies are indestructible and running and hiding is often a better course than fighting. There are some role playing elements, including the upgrading of your character’s abilities and weaponry.

You play Detective Sebastian Castellanos, who while investigating a mass murder finds himself trapped in a nightmare world of deranged monsters and the greater evil force behind them.  As with the Resident Evil or Silent Hill games there are also puzzles for Sebastian to solve to open doors and make progress as you explore. The Evil Within is a new game, and should make sense for newcomers to the genre.

Developer

The Evil Within is developed by Tango Gameworks and  directed by Shinji Mikami, creator of the Resident Evil series, the most prominent series in the survival horror genre which Mikami's helped create.

Format

It's available for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Cost

The standard edition has an RRP of £59.99 on next gen consoles, £49.99 on old gen consoles and £39.99 on PC. A season pass allowing access to three downloadable content packs as they are released costs £14.99, or the packs can be purchased individually for a greater total cost.

Length

The Evil Within is expected to take around 20 hours to complete, with skilled players finishing quicker. Mikami’s games are usually linear, so further play-throughs will remain similar to the first, but also usually reward repeat plays on higher difficulty level with bonuses.  Extra downloadable chapters will also be available to buy after release, or via a season pass.

PEGI Rating and Additional Consumer Information

PEGI rate The Evil Within as suitable for 18+ with content descriptors for extreme violence, violence towards defenseless people and strong language.

PEGI expand the rating in their Additional Consumer Information, describing the game as "graphically gory" with "strong graphic violence throughout, the most extreme of which is where [Sebastian] is decapitated by a gruesome monster with a chainsaw." This also underlines that "the game contains use of strong swearing."

Themes The Evil Within is a story of horror and survival, with an underlying theme of the potential for human beings to be driven to do evil things - the barbed-wire tangled monsters have been tortured to make them monsters, and the villain taunts Sebastian about the terrible things he's going to make Sebastian do. Why People Play

In Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4 Shinji Mikami defined then redefined survival horror, and The Evil Within is a suitably horrific return to the genre. Fans are likely to flock to a game that prioritises scares and tension over the more action oriented horror games of recent years.

It’s a game that is definitely for adults only, but grown-up horror fans will find a lot to enjoy here.