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Tag: Shinji Mikami

  • The Evil Within Is The Survival Horror Game We’ve Been Waiting For

    The Evil Within Is The Survival Horror Game We’ve Been Waiting For

    Big budget survival horror has been on the decline these past few years with Resident Evil outright ditching the survival and the horror with its latest incarnation. The original creator of the series – Shinji Mikami – wants to change that with The Evil Within. The game has definitely shown promise in this regard, but the latest trailer for the game pretty much confirms that Mikami’s still got it.

    For PAX East, Bethesda Softworks released a gameplay trailer for The Evil Within that shows off many of the enemies and traps players will encounter within the game. In short, they’re all pretty creepy. The game appears to nail the atmosphere that was sorely lacking in the last Resident Evil game. Even though the playable character has a gun, it’s not empowering in the least. The game will force players to pick their fights carefully and run when needed.

    Outside of the gameplay, we’re treated to a few more story tidbits as well. There’s the question of whether or not any of the events in the game are actually happening or if the player character has simply gone insane. My money’s on the former, but the latter could prove interesting from a story telling standpoint as well. We also get a better look at the doctor who appears to be pulling the strings.

    The Evil Within will be out August 26 on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

  • ‘The Evil Within’ Launches on August 26

    ‘The Evil Within’ Launches on August 26

    Though the indie market has propped up the survival horror genre in recent years, large publishers have all but abandoned scares in favor of action. Survival horror will get another shot at the mainstream this year, though, through Bethesda’s The Evil Within.

    Bethesda today announced that The Evil Within will hit stores in North America on August 26 (August 29 in Europe). The game will be released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.

    The Evil Within is being developed under the leadership of Shinji Mikami, the creator of the Resident Evil series. As one might expect, The Evil Within is closer in tone to the early Resident Evil games than the series’ more modern incarnation. Judging from the long gameplay preview released late last year, players may be spending just as much time running from horrible things as they will be shooting them in the face:

  • New ‘Evil Within’ Gameplay Video Shows ‘Resident Evil’-Like Atmosphere

    When Resident Evil 4 debuted, it changed the survival horror genre for years. Though the game received fantastic reviews, fans of the old-school Resident Evil and Silent Hill games were greeted with a more action-oriented experience and the introduction of numerous quicktime-event cutscenes – traits that would only intensify in further sequels. Though much of the game was creepy, it was missing the sense of dread and helplessness that hung over early survival horror titles.

    In recent years, titles such as Amnesia and Outlast have brought atmosphere back to the survival horror genre. However, those games swung in an entirely opposite direction than the newer Resident Evil games, giving players no tools or weapons with which to fight off the horrors that surround them.

    Now, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami is back to split the difference with the upcoming The Evil Within. With claustrophobic surroundings, disturbing enemies, and the rare ammo box, Mikami is promising the “perfect blend of horror and action.”

    Earlier this week publisher Bethesda streamed live gameplay of The Evil Within from the EuroGamer Expo. Today it released the highlights of that stream in a long 12-minute gameplay video. Without giving much of the story away, the video shows exactly why fans of Resident Evil 4 might be excited about Mikami’s new game:

  • Bethesda’s Mystery Game Is The Evil Within

    For the past week, Bethesda has been teasing a new game announcement on Twitter. Some fans speculated that it was Fallout 4, but their hopes were dashed when Bethesda said it was something else entirely. That something else has turned out to be the new horror title from Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.

    IGN revealed this morning that Besthesda and Mikami’s new studio, Tango Gameworks, are working on The Evil Within. It’s a new survival horror title that Mikami says will provide fans with the “perfect blend of horror and action.”

    Unfortunately, we don’t have any gameplay footage. Instead, the first trailer is entirely live-action, but the monster designs shows incredible promise.

    The Evil Within is scheduled for release in 2014. It’s coming to the PS3, Xbox 360, PC and next-gen consoles.

  • Shinji Mikami, Creator Of Resident Evil, Announces New Title

    Shinji Mikami is one of those people in the gaming industry that you just have to follow. After creating Resident Evil, he went on to make some of the most well-known, and not so well-known titles, of our generation. While his latest title, Shadows of the Damned, failed to ignite sales mostly due to EA’s non-existent marketing, it appears that Mikami still has some fight left in him.

    If you’ve been out of the loop for a while, Mikami is now executive producer of Tango Gameworks. Tango is one of the newest acquisitions of ZeniMax, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. It’s here that Mikami is working on his next title: a survival-horror game codenamed “Zwei.”

    Here’s what the official Tango Web site has to say about Zwei:

    Our latest project’s codename is “Zwei” and it is a survival horror game. The above image is a collage of different environments we put together for this announcement and is intended to give a feel for the tone and the direction the production is taking. (However, neither the code name nor the image is intended to tell you exactly what is in the game.)

    As a master of the ‘survival horror’ genre, Shinji Mikami is committed to making a game that is the realization of pure survival horror, an experience which he defines as one that pushes the limits of fear and exhilaration. He and his team at Tango are committed to attaining this vision.

    What’s most interesting is that Mikami is quoted at the bottom as saying that he’s striving for “pure survival-horror.” If that’s the case, count me as excited. While Mikami is no doubt a genius for revitalizing Resident Evil with the famous fourth installment, it’s the earlier titles that are really near and dear to my heart.

    While we don’t have anything to go off of yet, the team did provide the aforementioned collage of concept art. Here’s the collage in its entirety:

    Shinji Mikami Resident Evil New Title

    As you can see, the environments are fairly diverse. We have what looks like a watchtower over a village or maybe even a concentration camp, an old ship at a port and what looks like the inside of a submarine among other visuals. All I know is that it’s dark and brooding so I like it.

    What do you think of Mikami going back to survival horror? What do you think the concept art means? Let us know in the comments.

    [h/t: Bethesda Blog]