Face true terror with this The Evil Within concept art

For most, the true horror that will be faced today is the fact that they’re back in the seventh circle of hell known as work. But this year, there’ll be some genuine frights on the horizon when The Evil Within rears its ugly insanity-infected head.

The Evil Within, a pants-crapping foray back into a genre that is generally believed to be about as dead as Michael Schumacher’s current brain patterns, is currently scheduled for release some time in 2014. Over on the fan site TheEvilWithin.net concept art from Lu Cheng has been pulled out of its restful slumber, that shows off the scope of the game and not in a way that uses star shapes to cover up nipples.

Oh, and some of them might contain spoilers, so you’ll want to hit alt-F4 if you want to avoid that sort of thing. There’s a  good chap.

If you think I’m exaggerating about how The Evil Within is a genuinely terrifying game, then let me assure you that when this title eventually does ship, it’ll need to do so with a collector’s edition that includes a fresh change of pants.

Geoff and I saw the game at E3 last year (WE WENT TO E3 YOU KNOW!), and it lived up the generous hype that it had created so far in fan circles. It’s survival horror distilled to something pure, as players find themselves wandering around a world where Homo Stab-yo-face-off is the superior life form, and facing a little bit of madness on the side as well.

It’s a Shinji Mikami game through and through, and it looks pretty damn good as well on the visual side. But what made it so memorable in the first place from our brief E3 showing, was just how well paced it was. It felt like a great horror film, as The Evil Within knows when to throw a monster or two at you, and when to let you sweat out fear juices in uneasy scenes.

Will I scream like a Justin Bieber fan when this game comes out? Most likely, yes, yes I will. But I won’t be the only person doing so.

Last Updated: January 6, 2014