Bethesda Softworks is the publisher behind such hits as Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls series, and at E3, attendees were given a glimpse at two of their upcoming titles: The Evil Within and Battlecry. Warning: some of these images are of a graphic nature and NSFW.
First, we’ll start with Tango Gameworks’ The Evil Within, a third-person survival horror game from Shinji Mikami, creator of the Resident Evil series. In The Evil Within, you are Det. Sebastian Castellanos, trapped in a desolate town pulsating with a supernatural terror. It’s close to midnight, and something evil’s lurking in the dark. Okay fine, those are the lyrics to “Thriller.” Point is, it’s a creeptastic creepshow of a game, with the creep factor ratcheted up to ultimate creep. You must rely on stealth and limited resources. Even the menu only slows down time; there is no pausing.
The graphics in the demo were still kind of PS2-ish, but I suppose it was for an intentional uncanny valley. The gameplay trailer had hideous monsters and creatures, grisly dispatching of unfortunate passersby. It stayed with me for the rest of the day, to be quite honest. The horror is very visceral, and it sucks you right in. The Evil Within is deserving of its Resident Evil legacy and honors its roots. Geez, when did video games get so violent?
Speaking of violence, now’s a good time to talk about the next part of the presentation where Battlecry Studios unveiled their namesake, Battlecry. A multiplayer freemium game with console-level graphics, Battlecry takes place in a world without gunpowder, where numerous world wars resulted in a “Black Powder Treaty,” and combatants meet in an arena to hash out the differences between nations. It’s an admittedly cool dieselpunk story with a unique cel-shaded look.
We were shown three different classes: Enforcer (broadsword), Duelist (dual swords), and Tech Archer (long-range). There were also Gadgeteer and Brawler. The base game is seemingly fun to play by itself, though paid level ups will surely grant an edge.
There are 32-player matches, and it does play like a console game. The characters themselves have decent animation cycles, but not enough reactions per hit. It’s F2P, so hey. I say the game itself is worth more than a shot. The Austin, Texas based team at Battlecry Studios have done a fine job.
The Evil Within will be released on October 21st, 2014 for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Battlecry will be released on PCs in 2015.
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