The Evil Within: Horror and havoc combine in Mikami’s homage to all things nasty

In much the same way that a dog isn't just for Christmas, The Evil Within isn't just for Halloween: even after you've completed it, Shinji Mikami’s gruelling experiment in terror remains car-crash compelling.

It’s so much more than the spiritual successor to resident Evil 4. It escapes from the narrative bear trap that hampered every resi game following Mikami’s departure, offering a nightmarish new world where meat splattering annihilation is only ever a step away. Instead of the creeping terror of PT or early resi games, you get a frantic action game which makes you truly fear death: you aren’t scared if you can cower on the floor without holding on. The Evil Within is a coiled, barbed wire spring, primed to go off in your face.

It’s also mechanically solid. The widescreen view and wizened controls make things claustrophobic, but it still works as a reactive, frantic experience. you end up dashing over walls, ducking under traps and disarming mines with just the right amount of thumb-fumbling shakiness. It’s not perfect some boss fights are horribly imbalanced and the wheels are beginning to squeak on survival horror’s rusty wheelchair but it still has the power to thrill.

This means you’ll keep playing even after all the narrative threads have unravelled. all that murderous fun outweighs any confusion.