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I am a complete sucker for a good horror story.
That's a phrase that, rather unfortunately, the majority of games developers only hear the first half of, leading them to believe that they can get away with producing shoddy, half-baked attempts to scare, and leading me to view any potential survival horror games with a slightly suspicious eye. So, when my "slightly suspicious eye" fell upon The Evil Within, I considered and reconsidered several times before taking the plunge and buying the game.
The trouble is, after playing through a considerable portion of it, I'm still not entirely convinced...
It's not the production itself that's the problem. Visually, this game is a treat, it's highly stylised, beautifully lit, with film quality animation and pretty slick controls, so everything you'd expect from a big budget production from a widely recognised developer, especially when marshalled by a director of some considerable reknown. Coming from the same mind that created the highly successful (and somewhat disturbing) Silent Hill series, it has an impeccable pedigree, which sets it in good stead and provides some reassurance to anyone thinking of buying.
A minor rant here; to all those who whined incessantly online about the "appalling frame rate" present in the initial build...
YOU...
COMPLETE...
MORONS!!!
Let me explain.
The game was designed with a frame rate of 24 FPS. The same as old cine film. The same as those old grainy black and white epics that used to scare the living daylights out of unwary cinema-goers in the 30's and 40's. As the game is styled to look just like old grainy black and white film, the frame rate was INTENTIONAL! Not a fault. Not laziness, or "poor porting". A style point, a design decision, and, in my eyes, a good one at that.
Nonetheless, Bethesda, upon hearing that total morons were buying the game in their thousands and moaning persistently, decided to unlock the framerate with their first patch so that you could, if you were ignorant enough to want to, set the framerate to something "more acceptable". So, any undecided morons still out there considering buying the game can rest easy. Stop rubbing your Neanderthal foreheads with your spade-like fingers long enough to buy the game, grunt kindly at the postman when he delivers it, then load it up safe in the knowledge that you can adequately spoil it without too much effort.
In my opinion as an evolved life form with the ability to understand art, faster framerates added nothing to the game. Rant over.
When you start to play for the first time, you'll be surprised at how rapidly the story descends from comparitive normality to confusing, gruesome insanity. It doesn't waste time easing you in gently, there's no pause or gradual introduction; you get just enough of a preamble to become familiar with the basic control set before you're dumped rather unceremoniously into a hellish world of chainsaw wielding maniacs and spider-like demon girls. It's quite jarring, and more than a little tense, and you're only ten minutes in.
Gameplay-wise, it proceeds much along the lines of Alan Wake, both in terms of the "fight or flee" instinct necessary to survive, and also as it is split into very definitive chapters or episodes. In fact, it was so much like Alan Wake that I found myself seriously pondering the question "Which one is better?" on several occasions, and honestly, I still don't have an answer. For example, Alan Wake had some absolutely outstanding "investigation" elements, whereas The Evil Within has a much, much better system for hiding, distraction and combat avoidance. Both are plus points, and each has a similar level of merit.
Similar to Alan Wake also is just how "on rails" you are throughout the game. Although there is a degree of flexibility when approaching any puzzle or objective, this is nowhere near enough to afford you the luxury of fooling yourself that you have choices. But then you are inside an insane man's head, so perhaps that's appropriate (it certainly doesn't feel wrong). Tight corridors, cluttered rooms, never more than one way out, it's claustrophobic to say the least.
Attempting not to be seen in a very enclosed environment is quite the trick and does pose a fair degree of challenge, leaving you at times with little option but to fight. In fact, this is a perfect example of where choice is carefully and subtly removed from your hands, and is fairly indicative of the gameplay as a whole; you COULD run, but running will get you killed, there's nowhere to hide, so get yer gun out...
Some will doubtless find this too restrictive, others will appreciate it as a fitting format given the subject matter, and there are arguments to be made for both sides. It does however restrict the replayability somewhat, but if you are the type of gamer that has "got to get everything" then there's plenty of scope there; lots of collectibles, news articles and clippings, clues and stories. There's a couple of play-throughs there at least if you're going to see it all.
Levelling up gives some variation, allowing you to pick from a fairly wide range of skills and power ups that can significantly enhance your chances of survival. Unlike Wolfenstein or Bioshock, these do nothing to change the route or direction of gameplay, but picking the right combination does seem to ease some sequences for you.
Levelling up is also quite entertaining, taking place in a disused mortuary in a deserted asylum where you strap yourself cosily into Ol' Sparky and give yourself a few thousand volts. The imagery and atmosphere go a long way to keeping you "in the moment", unlike the majority of games where you'll just level up from a standard menu screen.
The story line (so far, at least) seems quite good and reasonably well though out; quite essential for what is basically a story-driven game, as it should be your desire to know how it all ends that pushes you on, your attachment to the characters that keeps you focused and determined to ride out the horrors. The story would be good enough to do just that, except...
There are two things I hate in any game, and, unfortunately, both are present in this one.
First, save points and checkpoints are rare. You also have to find them. Not funny, certainly not scary, and it doesn't "add to the tension", despite what games devs might think. It's just irritating. I don't want to repeat the same stupidly hard bit 364 times, but if I have to, I don't want to be sent back 20 minutes' worth of gameplay. That's a little like rubbing salt in the wounds of my gaming uselessness.
A novel idea often employed by many game designers is to allow your players to save... whenever they want! Works wonders for my mood that one...
Secondly, and possibly why the first point irritated me so much, some of the "boss fights" are ridiculously hard! Again, despite what games devs might think, adding mr."impossible to beat unless you happen to be standing on exactly that pixel at precisely the same time as the moon is full and the month begins with the letter F whilst pressing up-down-left-right- back-back-forward-forward- z-m-t-d-spacebar when using your shotgun" as the mid-chapter challenge does NOT make me want to continue, it does NOT add to atmosphere, and it does NOT add excitement to the game. Far too common a thing just lately (read "Batman Arkham Origins", "Tomb Raider", "Deus ex Human Revolution" et al). and certainly not a plus point for any game. The challenge should be in the story, in the game play, not in your ability to pull of stupidly complex keyboard acrobatics at a pinpoint-crucial time.
Yep, either one of those alone would cause minor irritation, but together they produce a disproportionate amount of sheer frustration.
Oddly, however, I find myself unable to write the game off; rather than ditching it entirely, I have, and will continue to I suspect, returned on and off for another little go, teasing another little piece from the story before hitting "frustration wall number 32" and resorting to running things over in Saint's Row 4 to ease my pain. Possibly, this is in some small part a testament to the quality of the story and it's ability to feed your "need to know".
I will most likely push on to the end at some point, but I suspect my opinion will not change, I'll still be undecided. The beautiful bits are exceptional, the scares are frequent and brutal, like any good horror film, and the story is intriguing and dark.
Minus the annoyances, this would be an 8 or 9. With them, I'd say it struggles for a 6, and yet, I'd still want to recommend it just for the bits that are (too) good...
6/8/9 out of 10.
That's a phrase that, rather unfortunately, the majority of games developers only hear the first half of, leading them to believe that they can get away with producing shoddy, half-baked attempts to scare, and leading me to view any potential survival horror games with a slightly suspicious eye. So, when my "slightly suspicious eye" fell upon The Evil Within, I considered and reconsidered several times before taking the plunge and buying the game.
The trouble is, after playing through a considerable portion of it, I'm still not entirely convinced...
It's not the production itself that's the problem. Visually, this game is a treat, it's highly stylised, beautifully lit, with film quality animation and pretty slick controls, so everything you'd expect from a big budget production from a widely recognised developer, especially when marshalled by a director of some considerable reknown. Coming from the same mind that created the highly successful (and somewhat disturbing) Silent Hill series, it has an impeccable pedigree, which sets it in good stead and provides some reassurance to anyone thinking of buying.
A minor rant here; to all those who whined incessantly online about the "appalling frame rate" present in the initial build...
YOU...
COMPLETE...
MORONS!!!
Let me explain.
The game was designed with a frame rate of 24 FPS. The same as old cine film. The same as those old grainy black and white epics that used to scare the living daylights out of unwary cinema-goers in the 30's and 40's. As the game is styled to look just like old grainy black and white film, the frame rate was INTENTIONAL! Not a fault. Not laziness, or "poor porting". A style point, a design decision, and, in my eyes, a good one at that.
Nonetheless, Bethesda, upon hearing that total morons were buying the game in their thousands and moaning persistently, decided to unlock the framerate with their first patch so that you could, if you were ignorant enough to want to, set the framerate to something "more acceptable". So, any undecided morons still out there considering buying the game can rest easy. Stop rubbing your Neanderthal foreheads with your spade-like fingers long enough to buy the game, grunt kindly at the postman when he delivers it, then load it up safe in the knowledge that you can adequately spoil it without too much effort.
In my opinion as an evolved life form with the ability to understand art, faster framerates added nothing to the game. Rant over.
When you start to play for the first time, you'll be surprised at how rapidly the story descends from comparitive normality to confusing, gruesome insanity. It doesn't waste time easing you in gently, there's no pause or gradual introduction; you get just enough of a preamble to become familiar with the basic control set before you're dumped rather unceremoniously into a hellish world of chainsaw wielding maniacs and spider-like demon girls. It's quite jarring, and more than a little tense, and you're only ten minutes in.
Gameplay-wise, it proceeds much along the lines of Alan Wake, both in terms of the "fight or flee" instinct necessary to survive, and also as it is split into very definitive chapters or episodes. In fact, it was so much like Alan Wake that I found myself seriously pondering the question "Which one is better?" on several occasions, and honestly, I still don't have an answer. For example, Alan Wake had some absolutely outstanding "investigation" elements, whereas The Evil Within has a much, much better system for hiding, distraction and combat avoidance. Both are plus points, and each has a similar level of merit.
Similar to Alan Wake also is just how "on rails" you are throughout the game. Although there is a degree of flexibility when approaching any puzzle or objective, this is nowhere near enough to afford you the luxury of fooling yourself that you have choices. But then you are inside an insane man's head, so perhaps that's appropriate (it certainly doesn't feel wrong). Tight corridors, cluttered rooms, never more than one way out, it's claustrophobic to say the least.
Attempting not to be seen in a very enclosed environment is quite the trick and does pose a fair degree of challenge, leaving you at times with little option but to fight. In fact, this is a perfect example of where choice is carefully and subtly removed from your hands, and is fairly indicative of the gameplay as a whole; you COULD run, but running will get you killed, there's nowhere to hide, so get yer gun out...
Some will doubtless find this too restrictive, others will appreciate it as a fitting format given the subject matter, and there are arguments to be made for both sides. It does however restrict the replayability somewhat, but if you are the type of gamer that has "got to get everything" then there's plenty of scope there; lots of collectibles, news articles and clippings, clues and stories. There's a couple of play-throughs there at least if you're going to see it all.
Levelling up gives some variation, allowing you to pick from a fairly wide range of skills and power ups that can significantly enhance your chances of survival. Unlike Wolfenstein or Bioshock, these do nothing to change the route or direction of gameplay, but picking the right combination does seem to ease some sequences for you.
Levelling up is also quite entertaining, taking place in a disused mortuary in a deserted asylum where you strap yourself cosily into Ol' Sparky and give yourself a few thousand volts. The imagery and atmosphere go a long way to keeping you "in the moment", unlike the majority of games where you'll just level up from a standard menu screen.
The story line (so far, at least) seems quite good and reasonably well though out; quite essential for what is basically a story-driven game, as it should be your desire to know how it all ends that pushes you on, your attachment to the characters that keeps you focused and determined to ride out the horrors. The story would be good enough to do just that, except...
There are two things I hate in any game, and, unfortunately, both are present in this one.
First, save points and checkpoints are rare. You also have to find them. Not funny, certainly not scary, and it doesn't "add to the tension", despite what games devs might think. It's just irritating. I don't want to repeat the same stupidly hard bit 364 times, but if I have to, I don't want to be sent back 20 minutes' worth of gameplay. That's a little like rubbing salt in the wounds of my gaming uselessness.
A novel idea often employed by many game designers is to allow your players to save... whenever they want! Works wonders for my mood that one...
Secondly, and possibly why the first point irritated me so much, some of the "boss fights" are ridiculously hard! Again, despite what games devs might think, adding mr."impossible to beat unless you happen to be standing on exactly that pixel at precisely the same time as the moon is full and the month begins with the letter F whilst pressing up-down-left-right- back-back-forward-forward- z-m-t-d-spacebar when using your shotgun" as the mid-chapter challenge does NOT make me want to continue, it does NOT add to atmosphere, and it does NOT add excitement to the game. Far too common a thing just lately (read "Batman Arkham Origins", "Tomb Raider", "Deus ex Human Revolution" et al). and certainly not a plus point for any game. The challenge should be in the story, in the game play, not in your ability to pull of stupidly complex keyboard acrobatics at a pinpoint-crucial time.
Yep, either one of those alone would cause minor irritation, but together they produce a disproportionate amount of sheer frustration.
Oddly, however, I find myself unable to write the game off; rather than ditching it entirely, I have, and will continue to I suspect, returned on and off for another little go, teasing another little piece from the story before hitting "frustration wall number 32" and resorting to running things over in Saint's Row 4 to ease my pain. Possibly, this is in some small part a testament to the quality of the story and it's ability to feed your "need to know".
I will most likely push on to the end at some point, but I suspect my opinion will not change, I'll still be undecided. The beautiful bits are exceptional, the scares are frequent and brutal, like any good horror film, and the story is intriguing and dark.
Minus the annoyances, this would be an 8 or 9. With them, I'd say it struggles for a 6, and yet, I'd still want to recommend it just for the bits that are (too) good...
6/8/9 out of 10.
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
I am a complete sucker for a good horror story.
That's a phrase that, rather unfortunately, the majority of games developers only hear the first half of, leading them to believe that they can get away with producing shoddy, half-baked attempts to scare, and leading me to view any potential survival horror games with a slightly suspicious eye. So, when my "slightly suspicious eye" fell upon The Evil Within, I considered and reconsidered several times before taking the plunge and buying the game.
The trouble is, after playing through a considerable portion of it, I'm still not entirely convinced...
It's not the production itself that's the problem. Visually, this game is a treat, it's highly stylised, beautifully lit, with film quality animation and pretty slick controls, so everything you'd expect from a big budget production from a widely recognised developer, especially when marshalled by a director of some considerable reknown. Coming from the same mind that created the highly successful (and somewhat disturbing) Silent Hill series, it has an impeccable pedigree, which sets it in good stead and provides some reassurance to anyone thinking of buying.
A minor rant here; to all those who whined incessantly online about the "appalling frame rate" present in the initial build...
YOU...
COMPLETE...
MORONS!!!
Let me explain.
The game was designed with a frame rate of 24 FPS. The same as old cine film. The same as those old grainy black and white epics that used to scare the living daylights out of unwary cinema-goers in the 30's and 40's. As the game is styled to look just like old grainy black and white film, the frame rate was INTENTIONAL! Not a fault. Not laziness, or "poor porting". A style point, a design decision, and, in my eyes, a good one at that.
Nonetheless, Bethesda, upon hearing that total morons were buying the game in their thousands and moaning persistently, decided to unlock the framerate with their first patch so that you could, if you were ignorant enough to want to, set the framerate to something "more acceptable". So, any undecided morons still out there considering buying the game can rest easy. Stop rubbing your Neanderthal foreheads with your spade-like fingers long enough to buy the game, grunt kindly at the postman when he delivers it, then load it up safe in the knowledge that you can adequately spoil it without too much effort.
In my opinion as an evolved life form with the ability to understand art, faster framerates added nothing to the game. Rant over.
When you start to play for the first time, you'll be surprised at how rapidly the story descends from comparitive normality to confusing, gruesome insanity. It doesn't waste time easing you in gently, there's no pause or gradual introduction; you get just enough of a preamble to become familiar with the basic control set before you're dumped rather unceremoniously into a hellish world of chainsaw wielding maniacs and spider-like demon girls. It's quite jarring, and more than a little tense, and you're only ten minutes in.
Gameplay-wise, it proceeds much along the lines of Alan Wake, both in terms of the "fight or flee" instinct necessary to survive, and also as it is split into very definitive chapters or episodes. In fact, it was so much like Alan Wake that I found myself seriously pondering the question "Which one is better?" on several occasions, and honestly, I still don't have an answer. For example, Alan Wake had some absolutely outstanding "investigation" elements, whereas The Evil Within has a much, much better system for hiding, distraction and combat avoidance. Both are plus points, and each has a similar level of merit.
Similar to Alan Wake also is just how "on rails" you are throughout the game. Although there is a degree of flexibility when approaching any puzzle or objective, this is nowhere near enough to afford you the luxury of fooling yourself that you have choices. But then you are inside an insane man's head, so perhaps that's appropriate (it certainly doesn't feel wrong). Tight corridors, cluttered rooms, never more than one way out, it's claustrophobic to say the least.
Attempting not to be seen in a very enclosed environment is quite the trick and does pose a fair degree of challenge, leaving you at times with little option but to fight. In fact, this is a perfect example of where choice is carefully and subtly removed from your hands, and is fairly indicative of the gameplay as a whole; you COULD run, but running will get you killed, there's nowhere to hide, so get yer gun out...
Some will doubtless find this too restrictive, others will appreciate it as a fitting format given the subject matter, and there are arguments to be made for both sides. It does however restrict the replayability somewhat, but if you are the type of gamer that has "got to get everything" then there's plenty of scope there; lots of collectibles, news articles and clippings, clues and stories. There's a couple of play-throughs there at least if you're going to see it all.
Levelling up gives some variation, allowing you to pick from a fairly wide range of skills and power ups that can significantly enhance your chances of survival. Unlike Wolfenstein or Bioshock, these do nothing to change the route or direction of gameplay, but picking the right combination does seem to ease some sequences for you.
Levelling up is also quite entertaining, taking place in a disused mortuary in a deserted asylum where you strap yourself cosily into Ol' Sparky and give yourself a few thousand volts. The imagery and atmosphere go a long way to keeping you "in the moment", unlike the majority of games where you'll just level up from a standard menu screen.
The story line (so far, at least) seems quite good and reasonably well though out; quite essential for what is basically a story-driven game, as it should be your desire to know how it all ends that pushes you on, your attachment to the characters that keeps you focused and determined to ride out the horrors. The story would be good enough to do just that, except...
There are two things I hate in any game, and, unfortunately, both are present in this one.
First, save points and checkpoints are rare. You also have to find them. Not funny, certainly not scary, and it doesn't "add to the tension", despite what games devs might think. It's just irritating. I don't want to repeat the same stupidly hard bit 364 times, but if I have to, I don't want to be sent back 20 minutes' worth of gameplay. That's a little like rubbing salt in the wounds of my gaming uselessness.
A novel idea often employed by many game designers is to allow your players to save... whenever they want! Works wonders for my mood that one...
Secondly, and possibly why the first point irritated me so much, some of the "boss fights" are ridiculously hard! Again, despite what games devs might think, adding mr."impossible to beat unless you happen to be standing on exactly that pixel at precisely the same time as the moon is full and the month begins with the letter F whilst pressing up-down-left-right- back-back-forward-forward- z-m-t-d-spacebar when using your shotgun" as the mid-chapter challenge does NOT make me want to continue, it does NOT add to atmosphere, and it does NOT add excitement to the game. Far too common a thing just lately (read "Batman Arkham Origins", "Tomb Raider", "Deus ex Human Revolution" et al). and certainly not a plus point for any game. The challenge should be in the story, in the game play, not in your ability to pull of stupidly complex keyboard acrobatics at a pinpoint-crucial time.
Yep, either one of those alone would cause minor irritation, but together they produce a disproportionate amount of sheer frustration.
Oddly, however, I find myself unable to write the game off; rather than ditching it entirely, I have, and will continue to I suspect, returned on and off for another little go, teasing another little piece from the story before hitting "frustration wall number 32" and resorting to running things over in Saint's Row 4 to ease my pain. Possibly, this is in some small part a testament to the quality of the story and it's ability to feed your "need to know".
I will most likely push on to the end at some point, but I suspect my opinion will not change, I'll still be undecided. The beautiful bits are exceptional, the scares are frequent and brutal, like any good horror film, and the story is intriguing and dark.
Minus the annoyances, this would be an 8 or 9. With them, I'd say it struggles for a 6, and yet, I'd still want to recommend it just for the bits that are (too) good...
6/8/9 out of 10.
That's a phrase that, rather unfortunately, the majority of games developers only hear the first half of, leading them to believe that they can get away with producing shoddy, half-baked attempts to scare, and leading me to view any potential survival horror games with a slightly suspicious eye. So, when my "slightly suspicious eye" fell upon The Evil Within, I considered and reconsidered several times before taking the plunge and buying the game.
The trouble is, after playing through a considerable portion of it, I'm still not entirely convinced...
It's not the production itself that's the problem. Visually, this game is a treat, it's highly stylised, beautifully lit, with film quality animation and pretty slick controls, so everything you'd expect from a big budget production from a widely recognised developer, especially when marshalled by a director of some considerable reknown. Coming from the same mind that created the highly successful (and somewhat disturbing) Silent Hill series, it has an impeccable pedigree, which sets it in good stead and provides some reassurance to anyone thinking of buying.
A minor rant here; to all those who whined incessantly online about the "appalling frame rate" present in the initial build...
YOU...
COMPLETE...
MORONS!!!
Let me explain.
The game was designed with a frame rate of 24 FPS. The same as old cine film. The same as those old grainy black and white epics that used to scare the living daylights out of unwary cinema-goers in the 30's and 40's. As the game is styled to look just like old grainy black and white film, the frame rate was INTENTIONAL! Not a fault. Not laziness, or "poor porting". A style point, a design decision, and, in my eyes, a good one at that.
Nonetheless, Bethesda, upon hearing that total morons were buying the game in their thousands and moaning persistently, decided to unlock the framerate with their first patch so that you could, if you were ignorant enough to want to, set the framerate to something "more acceptable". So, any undecided morons still out there considering buying the game can rest easy. Stop rubbing your Neanderthal foreheads with your spade-like fingers long enough to buy the game, grunt kindly at the postman when he delivers it, then load it up safe in the knowledge that you can adequately spoil it without too much effort.
In my opinion as an evolved life form with the ability to understand art, faster framerates added nothing to the game. Rant over.
When you start to play for the first time, you'll be surprised at how rapidly the story descends from comparitive normality to confusing, gruesome insanity. It doesn't waste time easing you in gently, there's no pause or gradual introduction; you get just enough of a preamble to become familiar with the basic control set before you're dumped rather unceremoniously into a hellish world of chainsaw wielding maniacs and spider-like demon girls. It's quite jarring, and more than a little tense, and you're only ten minutes in.
Gameplay-wise, it proceeds much along the lines of Alan Wake, both in terms of the "fight or flee" instinct necessary to survive, and also as it is split into very definitive chapters or episodes. In fact, it was so much like Alan Wake that I found myself seriously pondering the question "Which one is better?" on several occasions, and honestly, I still don't have an answer. For example, Alan Wake had some absolutely outstanding "investigation" elements, whereas The Evil Within has a much, much better system for hiding, distraction and combat avoidance. Both are plus points, and each has a similar level of merit.
Similar to Alan Wake also is just how "on rails" you are throughout the game. Although there is a degree of flexibility when approaching any puzzle or objective, this is nowhere near enough to afford you the luxury of fooling yourself that you have choices. But then you are inside an insane man's head, so perhaps that's appropriate (it certainly doesn't feel wrong). Tight corridors, cluttered rooms, never more than one way out, it's claustrophobic to say the least.
Attempting not to be seen in a very enclosed environment is quite the trick and does pose a fair degree of challenge, leaving you at times with little option but to fight. In fact, this is a perfect example of where choice is carefully and subtly removed from your hands, and is fairly indicative of the gameplay as a whole; you COULD run, but running will get you killed, there's nowhere to hide, so get yer gun out...
Some will doubtless find this too restrictive, others will appreciate it as a fitting format given the subject matter, and there are arguments to be made for both sides. It does however restrict the replayability somewhat, but if you are the type of gamer that has "got to get everything" then there's plenty of scope there; lots of collectibles, news articles and clippings, clues and stories. There's a couple of play-throughs there at least if you're going to see it all.
Levelling up gives some variation, allowing you to pick from a fairly wide range of skills and power ups that can significantly enhance your chances of survival. Unlike Wolfenstein or Bioshock, these do nothing to change the route or direction of gameplay, but picking the right combination does seem to ease some sequences for you.
Levelling up is also quite entertaining, taking place in a disused mortuary in a deserted asylum where you strap yourself cosily into Ol' Sparky and give yourself a few thousand volts. The imagery and atmosphere go a long way to keeping you "in the moment", unlike the majority of games where you'll just level up from a standard menu screen.
The story line (so far, at least) seems quite good and reasonably well though out; quite essential for what is basically a story-driven game, as it should be your desire to know how it all ends that pushes you on, your attachment to the characters that keeps you focused and determined to ride out the horrors. The story would be good enough to do just that, except...
There are two things I hate in any game, and, unfortunately, both are present in this one.
First, save points and checkpoints are rare. You also have to find them. Not funny, certainly not scary, and it doesn't "add to the tension", despite what games devs might think. It's just irritating. I don't want to repeat the same stupidly hard bit 364 times, but if I have to, I don't want to be sent back 20 minutes' worth of gameplay. That's a little like rubbing salt in the wounds of my gaming uselessness.
A novel idea often employed by many game designers is to allow your players to save... whenever they want! Works wonders for my mood that one...
Secondly, and possibly why the first point irritated me so much, some of the "boss fights" are ridiculously hard! Again, despite what games devs might think, adding mr."impossible to beat unless you happen to be standing on exactly that pixel at precisely the same time as the moon is full and the month begins with the letter F whilst pressing up-down-left-right- back-back-forward-forward- z-m-t-d-spacebar when using your shotgun" as the mid-chapter challenge does NOT make me want to continue, it does NOT add to atmosphere, and it does NOT add excitement to the game. Far too common a thing just lately (read "Batman Arkham Origins", "Tomb Raider", "Deus ex Human Revolution" et al). and certainly not a plus point for any game. The challenge should be in the story, in the game play, not in your ability to pull of stupidly complex keyboard acrobatics at a pinpoint-crucial time.
Yep, either one of those alone would cause minor irritation, but together they produce a disproportionate amount of sheer frustration.
Oddly, however, I find myself unable to write the game off; rather than ditching it entirely, I have, and will continue to I suspect, returned on and off for another little go, teasing another little piece from the story before hitting "frustration wall number 32" and resorting to running things over in Saint's Row 4 to ease my pain. Possibly, this is in some small part a testament to the quality of the story and it's ability to feed your "need to know".
I will most likely push on to the end at some point, but I suspect my opinion will not change, I'll still be undecided. The beautiful bits are exceptional, the scares are frequent and brutal, like any good horror film, and the story is intriguing and dark.
Minus the annoyances, this would be an 8 or 9. With them, I'd say it struggles for a 6, and yet, I'd still want to recommend it just for the bits that are (too) good...
6/8/9 out of 10.