10 Years Later, The Evil Within’s Psychological Horror Was Ahead of Its Time

The Evil Within was released a decade ago today, on October 14, 2014. As the initial production and new horror IP from Tango Gameworks (and published by Bethesda), the studio formed by legendary Resident Evil creator and director, Shinji Mikami, in 2010, The Evil Within understandably had many curious and eager about it prior to its debut. While its launch was generally successful in terms of sales, the resulting experience nevertheless left some fans and critics divided over its quality and content, with certain decisions leaving some confused and feeling that it didn't quite live up to the legacy it promised.

Despite these mixed reactions and misgivings, though, one of The Evil Within's most notable and widely praised aspects was its heavy emphasis on the surreal, particularly its liberal use of trippy, psychedelic scares woven into more traditional horror and gameplay. The Evil Within experimented with veering much further into disturbing mental spaces (both figuratively and literally) than many other games within the genre at the time. Now, with 10 years worth of horror titles since, it's abundantly evident that Tango's work on The Evil Within in this area marked a clairvoyant vision that has been embraced by numerous developers, from AAA to indies...