Supermassive Game is a powerhouse of a studio which found its stride and managed to continue perfecting it and evolving the craft to new heights. While from a humble beginning, Supermassive released the critically acclaimed Until Dawn and continued their pursuit of narrative-driven, highly interactive horror ventures where players would face unimaginable horrors but come face to face with dire questions and choices which could make or break any hardcore player. The final instalment for the first season of the dark pictures anthology, The Devil In Me, is finally here and it's time to wrap up this season of ungodly horror tales before the launch of season 2.
Does The Devil In Me end season one on a grand and terrifying note? Read on to find out.
What is The Devil in Me? 
This is the final part of season one’s The Dark Pictures Anthology, bringing together a varied collection of horror tales venturing from ghost ships in the Mediterranean Sea, to ancient vampires under the sands of Egypt. But the concluding chapter to Supermassive’s first part of their horror anthology brings things to a more grounded stance to become quite possibly the most terrifying of the four chapters.
The Devil in Me centres on a documentary film crew looking for their big break, after a string of failures and flops. Their latest film focuses on America’s first (and personally the evilest) serial killer Henry Howard Holmes. This vile induvial build his very own hotel but made it into a complex maze of death that would change at his will, allowing him to imprison people for unspeakable brutality. The crew’s film however lacks bite and is set again for failure, but their chain-smoking cockney director Charlie has a hot lead on how the film can be even better. By visiting a replica of the hotel of horrors itself for the weekend…
What could go wrong?
Well, everything does, as the crew find themselves fighting for their lives, as the hotel shifts it form to trap and kill the crew one by one. Worst of all, it seems like H.H. Holmes has come back from the dead to wreak havoc once again, but not through supernatural means. It's up to players to lead the crew through the hotel of horror to safety while discovering the truth behind the hotel, and its owner and hope to put the legacy of H.H Holmes into the ground once again… Or just let everyone die.
A change of pace *spoilers for the previous chapters in the Dark Pictures Anthology*
The Devil In Me makes an interesting change of pace thematically for the Anthology, diving more into a somewhat more grounded vision of horror. The first two instalments presented supernatural horrors on a surface level, but the horrors themselves were nothing more than an infusion of paranoia, fear and good old chemical compounds, with chapter 3 taking a journey through the underground liar of flesh-eating monsters. But for this chapter, the horror is much more man-made, and heavily inspired by an actual real-life serial killer H.H Holmes, America’s first known serial killer. The writers have picked quite possibly one of the best source materials for a video game outing, leading to a dynamic environment that changes, multiple paths to explore which could end in disaster, and all fitting the gameplay mechanics beautifully well.
The cast of this chapter includes presenter Katherine Wilder, director Charlie Lonnit, PA Erin Keenan, lighting tech Jamie Tiergan, and camera operator Mark Nestor. The group are inspiring filmmakers, yet they’re on their wit's end with each other, but most of all with the director Charlie. Due to a weekend off, they’re now spending that time having to explore a creepy hotel on a remote island filled with death traps while being hunted by a serial killer. But even before the trip, tensions are high, with everyone’s nerves as hard as nails and their egos as fragile as brittle glass.
The heroes come across as very standoffish and overall, how much you like or despise them is down to what you make them do. You have the option to push through a blossoming romance, redeem those who have made past mistakes and create unlikely heroes. Or you can make everyone a complete p**** and have them all killed off in some of the most gruesome ways possible (Supermassive know how to make some entertainingly gruesome deaths!). It’s up to you, and while it's easy and fun to make everyone unlikable and push them to their various demises, there is of course the correct series of events and choices intended for a complete and gratifying story. That’s the nature of Supermassive Games, they’re a puzzle where you figure out the right paths and form a story you could see as a fully fleshed-out film, much like a good pick-your-own adventure book.
This is what I like about Supermassive games, as there is an immense amount of choice to grasp, but there is always a path to the story you figure out as it should be played out. Charlie became my favourite of the group (as I’m a big Paul Kaye fan), but everyone has their likability, quirks, and gripes they need to overcome, and the way you look at these characters, it’s really subjective how you view them. In my case, Mark was a down-to-earth guy in most cases, while Erin is a sweet-natured helper looking to progress in the world of business. And while Charlie was deeply troubled due to his many failures, he’s incredibly relatable as a father figure looking to make sure everyone in his team survives, even if they hate him.
The backstory to the hotel and masked killer is quite a compelling one, with each piece of the puzzle being revealed slowly and in a manner which keeps you hooked. It does become somewhat clear early on what is the core of the mystery, but the new beats and twists added in kept my interest and disturbed me at the best possible moments. It was an unravelling tale of interquel, and while there are quite a few cliché moments you’ve seen many times before (with little added on), the general flow of the whole narrative is still quite compelling.
The most interesting events are in the hotel, and the use of Saw-like death traps really did make this chapter one of the most engaging.
I loved the first chapter of the Dark Anthology, Man of Mandan, with the other two being fine but lacking something special. So seeing this tweaked, more grounded entry was quite exciting and it delivered for the most part on the story, mystery and execution.
Welcome to the house of fun! 
If you’re familiar with previous Supermassive Games, then you’ll know the full gist of how The Devil in Me plays out. But a quick overview for those unfamiliar, The Devil in Me relies on exploration, decision making and puzzle-solving. This isn’t Dead Space, it doesn’t feature combat like Resident Evil, but has plenty of discoveries and problems to resolve. These are games about making choices, exploring and figuring out the various methods of survival during the darkest moments. And The Devil in Me manages to keep Supermassive’s winning formula going.
Broken up into multiple chapters, players will control each of the crew exploring the hotel, making choices which lead to various outcomes that affect the story and trying to survive the night at the hotel (or not). So, players will be following leads, speaking with another character, making those all-important choices, and completing a range of tasks from fixing fuse boxes, finding door codes, and mashing various buttons on their controllers to survive death traps. It's all-solid gameplay fluff we have seen before in these games, and while the new inclusions are small, they are neat.
One small touch I liked was where each character had their own method of lighting dark environments. Charlie has his trusty zippo lighter, making the darkness somewhat more bearable with a creepy glow. While Mark’s camera gives off single shots of light making for some tense moments where you figure something will suddenly pop out at you (and there is a moment or two when it does). These are simple, yet highly effective means to ramp up the tension. There are even more collectables now, with tokens you can find randomly in each chapter, which can be traded in for dioramas (a new inclusion to the series, which is cool).
Exploration is one of the strongest aspects, with plenty of lore to discover, delivering some extraordinary world-building, and many side attractions you could easily miss. The hotel is extremely detailed, and for older gamers like me, if you loved anything like the Ocean House in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, then this is for you.
One of the most remarkable aspects of any Supermassive Game is the presentation, which is still stellar for the most part. I do admire that these guys are making multiple 8 – 10-hour horror adventures, with high replay value, and still have them look and sound great. There are some minor odd cuts/scene transitions which are the result of a choice being made. And there are also some noticeable moments of jank, or the occasional deadpan stare from one of the characters, yet these never ruined the experience.
The one thing that Supermassive do need to do, is work on the controls as they’re massively clunky and we have moved so far from tank controls now, it amazes me why we still have them here. I understand it’s meant to feel more organic, but even tweaking the basic walking speed or turning would help massively in improving the general feel of exploration/movement. I did find some sections a little tedious where multiple climbing sections were needed, but again it didn’t ruin the intrigue of exploring or figuring out an environment task. But to bring this up, personally, I’m not a fan of the whole “Hold R2 to pick up something” mechanic, which should be updated once and for all.
The puzzles are a little uninspired for the most part, with much of what happens to be just simple key hunts, finding codes and the usual sort of thing we’ve gotten before. There are a couple of fuse box puzzles which were fine, and of course, the decisions and exploration really make up for the lack of depth in the lateral front.
Yet with these minor gripes, The Devil in Me still manages to bring about an awesome amount of intensity whether it’s through dialogue exchanges, or the immensely gory set pieces. The impact of each choice is usually really felt, carrying the weight of consequence until the bitter (or hopeful) end. Supermassive are the masters of playing with expectations, with what you think might be right, and could change the whole story in the worse possible way (and I had a couple of those moments). The various set pieces, the discovery of death traps, the lore, and the investigative aspects all combinate into a gratifying and suspenseful venture through the darkest aspects of the human mind. And the depth of choices really does add some remarkable replay value.
Even those QTE events will manage to get a kick out of you, as they’re used in the right places and offer some exceptionally intense situations to overcome. Plus, they’re usually structured in a way where they don’t overstay their welcome.
The game is genuinely intense for the most part, with a couple of chase sequels being quite thrilling and well-executed.
The future of the Dark Pictures There is a neat little easter egg to discover (which I’m sure many people know of by now), which gives a glimpse into the next season’s opener, which has been pretty exciting. I won’t go full spoiler mode here, but it seems like the grounded sense of horror will be left behind and the next venture will be much further away than any previous Supermassive Game.
I’m hopeful that the new setting will lead to some innovations in controls and expand on the already stellar exploration gameplay. We hopefully won’t have long to wait and see.
Overall? Supermassive Games don’t appear to be losing any steam after 7 years of bringing us utterly compelling, gruesome and highly innovative narrative adventures. While there are some aspects which need updating and refinement going forward, The Devil in Me offers the same high level of suspense, dynamic interaction and horrifying chills their previous games have brought us and wraps up the first season on a very strong note. If you loved their previous chapters, then The Devil in Me is a must-have, and for those new to the series, this or the Man of Madan are great entry points personally.
I can’t wait to see what Supermassive brings us next, but from the teaser at the end, my expectations are as high as the night sky and beyond!
(And on a side note, Supermassive Games should really make a SAW game, that would be very cool!)
++ Well-written narrative, and awesome world building
++ Great depth to decision-making and highly dynamic narrative
+ Presentation is supremely good, with top voice work and atmosphere
+ High replay value
-- Tank-like controls and some jank can become a little tedious
- Lack of brain-teasing puzzles
An Xbox Series X/S copy of The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
