Percy Bartelt, staff writer

From “Until Dawn”’s big hit in 2015, to a recent hit from “The Quarry” in 2022, the developing team from Supermassive Games just released a new edition to their Dark Pictures Anthology series titled “The Devil In Me” which was released Nov. 18, 2022. If you enjoy playing or watching single-player interactive horror games, then this game is for you! There will be no heavy spoilers for this game, purely basic plot descriptions which can be seen in trailers and official game loglines and summaries. 

Ever since “Until Dawn”’s release in 2015, I have been craving another game that takes place in a large, spooky mansion, and “The Devil In Me” served just that. The entire game is based off of the horrible murders from America’s first notorious serial killer H. H. Holmes from the late 1800s, specifically having to do with his architectural choices with the hotel he owned. The game centers around a five-person documentary film crew focusing on and studying the history of H. H. Holmes and his crimes. The crew receives a mysterious call from a person stating that they have Holmes memorabilia and invites them to film at their mansion on a secluded island. What could go wrong? Eventually, the crew is deserted on the island by the man that called them there in the first place, and they’re left with an ever changing mansion — just like H. H. Holmes’ hotel — the walls would change and close, secret doors with paths between rooms and a mysterious antagonist lurking in the shadows. 

Other works in the Dark Pictures Anthology series include: “Man of Medan,” “House of Ashes” and “Little Hope,” all of which were released after “Until Dawn”, however the anthologies are considerably smaller compared to Supermassive Games’ full games. Moreover, compared to the full games, “Until Dawn” and “The Quarry,” the games in the anthology series are surprisingly scored lower by audiences despite all their stories being incredibly interesting. The full games average around 4.5/5, while the anthologies average around 3/5. However, the criticism is valid in my opinion. All of the anthology series’ games deliver excellent and very creative stories, but the execution and development tends to be sloppy. The end is never satisfying, or it uses terrible clichés that are never well done, like it was all a dream, for example. That’s not to say the games aren’t enjoyable, but they could use some work; that’s just a part of being a creator. 

Despite the criticisms, both from a wide audience and myself, Supermassive Games creates excellent games and stories from brilliant minds on their teams. “The Devil In Me” is definitely my favorite among the Dark Pictures Anthology series. I love the score and detailing that went into creating the atmosphere in the game, especially with the Unreal Engine boosting its graphics. I love myself a spooky mansion and murder mystery style horror game, especially with a film crew as its main cast! Check out “The Devil in Me” for yourself on Playstation, Xbox, or PC.