Note to game developers: setting children on fire will get you a Mature rating. It would seem the folks at the ESRB saw The Evil Within’s abundance of impalement, dismemberment, mutilated bodies, exposed organs, copious amounts of blood, and a flashback scene where kids are being burned alive as something that should be kept from the innocent eyes of anyone under 17. I can’t say I’m surprised. After my hands-on time with it back in May, I saw enough in the first five minutes to warrant an M rating.
Even still, their rundown of the game’s more violent bits is a fun read.
This is a survival-horror action game in which players assume the role of a police detective investigating murders at an insane asylum. As players investigate and explore the mysterious environments, they use knives, pistols, shotguns, and explosives to kill human-like creatures and monsters. The frenetic combat is accompanied by screams of pain and realistic gunfire. Some attacks result in impalement and dismemberment/decapitation, with large blood-splatter effects; some environments also depict blood-splattered floors and mutilated bodies with exposed organs/viscera. Cutscenes also depict intense acts of violence: a flashback of children being burned alive; a character decapitated by a guillotine; a man set ablaze while bound to a chair. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” can be heard in the dialogue.
The Evil Within is scheduled to arrive on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on October 14.
