Supermassive Games has recently announced that the latest entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me will be released on November 18, 2022. In addition to the recent announcement, I had the chance to preview some gameplay footage, as well as hear from Game Director, Tom Heaton, about the inspirations and influences that impacted the development of the game. Referred to as “the season one finale of the anthology”, The Devil in Me already looks to be an amalgamation of lessons learned from previous entries in the anthology and feedback from its playerbase, and the preview has left me eager to dive back into The Dark Pictures come November.

The premise this time around isn’t focused so much on a specific event in history or mythology, but draws inspiration upon a specific historic figure: H.H. Holmes. For those unfamiliar, Holmes is one of the most notorious serial killers in modern history, often referred to as America’s First Serial Killer, and infamous for his “Murder Castle” hotel in Chicago which doubled as a torture chamber and trap for unsuspecting victims. Holmes was tried for his murders, wherein he claimed he was possessed by the Devil, and was ultimately sentenced to death. The Devil in Me centers H.H. Holmes as its main inspiration, with a fictional rendition of his “Murder Castle” as the setting. Additionally, a handful of classic horror movies are also referenced as pivotal influences: the Saw series, The Shining, Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980) are a handful of films mentioned.

Those exploring the hotel, and the new group of survivors (or victims) of The Devil in Me, is a small group of five that makes up a TV production company called Lonnit Entertainment. Desperate for a hit to land a second season of their documentary, Architects of Murder, the group takes a stranger up on his offer to investigate an old abandoned hotel based and built around H.H. Holmes’ “Murder Castle.” The cast includes Lonnit Entertainment director Charlie Lonnit, the oldest member of the crew with a pension of passion but also a short-temper, Kate Wilder (portrayed by Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley) as the more meek and introverted as the group, Mark Nestor as the more chill and collected source of stability of the bunch, Jamie Tiergan who appears to win the superlative of “Least Likely To Put Up With Bullshit”, and Erin Keenan, an intern who seems to be pushed around by Charlie.

Unique to The Devil in Me is a new inventory system for each character. As the group makes up a TV production company, each member begins with specialized items unique to their job. For example, as Mark is the cameraman, he’s naturally equipped with a camera with a flash he can use for an extra source of light. Interestingly, it’s also noted that he can use the camera to “capture evidence”–it isn’t elaborated on, but perhaps The Devil in Me is reusing the “evidence” feature from Supermassive’s most recent title, The Quarry, in which the surviving character use evidence to prove their innocence at the end of the night.

Other unique items include a multimeter carried by Jamie which can be used to rewire electrical circuits, and a directional microphone that Erin can use to hear through walls. It’s also teased that these items may be upgradable, and that they may end up in the possession of other characters in the (likely) event that one is killed. In fact, not all of the characters make it out of the teaser unscathed–we’re treated to a scene which calls back to Supermassive Games’ original hit, Until Dawn, where Kate and Erin are trapped in two rooms that have the oxygen being sucked out, and the player will be tasked with choosing who to kill and who to save. This is surely just one of many life-or-death choices that players will be graced with having to deal with.

The new item and inventory feature is just one indication of Supermassive Games’ dedication to listening to feedback from its fans for the previous entries in The Dark Pictures Anthology and improving upon future titles. While many had voiced that previous entries relied too heavily on quick-time events as the core gameplay mechanic, which made gameplay a bit repetitive, they’ve remedied this by incorporating the new item system, which will likely tie into the new addition of puzzles that are also mentioned. Think classic Resident Evil and Silent Hill–it looks like you’ll need to push boxes around and search for hidden codes/passwords to move forward at times.

Additionally, while previous Dark Pictures title House of Ashes improved upon exploration mechanics by incorporating a much more fluid camera system, The Devil in Me has taken it a step (or two) further. Based on the teaser, environments are much more detailed and expansive, and will require characters to run, jump, shimmy, climb, and push their ways through it. Fans before had noted the linearity of previous Dark Pictures titles (and even Supermassive Games’ other hits, Until Dawn and The Quarry), and this will surely shake things up a bit. The teaser also mentions that this will be the longest Dark Pictures title to date–while the others clocked in around 3-5 hours, The Devil in Me has an estimated run-time of about 7 hours. That’s a lot of time to be tasked with avoiding death traps!

Overall, The Devil in Me looks to be the most cohesive entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology to date. It seems that Supermassive Games is finding its stride with balancing cinematic elements with gameplay elements to produce the best choice-based horror narrative games on the market. If you haven’t been a fan of the previous Dark Pictures titles, there’s a lot of new elements here that are likely worth your time to see if the new formula is a fit for you. And if you’ve loved the others (like myself), it feels like it’s delivering on the quality horror experience that you’d expect from Supermassive Games and will be a must-have come November.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me will be released on November 18th, 2022, on most major gaming platforms including XBOX, PS4/PS5, and PC.