Devil Inside Review

The appearance of Resident Evil was an absolute boom - it introduced a new genre of video games - Horror with elements of adventure. As the technology advanced new possibilities opened for programmers, and the bliss of 3D acceleration provided splendid visual effects. The lasting popularity of Tomb Raider proved that action-adventures became one of the most popular types of games.

Once you start The Devil Inside for the first time, you cannot avoid a feeling of déjà vu; mostly because of the fact that it is a complete copy of Eidos' Soul Reaver. The engine is a bit different but the entire game has a lot of similarity to the third sequel of the Legacy of Kain. The Devil Inside uses contemporary 3D technologies, which provide a great atmosphere and action. The adventure aspect of the game is reflected in uncovering clues, pulling levers and occasional puzzles. The game is very dynamic and brings some new ideas to the genre. The pro-satanic sound of the title should not puzzle you as the game uses black, morbid humor to make fun of such ideas. It speaks of near future where all moral values are set aside, a future in which the most popular Hollywood TV show deals with bizarre and supernatural, hosted by the weird Jack T. Ripper who makes every situation sarcastically eerie. The hero of the game is Dave Ackland, an ex-cop, investigator and journalist. He takes the job of exploring a house haunted by zombies and other revolting creatures for J. T. Ripper's show. Apart from his great dexterity, Dave has a special ability to turn into Deva. This would not be too interesting if Deva was not a winged daemon with supernatural powers. Dave and his ally set off to this peculiar adventure...

The game starts with Dave in front of the haunted mansion, equipped only with his gun and accompanied by the cameraman. I have to admit that the minimum help you get from the local police force in the beginning of the game is quite useful because it lets you get accustomed to the command system. Standard moves include: running, sneaking, shooting, quick turning, and drawing guns. Dave is less than immune to zombie attacks, which will reflect on his health bar in lower left part of the screen. The data on ammunition and weapons is also situated here. Once you have no more energy left you have to load a saved game. The save-game system has been taken from PSX consoles - you have to find the right spot (shaped like a crooked TV set) on which you can save your game. This makes the game much more complicated because the save-game system has not been coordinated with level bosses and difficult puzzles, so there will be parts you will have to play again and again because you wont be able to save the game just before the troublesome bit. The texture mapping is very good: If you tear an arm off a zombie he will keep approaching you, if you blow one of his legs off he'll star crawling towards you, and the only way to stop him is a bullet in his head.

The Devil Inside has a variety of good characteristics, the most important being the continuality of the game structure, which provides non-stop playing: the game has not been cut to levels nor areas, the only times the action stops is when the game has to load the next segment, which often means you have to prepare to face your enemies. The character animation and the entire graphical aspect of the game are flawless. The visual effects are very interesting (especially lighting effects, shading and the cameras.) and, together with the excellent 3D engine, provides smooth, high quality graphics in spite the large number of complex elements on screen. The very fact that Hubert Chardot, the author of Alone in the Dark, created the game can give you an insight into the overall game atmosphere. It is certainly rich in dark and bloody scenes, highly inappropriate for younger players. There is a Parental lock option present, but it only reduces the quantity of gore on screen and leaves the rest of the game unchanged. The cameras in the game are very original indeed, but most of them are, unfortunately useless. The F1 key cycles you through flying camera, spy camera and live camera. The flying camera is a standard 3rd person view behind the hero's back and the spy camera makes the game look like an arcade, giving a side-view of the action. Live view lets you look through the eyes of the bold cameraman following Dave on his adventures. This view provides the best overview of the action together with the best feeling because ot the filters that make it look and sound like a video tape.