Created using a customised version of the id Tech 5 engine, the recently announced horror game sees Detective Sebastian Castellanos and his partners encounter a mysterious and powerful force in locations including an asylum.

Intended to be a ”realization of pure horror”, Shinji Mikami has returned to his roots to ostensibly direct his Swan Song before stepping down into the role of a producer for any further works.

On the game’s own homepage, Mikami is quoted as saying:

I’ve found my focus and once again I’m striving for pure survival horror. I am being very hands-on to see that the quality is there. Rest assured.

The game is scheduled for release on 2014 on PS3, Xbox 360, PC and “other next generation consoles,” which, until further specified, should include all of them.

Labelled by Mikami himself as a ‘pure’ Survival Horror game, The Evil Within is to combine elements of both action and horror not unlike the earlier goings of the famed Resident Evil series. A third-person game with an over-the-shoulder camera setup, it at first greatly resembles the Mikami-directed Resident Evil 4, only the imagery on display is intended to be much gruesome and unnerving. Furthermore, there is to be a psychological element of horror at play during the game, where the environment will shift and change in order to leave the player feeling confused.

While it features shooter gameplay, ammunition is said to be relatively scarce and the player may otherwise lay traps such as mines to defend themselves. Although melee weapons including knives and axes will be usable by the player, too. Stealth can also be utilised at specific points, such as when Sebastian is to attempt to sneak past The Evil Within’s own chainsaw-brandishing monster, an obvious nod to his Dr. Salvador creation from Resident Evil 4.

The Evil Within is to be a purely single-player game with no multiplayer nor cooperative modes.