The Beast Inside (Illusion Ray Studio)
From Resident Evil 2 to Pathologic 2, 2019 has been no stranger to horror games so far. We’ve seen plenty of good ones, a few that haven’t lived up to expectations and even a couple that took us by surprise. Then, PlayWay S.A. contacted us with a short beta version of the upcoming Illusion Ray Studio title, The Beast Inside. It is only one of the thirteen chapters from the full game, but what we experienced was already more than enough to convince us that The Beast Inside is going to be a stellar title.
The Beast Inside will give players the chance to experience the story through the eyes of two independent characters who are living in different centuries. One is Adam, a CIA cryptanalyst who moves to the country with his wife Emma in search of some peace while trying to crack a military code. The other is Nicolas, a man who a 100 years earlier lived in the same house that Adam now occupies. Adam discovers Nicolas’s hidden diary in the attic and is drawn into his story.
The chapter we played featured Nicolas as the protagonist and saw us exploring an eerie deserted inn. Except, it turned out that the inn was not as deserted as we thought, which resulted in a few heart-stopping moments. The Beast Within is played in first-person mode, which gave us ample opportunity to examine the beautifully rendered game world up close. It’s not just a case of look without touching either as the world is also very interactive and you are free to open doors, cupboards, drawers and so on. Items can also be picked up and examined, which reveals how much work has gone into rendering them. While the game features puzzles and exploration it isn’t without danger. During the chapter that we played, we encountered more than one entity that reacted with hostility to our intrusion. Some we could avoid by hiding, but others triggered a nerve-wracking chase scene that saw us sprinting full tilt for safety. The game appears to use motion capture technology, which makes the experience even more terrifying.
With The Beast Inside, Illusion Ray Studio is promising a story-driven game with immersive environments, and a new twist on the thriller and survival horror genres. Judging by the chapter that we played, they are definitely on the right track, so if you are a fan of these genres, or just enjoy being scared silly, then wishlist The Beast Inside right away. The release date for the full game is October 17th, 2019, so there is still a bit of time left to stock up on clean underwear.
