The Evil Within trailer warns that violence is (occasionally) not the answer

The Evil Within

The Evil Within is filled with all sorts of unpleasantness, and it's not just the belligerent inhabitants of the Krimson City mental asylum that make it so. The game world itself is a nasty place, filled with puzzles and fiendish traps that will end your day in a squishy hurry.

"Exploration has its rewards," the narrator of the new trailer intones. "Extra ammunition and green gel are sometimes stashed in dwellings just out of sight." You know what else is sometimes stashed just out of sight? Homicidal maniacs with chainsaws. And while sometimes you can come out on top in such encounters, there will also be times you can't. Those giant spikes shooting up from the floor? Can't stab them in the back of the skull. Nor are you going to shoot your way past the giant egg-beater. These are problems that will require a somewhat more cerebral approach.

"While combat is constant throughout most of the campaign, challenges come in all forms. Not all threats present themselves in the form of fights with waves of Haunted; some obstacles are sneakier, more insidious," Bethesda wrote in its latest blog update. "Always look to your environment and inventory to find all the ways to approach combat. What may seem impossible at first may just mean you have to be more clever in how you manage and use the resources provided."

The Evil Within comes out on October 14.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.