The Evil Within was developed on the ID Tech 5 engine. I know many readers will have absolutely no idea what that means and the only detail necessary from it is the groundbreaking advancement achieved by the engine. This engine allows developers to not to worry about designing multiple models and environments due to the difference in memory limits between the consoles (PS4 and Xbox1) and PC. The engine streamlined models made automatically transferring the creations with the highest resolution possible for the designated platform and this allowed the developers to specifically focus on making the games graphics have the highest quality of realism they could achieve. Within this much attention put into the graphic design of the characters and environment the standard of quality between animation and art was easily achieved. The emphasis on the hyper realistic graphics combined with the character design modeled after actual human faces and dimension reinforces the players immersion fortifying the process in which the player believes the avatar is their embodiment within the games universe.

Every character within the game has their dimensions and faces modeled after their character actors or the games developers with minor adjustments. This choice of following the natural proportion of the human body further empowers the uncanniness experienced. When the avatar is intended to be perceived on all levels as human and given life through the players choices the avatar will commonly be perceived by those playing the game as either a representation of their own embodiment, or that the avatar itself has its own embodiment. This effect is the outcome desired by developers for the fact that it enhances the players experience and rather than just simply believing they are playing a game they become engrossed believing their actions have actual impact on the avatars embodiment. Kirkland addresses this perception of a double within the players and avatars relationship when he says, “Simultaneously, the avatar/player relationship reflects the later function of the double in subsequent internal processes in which where the player is the self-critical conscious viewing the avatar/ego from a displaced and superior position.” With this quote some additional insight is given for the dynamic of the relationship between the player and avatar. Although the player is held within a superior position being the one who controls every action of the avatar, the player projects their own subconscious embodiment onto the avatar through the choices they make. This projection augments the avatar into an idealistic manifestation of the players ego aided by the hyper realistic graphics and likeness the avatar shares with humans. This double is only present though if the player is immersed in the games universe due to the immersion being the projection of the double.


In addition to the projection of our ego into a virtual nightmare being uncanny now we get to discuss the uncanniness surrounding one of the games main antagonists/monsters. Her name is Laura the first uncanny aspect to her is the fact that he has a human name while being far from human. To name something so clearly monstrous with a familiar name like Laura definitely contradicts some of our preconceived world views. When told to think of a monstrosity with the intent of killing you the last thought to cross your mind would be naming it Laura. Another brilliant decision made by the developers of The Evil Within. The small amount of backstory necessary is that she was the older sister to the Ruvik (the games primary main antagonist) who was thought to have died in a fire. She actually had survive but remained in a vegetative state until her later death. The form of Laura we see within the game is Ruvik’s twisted representation of her where she has four arms, razor sharp claws, and has similar movement/behavior to that of a spider. Her human name creates an unwanted familiarity to her within the player and this revolting familiarity is due to her transgressing our worldview of a typical monster. The standard classifications of a monster are typically based out of concepts in which we have no familiarity yet fit the trope, but when the abomination begins to transgress its boundaries into becoming familiar be it through name or behavior, it becomes not only scare but uncanny. Laura’s uncanniness is increasingly supported by her perfectly intact human face. As disgustingly distorted as her body has become, her face remains unchanged. This causes Laura to practically trample any boundaries the player had for distinguishing dichotomies between human and monster. The ability for Laura to not only easily transgress but re-define the boundaries to which she is contained is the clearest form of uncanniness.

To conclude this section on art style we will take a look at the opening scene of the game. The game clearly takes influence of landscape from California and more specifically Beacon Mental Hospital is located in San Andreas. This is proven by the fact that there are numerous Beach Mental Health Facilities actually located throughout various areas of California but also by the fact that within the earthquake scene we see the city shifting upon the San Andreas fault line. Now this doesn’t have too heavy of an impact on the uncanniness within the game other than establishing that we know the game has some sort of basis in a realistic universe. Knowing that the game has influence based off our reality it simply reinforces the double relationship held within the player and avatar. The player knowing they could travel to the location in which it occurred emphasizes the immersion the player could develop and perpetuating the cycle is projecting embodiment.