Bethesda is Giving Away Free Signed Copies of The Evil Within

It’s a simple couple of steps: first, go to BethesdaBlog.com. Second, vote in a small poll on which cover art you think is best. Third, send Bethesda an email with the name of your choice of cover art and wait to see if you’re selected for a free copy of The Evil Within. But hurry! You’ve got until this Friday, August 8 at 10am EST to enter.

So why’s Bethesda doing this?

Well, Bethesda said on their blog that the alternate design box cover for The Evil Within is up to the fans, according to GameInformer.com. Bethesda also said in their blog that “[voters] will also have the chance to enter a contest to win one of ten copies of The Evil Within signed by game director Shinji Mikami, which they will receive when the game ships.” It’d make a great collector’s item!

Who the heck is Shinji Mikami?!

Shinji Mikami is “the father of the Resident Evil franchise,” according to GameInformer.com. The Evil Within is a third-person shooter survival horror game that has created a lot of buzz since E3. Writer Tim Turi of GameInformer believes that “this is the Resident Evil 4-style follow-up we’ve been waiting for.” Once it comes out on October 14, we’ll see what the rest of the gaming community has to say about it and whether it measures up to Resident Evil or goes beyond it.

So what’s the gameplay like?

The game’s element of surprise intensifies gameplay and all the aspects that go with a scary encounter with an undead creature have rolled into one nightmare of a game. According to Turi, the game has jump scares and other horror elements that keep the game interesting.

Doors creek, enemies growl in the shadows, and a demented doctor mumbles to himself from somewhere far away. I jumped when an enemy started beating on a door I passed. At first I thought this might be a one-off jump scare, but instead the enemy beat on the door until it exploded into splinters and came after me. Low on ammo, I had to pray my last shotgun shell found purchase in its head or risk a game over.

Other scares are more subtle, including passageways that inexplicably disappear, an invulnerable ghost that stalks you periodically, and a crawling, multi-limbed woman that’s vaguely reminiscent of Samara from The Ring.

The Evil Within sounds like a refreshing, new take on what it means to survive in a horror game. We, as gamers, can always use another scary game to play! If you’d like to try to get a free copy of The Evil Within, visit BethesdaBlog.com and vote in the poll, then follow the instructions on the page and cross your fingers!