Illusion Ray Studios and PlayWay have teamed up and brought their horror title, The Beast Inside, first released on PC in 2019, to the current generation of consoles. If horror games are your thing, you can now pick this up on the PC, Xbox Series S|X, and Playstation 5.

The Beast Inside is a narrative-focused horror game that follows two different protagonists in two different timezones. You can follow Adam Stevenson in 1979 or Nicolas Hyde in 1864. Their lives become connected whilst being 115 years apart, and you get to unravel the mystery of an unsolved murder.

The game begins with a couple moving to their new home in the middle of nowhere, and you start playing as Adam Stevenson. You are given a few different missions to complete before it takes you to the next chapter, where you are transported back in time to Nicolas Hyde and start to unravel the mystery behind the house.

The story is written in a way that really helps to keep you immersed in the title. One of the things I loved more than anything was the puzzles, They kept you thinking about what you were doing the whole time.

I was surprised at how well the controls in this title went on the Xbox. Everything worked so well and felt like it was supposed to be just like that. The movement controls were so smooth and did what they were supposed to, and this made the game that much more enjoyable. I would love to play this game in VR – I think it would bring another element to the game as you need to open doors by pulling back on the analog stick, or in other situations, cut chains with bolt cutters whilst pulling the analog stick right or left.

The graphics could have used some more work for that element of realism, with some things around the environment looking sub-par compared to the character models. All-in-all, the graphics were great, but I feel they could have used a little more touching up to make the game look a little scarier, as some of the blood splatters on the ground looked really fake, which took away from the immersion.

The audio in this title was really good but some places could have used some work. There were some times when there was a jump scare and the music made it well known it was coming, and this felt like it defeated the purpose of what was coming.

The choice in the soundtrack was well matched with the horror theme, but as I mentioned before, there were instances where the timing felt a little off. Sound effects were quite realistic, particularly from the guns, and the voice acting really dragged you into the game with how purposeful the actors were with their lines.

The Beast Inside is perfect for anyone who loves a good mystery with some jump scares and plenty of puzzles to work out. It’s a game that makes you really think about what you’re going to do next so that you can successfully move on to the next section of the story.

Written by: Hayden Nelson