The Beast Inside (Eternal Family Curse with Brezhnev Spies Game)

 

I’ve seen some call this game confused, conflicted, uncertain of its identity, etc. I can understand why, but like maybe you don’t know what you want to be, so how about some of that huh? For first-person survival horror that melds two entirely separate time periods together using spookery and fooking Brezhnev-era Stagnation Soviet spy puzzles, I rather enjoyed The Beast Inside. I mean who in the hell thinks of making horror out of those two ideas, gets away with it, and does it generally well? In this one you play a 1970s non-boomer named Adam, who with his pregnant wife move into a generational home linked to a figure from his family’s past, named Nic, from the coal age. Adam works for the CIA and realizes Brezhnev spies are messing with him while Nic is trying to discover the truth of his father and own life in the 19th century as you see how in the fook it all comes together in one concise oh Jesus I get it moment.

   

I can’t reveal much of anything, though, without ruining it, so let’s focus on the look and the spook (I wish that rhymed). The Beast Inside provides beautifully detailed, though clearly indie, visuals and immersive incidental sound to create effective scare. The BOO ghost jumps are few, it’s the occasional holy shit moments that do it. The primary terror here is uncertainty, never truly knowing when shit’s about to explode with fire raining down or the reality of the two plots. Combining two seemingly unrelated stories into a concise idea with spy and ghost stuff was certainly a challenge but by the ending you’re like oh shit I get it. If there’s any complaint it’s that the multiple endings are only achievable by completing The Beast Inside more than once, which you’re not likely to do. Had it been a series of choices leading up to each potential ending that would have been ace, but that’s year of extra programming, so just look up the other endings on YouTube lol. So how do Brezhnev spies and ghosts make sense together? You’ll have to see, you quarantined scum.

 

The Beast Inside Official Steam

Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

The Beast Inside
Illusion Ray Studio (developer), Movie Games SA, PlayWay (publishers)
4.1 / 5