Sometimes I hate how jumpy I am. Even the cheesiest, most obvious jump scares can give me the fright of my life. Sometimes, I can jump into orbit with something as simple as someone walking around a corner when I’m not expecting it. This is something that happens in Devil Inside Us: Roots of Evil. Smaller indie horror games like Slender or earlier Amnesia may have issues dealing with uncomfortable controls, broken mechanics, or even just feeling like you’re being cheated when you die. So in a world with so many indie horror games, a subgenre so saturated and filled to the brim with forgettable garbage, does Devil Inside Us manage to stand out?

Let me be clear that, despite what I’ve mentioned about being scared easily, that doesn’t mean that Devil Inside Us’ jump scares aren’t effective. In fact, I’d say it’s the contrary. In one single instance, the game does build up tension quite well, for quite some time. When the payoff finally happens, you need quick reflexes to not get grabbed by some shadowy creature. This was further improved by the game’s graphical department, which is cheap, sure, but still effective in its usage of lighting. My main issue with the presentation lies more on a design choice than a technical one, though. It’s just that the vast majority of the game’s runtime is spent inside a house, not giving the game enough environmental variety.

I also have to commend the decency of the sound design, as once again, I wasn’t expecting much from it. The sound design adds a lot of atmosphere to the world, and your character, who’s out to exorcise demons from haunted houses, is well voiced. The atmosphere is pretty effective and convincing. There wasn’t a huge amount to look at past that, like ambient sounds or recognisable/ memorable music.

There is a bit of patience needed with Devil Inside Us, as sometimes things just simply don’t work as intended or instructed. For instance, the cross you use to exorcise demon needs rosaries to work, which wouldn’t be an issue in itself (it’s essentially ammo, so I get it being included to begin with). Be it for design choices or glitches, I was already unable to utilize the cross on “my second demon”. Even with full, uh, “ammo”, my character would, for reasons unknown, refuse to use the cross to fight back. As a result, I just stood there, watch my character get beaten up by some creepy, lanky thing.

After reloading my save, I was able to use my weaponry correctly, so there wasn’t exactly a big issue in terms of losing a lot of progress. I just needed to point out that the game is indeed glitchy, and a bit janky at times.After a while you will even acquire different ways to fight back, other than just a cross. You will basically have to tear this house down at times, something I don’t think the homeowners would appreciate that much. Oops!

The writing was just acceptable, with characters just being believable enough. The atmosphere adds to how casual or creepy you should be finding everything, and when everything wants to work as intended, the combat segments are fun. One complaint I would have thought is the “puzzles” are generally too easy, where it is usually just wander to an area or part of the house, a prompt will indicate exactly what to do, like the screen turning red as it does early on, and then you do it, like exorcise a creepy bear.

Devil Inside Us is actually quite a decent time, despite my pretty low initial expectations. As much of a coward as I am with horror games like this, I had my occasional fun (and massive jump scares) with it, when it decided to work, of course. As previously mentioned, it was a somewhat glitchy experience at times. Still, it wasn’t half bad, and somewhat worth checking out if you need some frights, or anything remotely close to an exorcism-like game in your life. Or if you just want to see how much of a coward I really am.

Graphics: 6.5 Devil Inside Us is a decent looking game. Majority of what you will see is from within a house, though. There aren’t lots of outdoor environments to see and explore, so it’s a bit safe in that sense.	Gameplay: 6.0 I found this to be an enjoyable game to play, my biggest issues were the random times that the game didn’t want to register any time I wanted to fight back. It is an occasionally glitchy experience.
Sound: 7.0 The atmosphere is pretty effective, and the voice acting is convincing. There wasn’t a huge amount to look at past that, like ambient sounds or recognisable/ memorable music.	Fun Factor: 6.5 Save for small bugs and some overall cheapness, Devil Inside Us was a somewhat fun horror game to experience. I’m not in any rush to return to it, but it was less terrible than expected. And you can pet the pig.
Final Verdict: 6.5

Devil Inside Us: Roots of Evil is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Reviewed on Xbox Series X.

A copy of Devil Inside Us: Roots of Evil was provided by the publisher.