Bethesda has announced that the first batch of downloadable content for The Evil Within will be released in early 2015.
The Assignment is the first chapter in a two-part, story-based adventure and focuses on the exploits of Juli Kidman, who players will recall as the partner of main protagonist, Sebastian Castellanos.
According to Tango Gameworks’ Jon Johanas, the DLC will unravel more details on Ruvik, STEM, and other characters central to The Evil Within, as well as offering more explanation on Kidman’s adventure, which transpired largely off-screen during the main campaign.
"Probably two of the biggest inspirations [for The Assignment] were Chapter 5 and 9,” commented Johanas. "Chapter 9 had you uncover past stories by solving puzzles and exploring and there is a lot of that in the DLC. Overall, Juli’s adventure is rather story driven — Juli tends to ‘discover’ these things by her actions and by solving puzzles. But at the same time, the atmosphere and progression is similar to Chapter 5, where you were trapped in a very oppressive area and the ‘horror’ element was at its strongest.
"However, I would say there’s quite a bit of variation in her encounters so I wouldn’t want anyone to think ‘Oh, it’s just another Chapter XX.’ Even the ‘horror’ element has a different feel! Juli’s experiences are much more dark, lonely, and claustrophobic."
The Assignment will be followed by Part II of the story-based adventure, titled The Consequence. A third DLC pack, starring Boxman, will be released later next year.
Read our review of The Evil Within here.