The Evil Within PC Gets A 60 FPS Toggle, Playable Demo

By Kevin Parrish
published

Earlier this month before Bethesda's The Evil Within went retail, there was somewhat of a big stink about the PC version of this game running at 60 frames per second. Bethesda pointed to an official FAQ clearly stating that Shinji Mikami and his team designed the horror-fest to run only at 30 frames per second. That didn't sit well with many PC gamers.

"The team has worked the last four years perfecting the game experience with these settings in mind," the FAQ said. "For PC players, we'll provide debug commands on how you can alter the frame rate and aspect ratio, but these commands and changes are not recommended or supported."

Now the company has provided a patch via Steam that actually allows the PC gamer to toggle between a 30 frames per second cap and a 60 frames per second cap. This new toggle is located within the Settings menu, as does a UI toggle that allows players to turn off the black letterbox bars.

According to the update notes, the patch fixes issues related to running the game over 30 frames per second and visual issues related to removing the letterbox framing. The studio has also added a frame lock setting, a fix for when the game starts in windowed mode on the first run, and other minor localization fixes.

The Evil Within launched on October 16 and currently has a Metacritic score of 67 (out of 100) on the PC. Some of the critics include PC Gamer, who gave The Evil Within a 60 due to elements such as sluggish controls, limited video options and an "utterly stupid" aspect ratio. Destructoid gave the game a 70, Giant Bomb gave it a 40 and LevelUp gave it a 78.

Haven't picked up the game yet? You're in luck, as Bethesda has provided a playable demo on Steam. This demo includes the first three chapters and allows the player to save their progress. If the player decides to purchase the game, he/she can jump in where they left off.

Bethesda's blog said that those who purchase the game will receive a free copy of Call of Cthulhu. Bethesda is also offering 50 percent off the Evil Within Season Pass. Both deals will expire on November 6, 2014.

"Already purchased The Evil Within and its Season Pass? Fear not," Bethesda's blog said. "Those that already have the main game will have Cthulhu added to your library, and purchasers of the Season Pass will receive special offers on other Bethesda titles."

To purchase The Evil Within or to download the demo, head over to Steam. The system requirements are listed towards the bottom of the product page.

Follow Kevin Parrish @exfileme. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Kevin Parrish
19 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Thaisnang
    Not buying until Bethesda completes the optimization and this goes under sale.
    Reply
  • blaint
    ""The team has worked the last four years perfecting the game experience with these settings in mind," the FAQ said."

    Well, "The Team" made a terrible, terrible mistake and whoever greenlighted that choice needs to be fired and told to go scrub toilets at a local truckstop.

    Sorry Bethesda, you are still in the doghouse for making stupid decisions. No money for you. Bad Bethesda!
    Reply
  • TUF Enforcer
    I didn't just buy a 144hz monitor to play at 60fps!
    Reply
  • a1r
    ""The team has worked the last four years perfecting the game experience with these settings in mind," the FAQ said."

    Well, "The Team" made a terrible, terrible mistake and whoever greenlighted that choice needs to be fired and told to go scrub toilets at a local truckstop.

    Sorry Bethesda, you are still in the doghouse for making stupid decisions. No money for you. Bad Bethesda!
    ""The team has worked the last four years perfecting the game experience with these settings in mind," the FAQ said."

    Well, "The Team" made a terrible, terrible mistake and whoever greenlighted that choice needs to be fired and told to go scrub toilets at a local truckstop.

    Sorry Bethesda, you are still in the doghouse for making stupid decisions. No money for you. Bad Bethesda!

    Please tell me where you believe over 60fps is better, because it's not. Your eyes only work at most 30fps. You'd never tell the difference, if someone didn't tell you what's going on to begin with. Even if your panel refreshes at more than 60Hz you'd still not be able to tell!
    Reply
  • knowom
    You'd feel the input lag difference and yes you can easily tell a difference that's why emulators don't always run smoothly and are choppy you can watch a frame rate counter as it dips down below 60FPS toward 30 it gets more choppy.
    Reply
  • iam2thecrowe
    14482952 said:
    Please tell me where you believe over 60fps is better, because it's not. Your eyes only work at most 30fps. You'd never tell the difference, if someone didn't tell you what's going on to begin with. Even if your panel refreshes at more than 60Hz you'd still not be able to tell!
    your eyes dont work in frames at all. Most people can tell the difference between 30, 60 and 100fps. this 25-30fps thing has come from films, it is the rate at which your brain no longer perceives the images as separate, but combines them into motion. It doesn't mean you cant see more than 30fps. I would agree that 60fps is enough for most people, and is what the majority of gamers probably aim for.
    Reply
  • thor220
    60 fps has been around since 3d games first started coming out. Bethesda's half-assed excuse is a real slap in the face to PC gamers. Now it's a feature to be able to go 60 fps?

    These new games shouldn't be called next gen. If anything they are taking steps back to the 90s with this crap.
    Reply
  • Antimatter79
    What about those of us who already bought the game and activated it on Steam? I don't see how I'm supposed to get a free copy of Call of Cthulhu, which is already on my wishlist. What about the PS3 version my wife got? Does she get anything? What is with people telling everyone they can't tell the difference between 30, 60, and 100 fps? If you have that issue, own it alone; don't tell everyone else they can't see what is totally obvious to the them. What I was really pleased to see is that now YouTube supports 60fps videos; I've seen it and it's very refreshing, so to speak.
    Reply
  • Christopher1
    60 fps has been around since 3d games first started coming out. Bethesda's half-assed excuse is a real slap in the face to PC gamers. Now it's a feature to be able to go 60 fps?

    These new games shouldn't be called next gen. If anything they are taking steps back to the 90s with this crap.
    60 fps has been around since 3d games first started coming out. Bethesda's half-assed excuse is a real slap in the face to PC gamers. Now it's a feature to be able to go 60 fps?

    These new games shouldn't be called next gen. If anything they are taking steps back to the 90s with this crap.
    Lol-wut? The graphics are MUCH better than 1990 era, so that is definitely not true. At most, they are taking a step back from the 60 fps standard, which makes sense for games that are not uber-fast high action games.
    Diablo 3 plays at 30fps just as 'smooth' as at 60 fps on my machine. If I limit FPS to 30, I am also able to up shadows which makes things a little more immersive.
    Reply
  • d_kuhn
    Some people can play 30fps games and not have any issues. Some people see flicker at 60fps and need even more - there is no one size fits all. The 30fps standard is a throwback to the tube TV days and has to do with phosphor persistence - the 'pixels' stayed on long enough and the human eye would glue one refresh together to the next giving a smooth continuous effect. There are things Bethesda could do to make the game play better at 30hz (which is certainly what they were referencing) but it's also likely why reviewers were complaining about lethargic control - one of the tricks is to avoid fast motion.
    Reply