Almost three years after its big reveal at E3 2019, Tango Gameworks finally revealed gameplay for its next big open-world action game,Ghostwire: Tokyo. Fans were surprised to learn that the game is a big departure fromThe Evil Withinseries as a magic-based action game rather than a traditional survival-horror title.
While many were thrown off by this as they had come to expect more familiar titles from a studio founded by the creator ofResident Evil, it’s far too early to write offGhostwire: Tokyo.In fact, blending the horror genre with action gameplay might just be what sets the game apart.
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How Action Sets Ghostwire: Tokyo Apart
After a major fall-off during the PS3/Xbox 360 generation, the survival horror genre has made a comeback withmajor franchises likeResident Eviland Tango’s ownThe Evil Withinputting it back on the map. The revival has been so big that major publishers like EA have greenlit revivals of dormant franchises likeDead Space. Smaller projects likeTormented SoulsandThe Mediumhave also found success, as have re-releases such asFatal Frame: The Maiden of Black Water.
As much as it would make sense forThe Evil Withindevelopment team led by Shinji Mikami to work on a new survival-horror title, Tango does not have to limit itself to one genre. WhenThe Evil Withinlaunched in 2014 there were very few titles retaining the same design philosophy, as theCapcom and EA series had taken divisive action-based turns withResident Evil 6andDead Space 3. At the time, the only games carrying the survival-horror torch were the ill-fatedSilent Hillsand the cult-classicAlien: Isolation. Nowadays, the landscape of horror is completely different.
With the choice to makeGhostwire: Tokyoan action title, Tango Gameworks adds another franchise to its belt. Expanding the game’s genre outside its comfort zone allows the studio to build upon the groundwork laid byThe Evil Within 2’s semi-open world level design, creating a fully realized recreation of a supernatural-infested Tokyo.Ghostwire: Tokyostarted out as an initial concept forThe Evil Within 3, implying that the reason it became its own project is because the full open-world structure didn’t suit the isolated and resource-dependent nature ofThe Evil Within.
This change of world design, along with the experimentation of new first-person combat abilities, allow Tango Gameworks to grow its experience as a studio outside the constraints of the horror genre, and will likely bleed into whatever the studio plans to do down the road - including a likelyEvil Within 3.
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Ghostwire: Tokyo’s Horror DNA
For horror fans anticipatingGhostwire: Tokyo, the game seems just as engrained in Japanese horror as Tango’s previous work.Ghostwire: Tokyoseems to be evolving Tango’s exploration of the genre, as the game finds itself exploring Japanese folklore and urban legends through yokai and spirits. In all the footage shown of the game so far, there have beenmany enemies inspired by Japanese stories such as Kuchisake-onnaand Rokurokubi.
With this,Ghostwire: Tokyojoins a small sub-genre of horror games inspired by folklore and legends with the likes of theFatal Frameseries, comparable to franchises such asJu-On: The Grudge,Ringu, andthe works of Junji Ito. Not only is this a genre of Japanese horror that is very rarely exposed to mainstream audiences, it is one that has rarely been represented in video games outside more niche franchises. In this regard,Ghostwire: Tokyohas the opportunity to bring a less explored side of Japanese horror to the masses, while also growing Tango’s expertise with the craft.
WhileGhostWire: Tokyomay not be focusing on scares as much as Tango’s past work, that doesn’t mean the game won’t have a horror atmosphere and take advantage of its themes and setting. This could also lead toexperimentation with horror in Tango’s later work ifGhostwiresucceeds.
Ghostwire: Tokyowill release for PC and PlayStation 5 on June 26, 2025.
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