The Evil Within , the latest horror masterpiece by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, has to be played with some pretty strange graphics options. First of all, the game plays at 30 frames per second. Users can use debug tools to push the framerate higher, but as the game wasn’t designed to run that high not only will the game not look that much better, it will also be slightly more unstable.
Second of all, the game runs in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which… probably sounds really weird to all of you. Basically this means that the game will always… ALWAYS… be letterboxed, no matter what platform you play it on. This was actually done because certain gameplay elements show up in the black barred portion of the screen. It’s essentially an aesthetic choice that kind of breaks the fourth wall. Once again, PC users will be able to play the game in full screen though a console command, but not only will this make the game more unstable, it will also cause you to miss important gameplay elements that will show up in the letterboxed areas.
Source: Bethesda