"Good if you don't mind the familiarty of the offering . . ."

AITD: New Nightmare has run afoul of several harsh critics which I think can be grouped into two categories: 1) People who played the original Alone in the Dark titles when they first came out and feel this new one is all look and no substance - 2) Resident Evil Fanboys who think this is a simple RE clone.

If you do not fall into either of these categories, you may just find something to like in this game.

For starters, it does indeed look great! This is the first in the series to boast a full 3-D world (albeit prerendered). Yes the game is very Resident Evil - but then it takes the BEST of Resident Evil (the Gothic mansion in the woods) and does away with what made the RE series less-than-perfect (namely, the unrealistic arsenal and the sci-tech laboratory settings). This game is all Gothic chills from start to finish. There are some very challenging puzzles along the way, and some very creepy moments. I will warn you though, there is one particularly annoying creature in this game! You know, the kind that attacks in droves and is hard to target or take down with one shot?

Which brings me to the first of several flaws. For starters, when your character is injured, she/he pauses for a brief injury animation - so, say you are in the process of targeting a creature (also requiring a brief animation), if you are about to fire and get hit, you have to stop for the injury animation, and then you must start the targeting animation again. And when creatures attack in droves, you will often find yourself in an endless cycle of "almost" getting a shot off and then getting hit - over and over! This was my main gripe with the game - but, I noticed that if you play as the male character instead of the female, you won't have this problem as often - because the creatures the male fights are less likely to attack in groups.

Which brings me to the second gripe. I first played through the game as the male (forgot the name, sorry). In the story, the two are separated on either side of the mansion - throughout the game, they interact and give each other information, even meeting a time or two to exchange items. I liked the idea of a second character having her own adventure while I had mine, and looked forward with GREAT anticipation to see what the "other" side of the story would be! Well, I was highly disappointed when I went back to play as the female because the story changed! The male character actually did different things in story B than he did when you were playin him in story A. Instead of filling in the gaps, you merely play a different variation of the same story!! You do get to access one or two different areas and take a different path or two! But, I had hoped story B would explain some of what the female had alluded to in story A!! Oh well, opportunity missed on that one!

Still, the game holds up! While you never have a true moment of panicked fear, it keeps the spooky mood up well enough. It isn't the scariest game ever (that still goes to Silent Hill 1, Undying, Resident Evil 2, and Shadowman)! But, if you are looking for a good follow up to the other Survival Horror franchises, this one is a worthy contender.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/18/04