Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

"Very scary indeed!"

I was strolling about in the local store when I came across this game at a reasonable price. Since I am a fan of the survival horror genre I picked it up right away. I was in for a pleasantly scary surprise.

Gameplay 8/10
The controls seem to be exactly like a Resident Evil game right down to the aiming button. This makes it fairly easy to maneuver about and as an added bonus you can walk while aiming which is a major help during dangerous battle scenes. The basic story is Edward Carnby and Aleen are trapped on Shadow Island (could have come up with a better name for the island IMO) and find themselves all alone in a big dark mansion full or zombies and various other creatures (again, VERY Resident Evil like). You have the choice of playing the male or female lead character in the game (for once the male's quest is easier). Like any other survival horror game it HAS to use scare tactics (IE. strange noises or darkness). Alone in the Dark 4 uses scare tactics VERY wisely. It is common to walk into a seemingly safe room and have something scary pop out at you. This game uses all the general scare tactics that resident Evil and Silent hill did. One Scary thing unique to this game is occasionally during the game you'll walk forward and a clap of thunder will suddenly vibrate your screen and a monster will suddenly appear and disappear making a horrible moaning sound. This all happens in the space of 2 or 3 seconds which creates a very scary effect which you must see to believe.

Sound 9/10
The sound is also used as a scare tactics. The zombies moaning and monsters screaming creates a very suspenseful atmosphere. I noted that playing as Carnby in the ritual area there is a camera angle that has you looking from some bushes at Carnby and you will hear soft breathing sounds which caused me to be on the edge until I got well away from that area. The voice acting is decent and smooth. There usually isn't music unless there is a monster in the room in which case scary suspense music begins. However this music can get old after a good while of playing.

Graphics 10/10
The best Playstation can offer as far as graphics. The lighting effects are very good and the creatures and character designs do not look at all distorted. The weapons firing have smoke and mirrors actually reflect! The only thing I have against the graphics are the zombies which ALL look the same.

Story 8/10
The story starts out fine and from there gets flat out confusing. Some of it is clarified later on but not ALL of the important details. Otherwise it's a good story.

Overall 8/10
It's a very scary game that really is amazing. It gets a bit boring towards the end though.

Buy or Rent
If you enjoy survival horror then by all means buy it. If your new to it then rent it. Either way your in for a scare.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/23/01, Updated 11/23/01