Alone in the Dark

"Alone in the Dark has a few good ideas, but it doesn’t really execute them very well."

I wouldn't consider myself a fan, but I do like a few survival horror games. I've played most of the Resident Evil games, the first Silent Hill, the original Alone in the Dark, and most recently Siren on the PS3, and enjoyed them all. The new Alone in the Dark really isn't a survival horror though; it's more of an action game. This game could have been called anything since it rarely relates to any other Alone in the Dark game (the game has multiple references, and the main character is Edward Carnby, the hero of the other Alone in the Dark games), and due to it's massive difference in gameplay and concept, it's merely called Alone in the Dark for the brand name. Heck, the player isn't even "alone" in the game that much. However, none of this really matters. Is it a good game or not? Well...

Story wise, the game was average and fairly generic. The game takes place in Central Park over the course of a single night, with you playing as Edward Carnby, the same hero from the original three AITD games (I can't remember if he was in The New Nightmare or not, I think he was though). The thing is though, the original AITD was set in 1920 something, yet this AITD is set in the modern world. The game starts with Edward being held in captivity and having a case of amnesia, however due to some strange fissures that attack all his captors, he manages to escape them, and eventually, the hotel in which was held captive. Here, you're introduced to Central Park, and a few characters. Central Park has been ripped out of the ground, and as such, you're unable to escape. To make it worse, rather generic monsters called Humanz (they're essentially zombies but faster and stronger) are roaming Central Park, and they can only be killed with fire. A strange old man, Pheophial (or something like that, I remember it sounded quite offensive when I heard a character say his name, I mistook it for something else at least) babbles on about the path of light, and that only Edward can stop this whole disaster. Edward, being a rather moody main character (he doesn't give a crap about anything, and he swears, A LOT) is confused, but carries on anyway. The game then follows a rather linear path and more story is revealed along the way. Other characters such as the young woman who provides a love interest but for the most part is fairly useless (until near the end at least) and the bad guy aren't presented well. The dialogue relied on the characters swearing too much, and although the writing was alright, they're just there because apparently you need a female love interest and some main bad guy. I was hoping for something better, but it was pretty standard and generic, nothing special, and at times perhaps a little confusing (by fault of the game not presenting it good enough).

And now, for the gameplay. I remember reading a lot of fairly positive previews for AITD. From what I gathered, the game was essentially a free form action style game set in Central Park with amazing fire that spread along different objects. Whilst yes, the fire DOES spread to other objects (and you can even set wooden items you're holding on fire!), the game was actually quite linear. The game follows an episodic method of presenting itself, however don't be fooled, episode = level. There are eight episodes in the game, and for those unable to do certain parts of the game are able to skip ahead when they please (however for those that do this voids the episode achievement). The first two acts of the game are set in the mentioned hotel where Carnby starts; you're essentially given a rather linear path in which to escape the hotel. I admit the scenes look impressive, but it falls short. First off, the camera is pretty bad. It's pretty much the same as Resident Evil 4, but AITD includes a lot of platforming and the like. The camera can barely be controlled, and it's quite hard to see what you're doing in cramped spaces (I think it was better used in Resi 4 since it had no jumping around (only scripted events had you jumping) and the areas in the game were fairly large, there weren't too many cramped areas). The controls for the game were rather poor as well, and it made it hard to do certain things at times. The game allows you to switch between first person and third person, and when you want to quickly change it can get frustrating. Also, inventory is navigated with the horrible 360 D-Pad, and since your inventory is in real time (more on that later) it can be quite frustrating. The game controlled rather difficultly, but once you get used to it it isn't so bad. Once you arrive in Central Park though, it's quite linear once more. A lot of places are inaccessible, and the only ideas of free-roam in the game are the roots of evil. Every few episodes, roots of evil (that are shown on your map) just suddenly pop up for you to dispatch. These are essentially massive roots with little faces on them (well, they definitely had massive eyes on them, probably to try and make them more scary), and although I can't really remember what it was they did, you must destroy them. They are optional, until you find out you actually have to destroy the majority of them to access the last Episode, so it's best to destroy them whilst you progress through the game. They're rather easy to access and destroy, a simple burst of fire will take them out (either from your Lighter + Spray combo, probably the best weapon in the game to be honest, or from explosive bottles), and they're gone. They don't attack you or bother you, the screen just goes a little weird when you're near them. Destroying them helps increase your spectral vision, which apparently helps you kill enemies (when you're in first person mode, clicking the right analogue stick blinks, the idea is that when you're facing enemies, you blink and the spectral vision shows their weak points, however I found it completely useless and never used it, I just killed the roots so I could actually finish the game). Apart from these few occasions, the game is pretty linear.

The game introduces a few different ideas, and they're mostly implemented well, they just have their flaws. First up, is the games unique inventory. Previews of the game boasted it's unique and exciting inventory system, which allowed you to combine different items to make a variety of weapons. When you access your inventory (down on the D-Pad) the camera moves to a first person view of your torso. Here, you're Handgun (the only firearm you ever get, although it gets upgraded eventually, there are no rifles, shotguns or machine guns), and your torch. To the left of your Jacket are the smaller items. Here, items like ammo, sticky tape, handkerchiefs and your lighter are stored. To the right of your jacket, any sprays, explosive bottles, glow sticks and flares are stored here. The idea is that you can combine items to make new weapons. Edward can equip two items at a time (one for each hand). Okay, so let me give you an example. I need to destroy a root of evil with fire. Simple, I equip the lighter and a rust spray. Then, in first person mode, I move toward the root, use my spray + lighter combo, et voila, a short spray of fire is released and the root is gone. This is probably the most effective weapon since you can kill most Humanz in a tiny burst, and the Rust Sprays are completely useless (i.e., they're especially in the game for the lighter combo). First aid sprays can be used, but they drain fast and you obviously want them to heal yourself. So lets say I need to destroy an out of reach root. Okay, so heading into my inventory, I could simply equip my handgun and an explosive bottle, throw the bottle to the root, shoot it and blow the root up. Or, in a more fancy way, I could use a handkerchief with an explosive bottle to make it into a molotov cocktail, set it alight then throw it at the root. You can also combine sticky tape to items (which is double sided, and can stick to anything with little pressure) so you can stick them to any surface (like with the glow sticks, you can put the tape on them, then throw them down a corridor so you can pass (anyone who has played the game will know exactly what stressful part of the game I mean) with ease). The system works well and there are loads of different combinations to make, and it's quite interesting. Unfortunately, as I briefly mentioned earlier, inventory is done in real time. Yep, when you're in the middle of a fight and you need a weapon, you've got to quickly get into and navigate your inventory with the D-Pad, combine the necessary items, exit then get into first person mode or whatever, then use your new weapon, all whilst the enemies can just attack you. It's beyond me why inventory is real time, yeah it's more realistic and maybe it's to apply pressure, but it comes out as being a nuisance more than anything. Also, your inventory is way too small. On the left side of your jacket you will be carrying ammo, a lighter (which you can't remove) and certain quest items, and you're left with barely any space. It's really annoying when you have to drop items to pick up others just for making different combinations. I know the lack of space is more realistic, but it's still annoying and they should have given Carnby a bigger Jacket. Finally, AITD also has a seemingly interesting, but not really, health system. From what I understood, Edwards health all relies on your injuries. When you fight and you're hit, Edward develops injuries on his body, usually in the form of cuts. From what I gathered, the more injuries Edward had, the faster he would die. When you're attacked enough, the screen turns grey and if you're hit a few more times, you die. The more injuries you have, enemies will have to attack you less to make the screen grey, and the screen will stay grey for longer. This essentially means you can keep on going no matter how many injuries you have, as long as you only get attacked a few times, you can survive, although eventually it will be too much to bear and you'll probably be killed in a hit. Pressing right on the D-Pad enters the self heal mode. Here, you can use any first aid sprays you have to heal the different wounds you have. Also, if you experience a harsh attack (usually an explosion), Carnby will suffer from blood loss, and will die in a few minutes unless you use a bandage to heal yourself. It looks impressive at first but it doesn't really change much.

Unfortunately, AITD has a dark side to it. It's difficulty. This game is frustrating. AITD is a game that is constantly punishing you for nothing. When playing a game, if you die, it's usually your fault. However in AITD, the game just randomly kills you off in anyway it feels fit. The only way to complete AITD is trial and error. To get past the different sequences, you must simply go ahead and try it. You die, learn how to avoid it, and carry on. AITD has no adjustable difficulty, although it's not really from the fighting that you die, it's just the stupid sequences the game puts you through. Whilst it could just be me, I am sure many people will agree with me that this game simply requires knowledge of what to do, and how to avoid deaths, to complete it. You have to try almost everything to succeed, and at times it can be very frustrating. AITD isn't a challenging game, it simply requires patience. I guess really the only flaws AITD has are it's execution. The story is alright, but it's presented in a rather confusing manner, and after completing the game I was still quite confused as to what had happened. The controls are quite poor as well, considering just to shoot your gun or to use fire extinguishers you HAVE to go into first person mode. There are also brief times where you have to drive cars, and the physics engine in this game is broken. A prime example is the horrible driving sequence where you're tasked to simply drive and avoid any of the obstacles. It looks impressive, but the car handles horribly and every so often when I crashed the car flew up into the air so high I could see outside of the level. The game just tries to mix too many gameplay elements at once, and it can't handle them. AITD has driving sections, platforming sections, fighting sections and shooting sections, it tries to be loads of other games at once but it simply can't do it. AITD isn't even anything like the previous games, it's not scary and it has no atmosphere. You're not alone, and it's not even that dark, it's just nothing like the other games. This game, as mentioned earlier, really could be anything, Atari simply decided to use the AITD name for it, and Eden (the developers) decided to put Carnby back. Im not saying it's a bad thing they tried different gameplay than the usual survival horror, but it just doesn't work and that's what makes the game bad. AITD has plenty of good ideas, it just can't handle them all at once, and ends up being a bit short with it's execution values.

The graphics then. Well, I liked them for the most part, they weren't that bad. The character models were detailed enough, and the different effects and environments were nicely detailed, if not a little repetitive at times. The fire effects in the game also look pretty impressive, especially when doors got set on fire. However one problem would probably be Edward himself. I found that on quite a few occasions Edwards body seemed to turn around or something, since when I entered my inventory Edwards hip was there instead of his stomach, meaning I couldn't see or use my inventory properly and it was quite annoying considering it didn't fix itself until I turned the game off then back on. Also, remember the health system? The different injuries on Carnby are blatantly 2D images of skin and a cut stuck onto him. They're all over his clothes and when doing certain animations you can see that they float just above his clothes, rather than them being stuck on him. It's rather lazy that Carnby's character model itself doesn't change, but if the 2D images were presented a little better they would have gotten away with it. Although it doesn't really matter, it still looks a little funny when playing.

As for the audio, well, this is probably my weakest area when reviewing a game. If I enjoy the music, I say it's good, and usually games have fairly varied music, or at least passable music so I don't get sick of it. Alone in the Dark was a quiet game (I had to turn my volume up a whole eleven numbers than usual to hear it!), and to make matters worse, there were no subtitles. Fortunately, unlike Too Human where the cut-scenes are really quiet but everything else is loud, Alone in the Dark has a good balance between the two. The voice acting was okay, but the dialogue relied on too many swear words to make it appear more adult (the game is rated 15+ in the by the way) and at times it was just annoying. The sound effects were alright, and the music was okay as well. The music didn't really play much, but whenever it did it was passable, not the best but not bad either.

Alone in the Dark is definitely a game worth checking out. It's certainly different to horror games, but then again, it's not really a horror game. It has good ideas and it mixes plenty of different gameplay elements such as shooting, platforming and free-roam to keep the gameplay fresh and varied, it just executes them. A poorly presented but alright story and poor controls really stop you from enjoying the game, along with it's trial and error difficulty. Despite the amount of times I got frustrated with AITD, I really wanted to complete the game and I kept on slugging through it, without using the skip episode feature (I guess you could essentially skip the whole game and complete it in a few minutes) and at the end, I enjoyed it in some ways. It certainly wasn't a waste of my time. AITD doesn't necessarily have redeeming features, it's just where the presentation and execution is poor, it just simply doesn't match other AAA titles. AITD isn't terrible, it just isn't that good either, but it's worth a look if you see it cheap.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/14/08

Game Release: Alone in the Dark (EU, 06/20/08)