When one single game starts a genre of video games that title deserves at the very least our optimistic respect. Early last week Atari threw one hell of an event at Dogpatch Studios in San Francisco, CA to show off the latest build of their upcoming survival-horror game, Alone in the Dark. PlanetXbox360 was lucky to get invited and we walked away so excited about what this game is turning into. Alone in the Dark is a game that has seen the light of day in some fashion since 1992, but none of those showings coming close to this one. During that time there was a 2005 movie with Christian Slater that was a bit disappointing. Publisher Atari and developer Eden Games are bringing the franchise back to next-generation consoles with a flame of dedication that will impress even the largest skeptics. Sitting here we are so happy to be Xbox 360 gamers as the Playstation 3 version has been delayed to “Fall 2008”, is anyone surprised? We got to check out a bunch of the killer new features that will show up in Alone in the Dark when it is released at the end of June, 2008; and even got to go hands-on with a near final build of the game for a couple hours.
Phil Harrison, president of Infogrames, kicked off the event with a small presentation outlining the Alone in the Dark franchise and what the developers are trying to accomplish with this latest game. Anyone familiar with the Alone in the Dark series may be a bit surprised when they finally get to put their hands on the newest edition. Eden Games decided to keep the formula the same in only a few aspects; all others are completely built from the ground up meant to do things the franchise has never seen before. The number one thing that our hosts wanted us to leave with was the fact that this Alone in the Dark is going for a complete cinematic experience, one that immerses the player entirely in it for a good 15+ hours. Throughout the event time and time again we kept getting the feeling that we were watching a film, not playing a game, and that feeling is what is going to have us foaming at the mouth for the full retail version to be released.
The main protagonist in this latest Alone in the Dark game goes by the name of Edward Carnby and is the same character from the previous versions in the franchise. “Edward Carnby, born in 1897 in New Orleans was raised in a loving and well-to-do household. Here Carnby’s parents encouraged him to develop his sense of curiosity, adventure and free spirit. After his formative years, and against the will of his parents, Carnby joined the army and specialized in covert operations along with intensive hand-to-hand and weapons training, moving up to rank of first lieutenant until he was unceremoniously dismissed. More than 70 years after his journey to Europe to return the mysterious stone Carnby awakens in New York with no memory of his past and with no changes to his physical appearance; he must not only battle against insurmountable odds and apocalyptic forces but also seek the truth and to uncover the secret.”
Atari had lined the entrance to the event with barrels of fire, each one barely illuminating the spooky hallways and auditorium. We would come to find out that fire has more to do with Alone in the Dark gameplay that we could have ever imagined. Basically the developers created an entire engine just for the flaming aspects of the game. Everything in Alone in the Dark can catch on fire and what you, as the player, do to interact with that fire will dictate your progression through the game. Not only will walls, ceilings, doors, stairways, and more crumble under the power of fire, but also it is the only way to put down enemies for good. Dumping twenty normal bullets into the nearest zombie body will do nothing but drop them to the ground, delaying their pursuit of you a few minutes. To finish them off you must either drag their crippled body to the nearest flame and hold them in it for a few seconds, light their body on fire with gasoline, or figure out one of hundreds of other ways to burst it into flames. Besides just affecting the enemies of Alone in the Dark, fire will also be one of the major ways the player is able to progress through the maze-like levels.
The developers told us they created an entirely new graphical engine for one thing, the fire. Thanks to that creation fire takes on a life of it’s own in this game, crawling and jumping across furniture, walls, and ceilings with an amount of realism that has never been seen before in a video game. Walking into the event we had no idea the amount of impact fire had on the newest Alone in the Dark game but by the time we left we understood to a whole new level. We saw one scene where Edward was in Central Park (which plays a major theme/location in the game) being chased by tons of lifeless zombies only to push a car down the hill at them, shoot the gas tank, and laugh uncontrollably as the car burst into flames dropping each and every one of the undead enemies. Not only does the element of fire affect the gameplay in ways that are unbelievable, graphically it will drop a few jaws as well, guaranteed.
Because the team at Eden Games really wanted Alone in the Dark to be a cinematic experience unlike any other video game out there, they added a couple features that we have to tell you about. Basically the game is broken down into multiple chapters, each consisting of a bunch of different scenes. These chapters are set up to work like weekly episodes of a television series having their own story arch, which progresses like an arc from story to climax in the matter of a hour or so worth of gameplay. It is apparent that the developers play games because they set up a system to give players a “reminder” before each chapter in the game. Everyone knows that having the time to play a game in its entirety within a few days is usually impossible, for this reason Alone in the Dark features a “last time on” voice that gives players a re-run type video at the start of each gaming session. This little breakdown works to a huge advantage of the player because it reminds them of exactly what took place in the storyline during the last chapter. All of these features work together to draw the gamer into the cinematic experience that is Alone in the Dark; although we have not finished the final game, what we have seen so far has us thinking that the developers did in fact succeed at the movie-like gaming mesh that they were shooting for.
We were a little shocked with the head producer on Alone in the Dark told us that they wanted each and every person that played the game to finish it, is the game too easy we asked? The answer was the exact opposite of that; by placing the DVD-style chapter system in the game the developers were able to make the game as difficult as possible for the player. Because all chapters are unlocked from the beginning players can skip around to any part of the game at any time, if they get stuck. There will of course be some pretty sweet achievements available to those who play through the entire game without using the “skip” feature even once. The small preview of Alone in the Dark that we were able to play was really fun, polished, and had us drooling for more once we were finished. More than once we actually were scared, jumping back from the television in a fashion normally reserved for horror movies in the local theater. The title has a good mix of action, shooting, adventure, exploration, driving, and puzzle-solving that it will be hard to find a gamer out there not willing to give the game a fair chance on their home console.
Taking place mainly in Central Park, the game will take Carnby to other freaky locations, Alone in the Dark has a weird mix between a sand-box type video game and a normal Resident Evil-style one. With the full retail release only a month away we are more excited than ever to finish out the intriguing story line and see what else the guys at Eden Games can “Molotov-cocktail throw” at us. The graphics were shaping up nicely and feature some of the best lighting effects we have seen to date. Alone in the Dark has so many revolutionary features going for it that it is hard to imagine the game falling on its face. Only time will tell if fans will flock to the new edition of the franchise but one thing is for sure; we here at PlanetXbox360 have something to hold us over until Resident Evil 5 ships next year. Check back towards the end of June for our full, detailed, review of Alone in Dark and see what our final thoughts are on the game.
