Alone in the Dark, from Atari, is a cinematic survival/horror game led by the main character, Edward Carnby. The game is set up like a weekly television series with different episodes and updates every time you reboot the game. You can skip around a tough section with the fast forward feature that can easily save you from having to buy a new controller every other week. Edward Carnby begins in a hospital bed listening in on two men as they argue about what to do to your worthless body. You are then thrown straight into the game and required to learn the controls with little to no help from the developers. You are first sent to rescue a girl and begin your mission to determine the background of what is going on in the story. As the game progresses, you learn about your past and what has happened to the main character, through medical records, in-game movies, and diary entries.
The maze-like atmosphere of this game can be entertaining yet frustrating at the same time. There was little repetition throughout the game and some puzzles were so creative that a walkthrough is almost necessary. The puzzles start to get annoying when Edward is required to obtain “spectral vision,” almost a Spidey sense of sorts. It gave you an extra advantage when killing monsters or “humanz”, and other enemies. In order to obtain this vision, you must go around Central Park burning roots that are moderately guarded but spread out across the entire map. The humanz in the game remind me a lot of the zombies in Will Smith’s I am Legend. The way the zombies reacted to light in the movie is the way the humanz react to fire. You can gun at a fleet of enemies all day long and knock them down but the only way you kill them will be by dousing your bullets in gasoline or placing their bodies directly into fire.
Fire is the key in Alone in the Dark. Eden Games has designed a whole graphics engine just for this feature. Besides the fact that it is used to kill every enemy you encounter it also plays a vital role and adds a different strategy to key battles. Other than just basic fire Edward can also use a combination of different items in his inventory to create sticky bombs, Molotov-cocktails, and even glowstick bombs. These are used not only for different tactics, but they also add to your level of fun with the game. There is just something satisfying about seeing something you created sending 5 enemies flying into oblivion.
The controls leave quite a bit to be desired; I think the best way to describe them is awkward. They are perfectly fine for just strolling around the park, but not so much when it comes to combative situations. It is entirely too difficult to look down in Edward’s jacket every time an item needs to be equipped or combined. The game’s action doesn’t stop while looking for which item is needed. Enemies are still closing in on you until the next thing you know its game over. Alone in the Dark includes a nifty weapon system that turns anything lying on the ground into a torch, a weapon, or both. This too can feel uncomfortable because you use the right stick to swing it around, which most of the time is somewhat sluggish and unresponsive. A cover system would have been nice in some circumstances, something about the controls just don’t feel complete/polished. Driving controls are mildly bearable at best. The driving episodes can be the most annoying things any gamer have done in a long while, finding an action game with worse driving sequences is nearly impossible.
Alone in the Dark features both third and first person camera options. The third person view is the best choice for the most part except when you get in small rooms and are looking around tight corners (the camera changes to a fixed position), which can be aggravating when you’re trying to make a jump or something that requires any amount of technique. Also, the semi-auto aim is a savior when you’re trying to take out the “ratz” or any other small monster. As I mentioned before, a whole new graphical engine has been designated for fire. It didn’t fail because the fire is beautiful, when one flame grows to engulf a whole door looks extremely realistic. The color of the flame is also life-like as are the burnt remains once the fire dies down. The fire doesn’t disappear when you take a fire extinguisher to it; it leaves that ember glow which gives the game a naturalistic feel.
Enemies look very detailed with different scars running down their faces and unique attributes depending on the monster Edward is facing. They also move and act like possessed people with a taste for blood. It makes you feel like your surroundings are real and the overtaking of NYC actually happened in this alternate universe. Creatures are repeated on a regular basis but not enough to annoy the average gamer. The graphics department did well, leaving very few glitches; except for a couple here and there, mostly during driving sequences.
The soundtrack of Alone in the Dark may sound quite odd to some but actually ends up fitting the game perfectly. The music rises in tempo with crucial gameplay elements and is subtle when the time is right. The acting is not up to par though because the people just don’t seem to have much emotion. Also some of the sound effects are entirely off base. If you pick up a baseball bat and smack someone in the head, it resonates out a high pitched noise rather than a low pitched thud. At times these sound effects can make the game feel comical when it should require a dramatic setting.
I wouldn’t suggest running out and buying this game right now, but it is fun to rent for a week and just try progressing through the levels. The achievements are an easy 700 if you beat the game without skipping any parts. I would recommend renting Alone in the Dark for a week and seeing how you like it because it’s a unique game that can keep you gaming for over 10 hours with no amount of replay-ability. There is only one difficulty setting to try out and no online play, wait for Resident Evil 5.
