Next On Alone in the Dark…

Let’s be fair though and take a step back for a moment because, for all our griping and sniping, there are a lot of things to like about Alone in the Dark.

The cinematiscm cinematographism…the cinema-like feel of the game for example is extremely well done and, although it is very jarring to have the game seize control or change the camera angle every few minutes, the game always feels compelling.

The section where you first enter Central Park for instance is a classic example of this. Without giving any spoilers, it basically involves you driving a taxi through New York as a whole load of hell breaks loose and the skyscrapers start collapsing around you.

You have a stint of driving through the chaos and if you mess it up then it’s an instant death and restart from the beginning kind of thing. There’s a lot of stuff like that in the game in fact and nearly everything you do is an instant-death scenario. It’s annoying and frustrating, but as the camera pans to follow the action and your allies scream it looks fantastic.


This cinematic feel extends even into the structure of the game and the entire of Alone in the Dark is split up into episodes and sequences which, except for a few, are all available from the start of the game. This means you can jump forward or backwards as much as you want.

Why exactly Atari would choose to add that kind of feature in and allow players to essentially bypass nearly all of their game within moments of getting it, picking up on the story thanks to ‘Previously on Alone in the Dark’ cutscenes, is beyond us. Given the number of instant-death-and-no-saves-allowed sequences though, we’re glad it is there.

The idea of being able to access and combine inventory items is cool too and lets you create some really cool combinations; molotovs, lights, new ammo types, it goes on.

It’s a shame this element is a bit broken though and requires precise ordering – selecting a flammable liquid prompts you to select the gun and create new ammo, which is annoying when you really want to make a petrol bomb. But, oh no, if you want to do that then you’ve got to select the rag first then the flammable liquid.

Conclusions

Alone in the Dark is a game we really loathe to not like, but at the end of the day we do have to admit that we don’t like it and that the game isn’t really all that great. It’s a real shame because we can tell that Alone in the Dark is actually a real good game underneath. The story in compelling, the presentation is gripping and the gameplay itself mixes a load of styles together to make a final product that is unique and interesting.

Unfortunately, all of that potential is lost underneath a sea of problems on the PC version. The controls are unwieldy and awful, the graphics regularly freak out and break, the game can’t decide what it is or how it wants you to play it and the balancing has got more holes in than the Incredible Hulk’s underwear.

Instant-deaths and poor control schemes are really only the tip of the iceberg, but they do reveal the real problem beneath the ocean of minor gripes. Fixed camera angles and checkpoint saves? This is a console game, ported poorly to the PC and left to fester.

On a console, we can see this game making a lot more sense and having a lot more accessibility. This game was built from the ground up to be played with analogue sticks and that’s clearly evidenced by the many mini-games and woeful handling. On the PC though, the game is part oil, part water – and that mix just doesn’t work.

We want to like it, we really do – especially since we had to go out and buy it – but the reality is that although the game may be good on a console, on the PC the experience is more infuriating than fun and is suited only to the survival horror hardcore. You know who you are.