Alone in the Dark Review
by EliteSniper X
Alone in the Dark is a game from our friends at Atari Games. This is the fifth game in the series and the first AITD game on the next generation systems. The plot of the game gives us control of the protagonist Edward Carnby, who is the main character from the first game, in New York City. You wake up without any memory of who you are or what in the world is going on. As soon as you wake up, though, you’re led outside to be killed when something sinister starts to happen and the building around you starts to crumble. You then decide to find out just what is going on and who you are. The story has been told before and not anything that’s going to win an Academy Award any time soon.
Gameplay
The game plays out like a television show because when you exit the game and come back you hear the words “Last time on Alone in the Dark”. It goes on to show what happened in the particular chapter you exited from and it’s a nice little addition. You can skip forward or back like on a DVD player, which is a nice touch as well.
Graphics
The look of AITD lives up to its name because it is extremely dark and you will need to use that flashlight. Fire is gorgeous and really leaps off of the screen. However, character models have a plasticky look to them that we’ve seen in other games like Condemned: Criminal Origins and it just isn’t up to today’s standards. The city and other locales look great and have a lot of realism to them. Enemies such as Humanz, Ratz and Vampirz all have that plastic look to them as well and just don’t stand up to some of the better looking enemies in other games. The cutscenes render those some plastic looking characters and there are some rather cheesy moments to go along with it.
Sound
The voice acting feels overdone and at times there will be some cursing that sounds as if the actors forced the words coming out of their mouths. Yes, you are in a situation where it would lend a swear or two, but it just doesn’t sound as realistic as some of the cursing in the Grand Theft Auto games. The music is ambient and does give off a good vibe of intensity and other moods. The gun sounds could use a bit of livening up and just don’t have that pop to them that other games have perfected. Explosions also could use some livening up as well and just don’t have that extra “umph”.
Controls
The mechanics of the game are a mixed bag. The first person view is great, however the third person camera likes to get in the way a lot and causes you take damage while struggle both with the angle and the monsters.. You control Edward with the left analog stick and during first person mode he actually moves quite nicely. It’s when you enter third person that he walks awkwardly and sluggishly. You can run using the A button but there are tight spots in some places where entering third person is mandatory and the camera gets in the way quite a bit. There is only a single player experience so once you’re done with it then there is no real reason to go back to it.
The weapons at your disposal are your standard gun, as well as some not so conventional tools like explosive bottles, spray cans, bottles of booze, handkerchiefs, double sided tape, a lens and more. You can hurl a bottle at enemies and shoot it out of the air, but in order to do that you must enter third person mode and aim your throw, which makes it difficult to hit anything because of the way, it controls. You can also go into your inventory by pressing down on the directional pad and equip whatever you may need from your jacket. However the game only pauses for a quick moment while you rifle through your inventory, so you must be quick to equip what you want in the heat of battle. You can use hot buttons for different combinations for easier access to dealing death to your foes. Using the analog stick to rifle through the inventory isn’t advisable since the curser jumps around if you do not hold it in the right place. Luckily you can use the rest of the directional pad to rifle through it and get what you want quickly enough.
You can combine just about everything in your inventory. For example, you can use a can of bug spray and a lighter to make a flamethrower. You can combine your double-sided tape with an explosive bottle and a handkerchief to make a Molotov that will stick to enemies. You can even pour explosive liquid from that bottle onto your bullets to create fire bullets. Basically, if it’s accessible to you then you can combine it and that’s where the game does shine. You’ll have to use your wits and combine things to solve all kinds of puzzles, but the game doesn’t come out and tell you what you need to do or what your objective is.
However, there is a lot of trial and error and after a while it does get old. You need to keep yourself healed or else you may run into a spot where you’ve got no first aid spray and it will only take one hit from an enemy to kill you. Luckily, you can skip over the part you’re having trouble with but your inventory is taken away except for your flashlight and pistol.
The driving sequences suffer badly from many glitches such as a pane of glass not breaking and hitting invisible walls causing you to have to start over. Fortunately, these are few and far between but they will be some of the most frustrating moments you’ll come across in this game., but they don’t handle too badly when the engine cooperates. You can get into vehicles and drive them yourself if you find a key in the sun visor or you can hotwire it to get it started
Conclusion
Alone in the Dark is a mixed bag between moments of genius and moments of pure frustration. There are really some fine moments in the game but for every fine moment there is a disappointment. It’s a shame because this could have been a fantastic game if certain things were fully realized. For a franchise such as this, the bar is set pretty high and it just doesn’t reach it. Fans of the franchise may want to rent it because while it does fail in important areas it does succeed in others.
