Reviewed: October 13, 2001
Reviewed by: Aaron Daigle
Publisher
Atari
Developer
Darkworks
Released: June 15, 2001
Genre: Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen
8
6
7
8
7.0
Supported Features:
When most gamers think of survival horror two words come to mind: Resident Evil. What some still don't realize is that the genre was originally pioneered in the early 90's by a PC title named Alone in the Dark. Inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Alone in the Dark was a marvel in its time, as anyone lucky enough to have played it knows. The game introduced the now familiar technique of moving 3D models across prerendered 2D backgrounds.
The story's protagonist was the bespectacled Edward Carnby, a detective sent to investigate a supposedly haunted old mansion. The game was a noteworthy success and has spawned several sequels over the years, the most recent being Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare.
The New Nightmare places the gamer once again in the role Edward Carnby, who has apparently switched tailors since we last saw him. Gone are the low-poly lavender suits he favored in the past. They are now replaced with 21st century black leather complete with a Matrix-style trench coat.
The prerendered backgrounds are still around but, through the use of meshing, now feature real time lighting. The game's story doesn't really stray far from that of it's predecessors, Edward, accompanied this time by Dr. Aline Cedrac, travels to Shadow Island to investigate the death of Charles Fiske, a close friend and associate. En route to the isle, the seaplane the pair is traveling on is attacked by forces unknown and Edward and Aline are forced to bail out. When they touch down, the game begins.
Alone in the Dark's control scheme is virtually identical to that of survival horror mainstay Resident Evil, meaning that fans of the genre will feel right at home, while everyone else will be left thinking, "Edward moves like a @%#ing tank!" In other games of this type, the sluggish maneuvering isn't a big deal because the enemies aren't exactly setting land speed records ether. In AitD however, this isn't the case.
Edward's adversaries frequently move far more fluidly than he can and pop up with little or no warning, making them difficult to dodge. Another sort of sticky aspect of the game's control scheme is the fact that when puzzles are encountered, the game doesn't really help explain what needs to be done to solve them, resulting, initially anyway, in a fairly steep learning curve. The inventory screen has to be manually opened and the appropriate item or items selected by educated guesses. This system tends to feel a little harsh, especially for rookie gamers.
At the outset of the game the player has to select the character they would like to play; either the heavily armed Edward or puzzle solver extraordinaire, Aline. The two characters share about half of the game in common, while the other half of their journeys are unique to each. Having two playable characters wasn't as compelling in this game as it was in Resident Evil 2, where decisions made as one character affected what happened when the game was played through with the other. In AitD, one character's actions in the game don't ever seem to affect the other.
Reading document's has long been a part of adventure games and the Alone in the Dark takes it to new extremes, featuring hundreds of pages of text for the gamer's perusal. There are times however when it feels like the game would play slightly better if one didn't have to skim page after page of material looking for the important highlighted bits. Most people buy a novel for recreational reading; games don't need to be branching out into that area.
Alone in the Dark does come out slightly ahead of the competition in the graphics department. While its character and monster models are a bit ugly, definitely nothing to scream about, the backgrounds and lighting effects are top shelf for the rapidly aging PSX. The prerendered backgrounds that have been a staple of the series since day one are still around but look fantastic. They contain a phenomenal level of detail.
Coupled with the sweet surroundings is a highly effective lighting system that utilizes meshing that create an oppressive, gloomy atmosphere that, while not quite as spooky as Silent Hill, still gets the job done. The lighting system allows Edward's flashlight beam to penetrate the oppressive gloom of the Shadow Island estate and occasionally reveal concealed items and such, though it feels under utilized. The effect rivals anything seen on the Playstation to date and it wouldn't be surprising to see it showing up in other titles in the future.
The game's sound effects are nothing special. They don't really push the envelope for the PSX and could have been imported from any survival horror game. AitD's voice acting is mediocre at best. While bad voice acting is almost a hallmark of the genre, there just seems to be something lacking in this game. There are no humorous translations ("Master of Unlocking," anyone?), and at times it just feels lifeless and flat. At least in Resident Evil and Silent Hill the emotion in the voice acting sort of fit what was going on.
On a more positive note, the game's sound options feature a separate adjustment for dialogue volume; this is handy because in the default setting it's difficult to make out what is being said over the music and thunder.
For survival horror veterans, this game shouldn't take more than 12 hours to completely dissect and discard. Newcomers are looking at a max of 20 hours of playtime to complete both Edward and Aline's adventures. Replay value for this game is just about nil due to the lack of extras and easter eggs to unlock.
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare can be summed up best in one word, average. There is little to make the game stand out in a market filled with other mediocre titles. The meshing based lighting system is definitely the high point of the game, but eye candy does not a good game make.
The game never reaches out and instills the sense of panic in the player that Silent Hill did, even the original Resident Evil had a higher creep-out factor than AitD: The New Nightmare. For most, the game will best be suited for a weekend rental, seeing as that's about how long it will hold the player's attention.
