Alone in the Dark

 

A pioneer of horror video games, Alone in the Dark is one of if not the first 3D based horror story where you are stuck inside a mansion full of creepy monsters and also have some puzzles to solve. As a genre defining title, it inspired future series such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill in the sense of it's mechanics, camera usage, graphics, puzzles and more.

Unfortunately, the game has not aged well, as the controls for instance aren't optimal for such an experimenting game. It's also a pretty heavy trial and error based game, so that it's advised to save often or pretty much whenever you enter some new area, or especially when you are alone in the dark!

Rating: 5.9

In this sequel, the controls are more responsive, but the entire theme has been changed towards more of an action oriented one, where you will not face monsters first and foremost, but this time gangsters and other kinds of criminals instead.

There are still supernatural elements playing, but the tone has changed severely. Alone in the Dark 2 still features puzzles, and a lot more guns this time, but technically it's a better game. And yet the theme it now has playing is perplexing, making it more ridiculous in nature.

Rating: 5.5

The final MSDOS part now has a Wild West based setting, with more action oriented gunfire and supernatural elements await you. One thing that has been featured in every part but which I failed to mention to before is that the voice acting is horrendously bad and wooden.

Alone in the Dark 3 continues using puzzles, trial and errors and sometimes cryptic segments in order to keep gamers busy. Of course, because I did not grew up with these 3, the impact has been lessened for me. Still, It's hard to deny the wacky tone all three seem to have in common.

Rating: 5.5

This is easily the best sequel and game in the series, because it has a good atmosphere playing, the controls are responsive, the inventory system is solid, the puzzles are fun and combat is working. The New Nightmare is the title where finally everything makes sense regarding gameplay and presentation, and I am glad to have finally played and beaten it.

Rating: 7.2

Not sure if this is a remake or a reboot, but it's also called AitD Inferno. In here, unlike anything before, the journey is more of a cinematic ride, where a disastrous and apocalyptic theme are playing while you battle and survive your way through all kinds of obstacles.

The clunky controls and the poor production values are bothersome, but then again, they ported this game to almost every platform back then. You are able to switch between a third and first person mode, and the mechanics come with combat, puzzle solving and some miscellaneous options.

The quality doesn't seem to be on par with other games being released back in 2008, and the voice over's didn't seem to be synchronizing either. Although the puzzles seemed to be easier and less cryptic, I still had moments where I got stuck, not being sure what to do next.

Somehow, Inferno features an Episodic mode, where it is possible to skip certain segments of chapters should you feel the need to skip these. In overall, AitD Inferno is once again not entirely functionable or entertaining, and unfortunately, that seems to be the case with almost all titles in the franchise.

The mediocre values regarding controls, production, progression and some other topics hinder a more positive outlook on them.

Rating: 5.5