Filled with concepts and ideas worthy of its obviously massive budget, Alone in the Dark is unfortunately hampered by a myriad of frustrations and technical issues. At times, the game is actually impossible to play. It could even require a restart in hopes that this sets things correctly so you can proceed. The glitches only add to already high irritation level from the sluggish gameplay.
Players take the role of Edward Carnby, one of those video game protagonists who has no idea who he is or what his purpose may be. The inane dialogue loaded with constant, distracting, and unnecessary profanity in attempt to appear mature fails miserably to tell the saga of New York crumbling due to a supernatural presence.
The opening level, inside an apartment complex slowly falling to streets below, is admittedly epic. The sights of debris falling, explosions below, and the excitement of dangling on nothing more than a cable from the side of the building is spectacular. Unfortunately, you’ll need to slog through the sluggish control scheme, abusive camera, and impossible to master right analog stick combat to see it all.
Edward must be handicapped, as that’s the only explanation for why he moves and turns as slow as he does. Attempting to track an enemy, usually three times as fast as Edward, is hilarious. It’s nearly a homage to the original Alone in the Dark, only times and game design have drastically changed since then. Apparently, no one at Atari saw that memo.
Attacking with various objects scattered about is an exercise in frustration. Collision is inconsistent, the right analog stick delivers little sense of power, and the only way to see if a hit landed is a pathetic blood splatter that looks pulled out of the first Mortal Kombat. Many enemies are also shrouded in darkness possibly in an attempt to increase the horror factor, but this only leads to cheap shots.
Allowing for both third and first person play, AitD doesn’t handle either very well. You’re either at the mercy of an uncontrollable camera (that tries for the “cinematic” effect yet fails) or a narrow viewpoint that makes it difficult to judge distances or jumps. Some nice texture work can be appreciated up close when in first person, though as wit everything else in AitD, the visuals are wildly inconsistent too.
An early driving sequence, one that takes place in the middle of New York, is the perfect example of how the game spirals downhill from its potential. Players avoid exploding buses, cars on fire, a constantly shifting street, and skyscrapers tumbling on top of them. It could have been one of the greatest gaming moments of the year. What they also need to contend with are unexplained deaths, being randomly stuck on objects, or entire environments that fail to appear on cue sending them into an infinite spiral of zero data.
AitD has an episodic format, though what actual purpose it serves is a mystery. It also offers the chance to skip a segment if you’re frustrated, and if you experience one of the many errors in the rushed programming, it may become a necessity.
After dealing with the clunky item selection, agonizing movement controls, camera apparently created by the source of evil in the game’s story, and endless list of unavoidable programming snafus, most players won’t spend a lot of time with AitD. Regardless of how long you play, you can at least say you’ve experienced the first video game with blinking as a full on game mechanic. When that stands as one of the few novel concepts the game can offer, you know you’re in trouble.
Final Score: 1/5
Tags: alone in the dark, atari, hammer horror actresses, wolf horror stories, xbox 360, xbox 360 top games, xbox 360 walk through, xbox 360 walk throughs
