- *Please note this is a review/comparison of a legitimate version of the game.
Now that is what is termed as an “alteration” in the English language. The rules of grammar might dictate the structure and formation of language, but the beauty of the language can only comprehended by those who utilize these basic rules to create a sense of vividness, that might elucidate the twin emotions of felicity and frustration from those who try and perceive this vision of beauty.
Such is the case of Alone in the Dark, which had garnered a significant amount of attention from the industry as a genre defining game in the current generation. The 3DO/PC classic was all set to gain a new lease of life when Eden Studios went through this game at every major gaming convention, but alas fame, fortune mixed with oodles of success were not meant to be in the cards for this studio. Their valiant efforts to change the rules of language now lie in obscure game rental stores across the world, whilst The Joker celebrates his victory as the most successful agent of chaos in 2008, Edward will have to live to die another day.
The reviews of Alone in the Dark best describe it as a below average piece of junk that is definitely not worth ruining your social life. This is exactly how the game would appear to the untrained eye, for there is a lot to look out for in this game despite its long list of shortcomings, which might just set the tone for Remedy’s long lost psychological thriller “Alan Wake”.
Alone in the Dark is set in Central Park and reprises the role of Edward Carnby the private investigator who set the tone for the genre of survival horror way back in 1992. The introductory episode is set in a hotel where Carnby suffering from a severe bout of amnesia is being held captive and is on the verge of being executed along with a priest called Theophile who is wearing a strange rune, which acts one of the major objects that binds the story together. Edward manages to escape from the hotel along with an art dealer called Sara and Theophile and rushes to Central Park which is supposed to house a terrible secret.
The game heavily lunges on the works of Lovecraft and Giger to such an extent that the principal adversary is called Crowley, although the enemies are ludicrously named titled as “Humanz, Vampirez, Ratz” and so forth. I cannot find any valid reason except for the fact that some guys in charge of the story and production may have gotten stung by too many “beez” during their adolescent years and portray their trauma forward in a survival horror game.
The plot isn’t scary neither is something out of the depths of the ocean. It is basic banal and tiring, what is innovative is the fact that each chapter in the game is divided into episodes and is presented in a television soap opera format. So each time you load a game, and then show a brief cutscene of the course of events that has led you to this estranged place. The innovation however does not stop here, it continues on by allowing the player to have complete control over the game.
If the player feels a certain segment in the game is too tough or is absolutely over the top boring he may choose to skip that part and progress onto the next part in the episode. So a player can reach a climax without playing a significant portion of the game. The only hitch is that you get to miss out on the cutscene at the end of the chapter, this is however compensated for in the brief flashback that takes place in the beginning of each episode.
This feature is even more useful since a lot of the playground in the game is actually a waste of time and effort. The first car chase sequence for instance is practically unplayable. The primary reasons being a faulty car handling due to awkward car physics coupled with an irritable camera angle. The guys at Eden probably had a foresight about the extremely critical reaction of their game and hence built in this fail-proof system to bail the player out of frustrating situations.
This entire format of gameplay was first conceived and announced in Alan Wake. Certain segments of the game are supposed to have a cliffhanger ending whilst others would continue the entire story of the deranged insomniac. I believe this feature will be expanded on when we get to see more of the game in the coming part of the year, so Alone in the Dark serves as a first glimpse to this kind of technique being utilized in the game giving players to experience what can be termed as “The ultimate sandbox” and allowing the player to be the storyteller rather than being enforced upon a completely linear story.
Wood and fire tag team help out Edward in all possible situations. Often he will require the services of wooden objects to burn his way through Humanz, Batz, Vampirez or against the terrifying creature that hunt in the dark and grope Human’s standing against walls. Fire is the only way to send these rather amusing creatures to their sanctuary. Extinguishers in the game are used to douse uncontrollable flames and break open all possible doors known to mankind.
Edward has to hotwire cars, fix circuits, turn valves, remove dangling naked electrical wires, rappel on ropes and wires to solve puzzles and kill numerous foes in the game. A rather interesting but flawed execution is the fact Edward has actually blink his eyes to see clearly in certain moments, especially when he gets drenched with blood or poison.
All this has a certain Half Life 2 feel to it especially the wires bit, where you either need to break the circuit to stop the flow of electricity or use objects in the game to remove them from harm’s way. However these seemingly fun actions are marred by sloppy controls and a pre-rendered camera. Most of these puzzles come with the a healthy dose of enemies who just can be pretty annoying at times especially the Vampirez who scamper around like head crabs waiting to lunge themselves onto you, which brings me to the controls of the game.
Since there is no control over the camera, Edward performs melee actions using the right analog (much like the upcoming Too Human), but when he has a gun equipped the camera automatically shifts to a first person perspective. This might have been added to ease aiming issues but instead simplifying combat, the design makes it clunky, unresponsive and plain stupid. These guys should have gone down Resident Evil 4’s path in the combat since this system suits best for most third person games.
The other mechanic Alone in the Dark implements rather intelligently is the inventory and management system. Carnby needs the environment to stay alive, all the objects that can be collected in the game can be combined in multiple ways to extract multiple uses. Medical sprays can not only be used to treat wounds, but can also be used as a deadly flamethrower when combined with a lighter.
The player also has the ability of minting flammable bullets by combining petrol with a regular bunch of bullets. The player needs to balance his equipment since Edward wears a lousy jacket which has 10-12 pockets, beyond which he’ll have to junk all the additional equipment.
Pushing back into Alan Wake, what I grasped from the mechanics of Alone in the Dark which will be mirrored in Alan Wake was the whole light/dark theme. Edward needs his torch (light) to cross certain segments of the game, fire (light) is necessary to destroy the evil that lurks around the corner and illumination in general has a rather pivotal role to play in solving many puzzles and action sequences.
Alan Wake is also set to have a similar theme to it and I am pretty darn sure since Wake is only equipped with a Magnum or a shotgun, his best bet will also be to scour the environment in his vicinity to create weapons to aid in his survival.
The visuals in Alone in the Dark are pretty solid with each environment portraying a desolated outlook, this coupled with detailed character models, gaping in game set pieces and a killer soundtrack performed by the award winning “The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices” make this title a worthy contender for flawed innovation of the year.
However, the persistence of a pre-rendered camera itself shows signs of a yesteryear generation. The game tries to be extremely cinematic and over the edge at times, but the poor design and control scheme mar this what I could otherwise term an extremely ambitious title falling short on all of its conceptions by a huge gap.
I would hope to see much of these concepts either rectified in implementation in the sequel or witness some of the meat off Alan Wake.
Better than: Most pre-rendered camera survival horror games
Worse than: Resident Evil 4
- By Neelesh Mukherjee