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When people think of survival-horror games, Alone in the Dark is one name that rarely pops up - and understandably so. The 30-year-old series peaked during its initial few entries, eventually fading into obscurity. This is despite it pioneering the exploration-and-puzzle-centric, atmosphere-and-combat-heavy, and inventory-focused gameplay loop before Resident Evil did.
In fact, Capcom's beloved franchise owes its existence to the 1992 classic as creator Shinji Mikami cited the original Alone in the Dark as a big influence on his work. Unfortunately, several middling successors and failed reboots have come and gone, and none managed to capture the essence that made the original classic a roaring success.
Now, it's Pieces Interactive's turn to crack their knuckles and showcase their take on Alone in the Dark. The Swedish studio's latest offering is a reimagining of the 1992 game, caressed with modern gameplay design and graphics tech to offer a touch of old-school that many modern games lack. Is this a hit, or yet another carcass in the string of massacred failures for Alone in the Dark?
Alone in the Dark 2024 shines bright as one of the best in the series yet
I'm happy to say that Pieces Interactive's efforts have not gone in vain; Alone in the Dark is a solid survival-horror game, though not without its glaring issues. But what exactly is it about? As a reimagining of the 1992 original, this game sees players step back into the shoes of private detective Edward Carnby and his client Emily Hartwood.
Note that this review does not feature any story spoilers, so players worried about the narrative can rest assured that they will not stumble across story elements they should not know yet. With that said, they will start by picking between the two protagonists in Alone in the Dark. For my debut playthrough, I picked Edward, voiced by actor David Harbour of Stranger Things fame.
Set in 1920's rural Louisiana, USA, the duo visit Derceto Manor, a nursing home for the elderly and mentally unsound. This is as per Emily's wishes who aims to check up on her uncle Jeremy who is one of Derceto's patients. Turns out that Jeremy is missing and making matters worse, the manor and its denizens are under the influence of something supernatural.
This sees the duo explore the manor's various corners, rooms, and hallways for clues to the missing whereabouts of Emily's uncle while also trying to unravel the mystery of the bizarre occurrences around the Manor. Throughout the game, the mansion will also swerve in and out of alternate worlds full of creepy monstrosities, with Jeremy's disappearance at the center of it all.
Welcome to Derceto
The manor is fairly large with many corridors and rooms. While many of them are locked or barricaded at first, players will obtain key items throughout the story that will let them open more doors for progression - quite literally. Derceto consists of a Ground Floor, First Floor, Second Floor, and Attic - which will be obvious after obtaining the map early on. If playing on the Modern difficulty mode, it gets updated as players find ways to progress past doors or solve puzzles.
Played in a third-person perspective, Edward or Emily will search these locations and their twisted extensions for clues. There are varied puzzles to solve across the campaign in and "out" of the manor, but they will usually stumble across extra lore information. This includes material like letters from NPCs, diary logs that unravel the dark history of the mansion, and Lagniappes - the latter of which are the main collectibles in Alone in the Dark.
Completing Lagniappe sets unlocks new information that helps players understand the story further - and in rarer instances, even unlocks weapons and alternate endings. This incentivizes them to carefully search every nook and cranny of the old, creaky manor. On that note, Alone in the Dark drips with atmosphere and unease at every passing moment, and the oddball NPCs just add to that.
From the young girl Grace and the helpful orderly Batiste to the alcoholic MacCarthy and the mysterious Doctor Gray, it is obvious there is more to them than meets the eye. While the core storyline is the same regardless of who is chosen, their interactions with some characters will be different. Further, each protagonist also has some unique set pieces not seen in the others' playthrough.
Keeping a steady aim
Alone in the Dark manages to successfully combine the old-school mantra of heavy exploration, ammo scarcity, and lack of handholding with a modern semi-linear level design. Players will travel to various nightmarish worlds thanks to a magical Talisman and fight disfigured, shambling figures and otherworldly monstrosities.
As a third-person shooter, Emily and Edward both have access to an arsenal of weapons to help them fight back. While there are a handful of firearms to obtain, most of the game will see players use their pistol against the horrors that lunge towards them. Aiming down sights takes an over-the-should camera view with the reticle functioning like the modern remake titles.
In other words, the longer the aim, the more accurate the shot will be. Given how agile some of these creatures can be, players have to be strategic in terms of positioning. Taking damage depletes the health meter, which is replenished using a healing flask. As expected, consumables, including ammo for weapons, are scarce, especially when playing at higher difficulties.
The game also features melee weapons (which break after some use) and stealth. Crouching sees the protagonist sneak around, and this will help them evade enemy patrols in some segments. They can also throw designated items in the overworld to distract foes from a path. However, there will be times when the game will throw players into a combat encounter, and thus making sure each shot counts is key.
Unfortunately, the enemy variety is fairly lackluster. Minus the handful of boss encounters, there are no more than 5-6 monsters seen throughout Alone in the Dark. Coupled with the linear nature of nightmare segments versus the non-linear Derceto manor, gameplay can tend to get repetitive. Thankfully, the varied set pieces, like monster chases and escape segments, make up for it to an extent.
A cosmic conundrum
Across the manor, players will discover various puzzles waiting to be interacted with. These come in many forms, like mosaic tile puzzles and logic puzzles. the latter see players resort to their inventory to pour through discovered clues and decipher codes and combinations. While a few of these are repeated, they are sparse and varied enough to not be an issue.
The puzzles also ramp up in complexity and scale in the last few chapters, with one in particular spanning an entire room ala Portal or The Talos Principle. Some of them are also moderately challenging, so players expecting a walk in the park are warned - and changing difficulty settings does not alter the challenge.
The set pieces for these puzzles, and other exploration and combat are solid too. From dingy, creepy cemeteries and basement labs to swamps and ancient ruins, Alone in the Dark is well-paced across the 8-10 hour length of a single playthrough. Do note that players will need to play as both Edward and Emily to discover the full story behind Derceto - so the total playtime will be around 20 hours.
It is also disappointing that key quality-of-life changes are missing, largely in part due to the game's streamlined nature. As an example, there is no Chapter Select option; with five chapters in total, I am unsure how players are supposed to go back to find the missing pieces to complete sets. Perhaps in a future update?
Graphics, sound, and performance
Powered by Unreal Engine 4, Alone in the Dark is a gorgeous game. It isn't pushing the envelope and it does not need to; even without ray tracing, the lush foliage and the intricately detailed environments are solid. Each place in the manor feels lived in with details like the decor, down to the scattered belongings strewn across the room.
With Mikael Hedberg of SOMA and Amnesia fame, it's no surprise that the art direction is as good as the writing is. The audio is also excellent, with perfect early-1920s influenced music and great voicework, especially that of the protagonists' Hollywood-grade actors.
The game was reviewed on PC with the following specs at 1440p native resolution and Epic settings:
- CPU: Intel Core i7-12650H @4.7 GHz
- RAM: 16 GB DDR4
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (8 GB VRAM)
- SSD: 1 TB NVME
I did have some issues with the UI not registering inputs, meaning it was challenging to turn the pages of log entries. Alongside stuttering when moving around the mansion, this did sour my experience a bit; thankfully Alone in the Dark recently received a massive patch, which will likely be applied on Day 1 too, and it solved these issues for me.
In conclusion
If series fans have been disappointed at entries in the past decade, then the latest Alone in the Dark steps up to break that trend with a grin on its face. The game's narrative is a carnival of chaos from start to finish, culminating in a total madhouse of terror during the finale. Each NPC met has some backstory in the overarching narrative, and Derceto with its puzzles, collectibles, and more is a joy to explore.
The writing is solid, topped with crunchy sound design and a musical score that fits right in with the early 1900s theme. The gameplay balances the fine line between retro and modern, with ample gameplay options making it accessible to all kinds of players. While the lack of enemy variety and some quality-of-life omissions are jarring, that does not stop Alone in the Dark from being an enjoyable ride.
Alone in the Dark
Reviewed on: PC
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
Developer(s): Pieces Interactive
Publisher(s): THQ Nordic
Release Date: March 20, 2024
