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What is it? A smart reimagining of the 1992 classic that inspired Resident Evil and ushered in the era of survival horror.
Release date March 20, 2024
developer Interactive pieces
editor THQ Nordic
Reviewed on Radeon 5700 XT, i5-9600K, 16GB RAM
Steam deck N/A
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From the moment Alone in the Dark's first cutscene sees a chubby-looking frog skipping happily across a deserted dirt road in Louisiana, mirroring a similar scene from the original game's introduction, I was sure it was the anticipated remake would fulfill numerous small callbacks to the story of its predecessor. And when, seconds later, an alligator grabs hold of its unfortunate amphibian prey and briefly interrupts my trip to the scariest PC gaming mansion, I was sure that it would playfully thwart my expectations anyway.
Emily Hartwood's uncle has disappeared without a trace somewhere in the labyrinthine Derceto Mansion. The sprawling estate, which in its long history has previously served as a slave plantation, a cult headquarters, and a bohemian artists' colony, has recently become home to recovering heiresses and depressed screenwriters—in other words, it has become a place where the rich go to unburden themselves the family members you want out of the way. Nevertheless, it is so important to Emily that Jeremy Hartwood pays a visit after receiving his last letter, and the paranoid ramblings it contains disturb her so much that she hires private detective Edward Carnby to accompany him. When it turns out that the extremely unfriendly staff is trying to scare the two outsiders away without providing satisfactory answers about Jeremy's condition or whereabouts, the duo begins their own search for the missing man.
Alone in the Dark is a third-person adventure that – although completely rewritten – maintains the original's balance of combat, exposition and puzzle solving. It offers a gripping, ever-surprising cosmic horror story, helped immensely by compelling performances in David Harbour's stoic pace-talker Edward and Jodie Comer's alternately frightened and angered Emily. That both its dialogue (natural, flowing, unafraid to be occasionally funny) and the overarching narrative (complex without being confusing) were crafted with an unusual degree of care should come as no surprise – creative director Mikael Hedberg was partly responsible for that the author for one of the most shocking plot twists in recent memory with SOMA.
Still, Derceto is the real star here, even if he doesn't deliver any clever lines. The quicksilver structure violently reshapes itself as it clatters into different timelines, opening into a half-submerged cemetery one moment and a maze of World War I trenches the next, dumping you onto a stranded riverboat and then you inside it in the blink of an eye leaves behind in the middle of a strange, lifeless desert. Each of the game's four main chapters typically involves a trip to some of these exotic locations and a return to the manor, armed with clues that lead to even more cryptic conversations with its eccentric guests. There's an almost Lynchian sense of disconnect as the motley cast exchange pleasantries, oblivious to their ailing state and the unreality of the situation, underscored by Jason Köhnen's atmospheric jazz score.
scavenger hunt
In typical survival horror fashion, ammunition and medical supplies are severely limited, making combat an exciting affair. I cringed at every wasted bullet, always looking for ways to outsmart the game's misshapen monstrosities by pinning them in a narrow passageway to whack them on the head with a rusty (and breakable) shovel or evacuating to safety Distance crept before I surprised them with a well-aimed Molotov. However, the conspicuous presence of numerous empty containers, combined with my extremely frugal play style, leads me to believe that the game will adapt to your most pressing needs and allocate supplies as needed. Previous brawls were particularly entertaining, full of fear of the unknown, and memorably staged (with the French Quarter encounters being a particular highlight). But some of the later sections, including a rather frustrating final showdown, rely too much on combat, so much so that the rush proves to be a distraction from Alone in the Dark's suffocating sense of cosmic dread.
As are the game's pervasive bugs, which range from the unintentionally amusing, such as a line of ravens sitting in mid-air, to the truly disturbing, such as quest items reappearing where I had previously picked them up, or random interactive hotspots I refuse to activate and invisible barriers prevent me from progressing. Luckily, things seem to be really disastrous, particularly the game forgetting my previously discovered collectibles after I started a second playthrough (even though it specifically states that collecting all the items requires a full playthrough with Edward and Emily) , so have been fixed with the latest update, so here's hoping these irritations won't be an issue upon release.
These minor concerns aside, Alone in the Dark is a resounding success, not a cynical attempt to capitalize on a moderately well-known brand name, but one with intelligence and a love for the series that really shines through. Nowhere is the fact clearer than in the countless little callbacks that flow into the proceedings organically rather than prosaically: from Grace Saunders holding up a mask reminiscent of Edward's original character model, to a striking late-game section that left me in a state has fixed camera perspective.
On its own, the game also performs excellently as a survival horror experience. I peeked around the corner and hesitated before opening a door. It made me want to be taken to the next bizarre place in search of Jeremy and to find out more about his fate and backstory once I got there. And most importantly, it made me care about both the problematic protagonists and Derceto's wacky crew – so much so that it's a given that I'll complete my second playthrough to uncover the full story, what's beyond The needs of this review go beyond. Pieces Interactive clearly punches above its weight. While Capcom is still a few years away from the next major installment of Resident Evil and Konami is constantly caught in a series of questionable decisions regarding the direction of Silent Hill, the Swedish studio has managed to create a refreshing take on survival horror with Alone in the Dark -Formula to deliver. three decades after the series invented the genre.
