Last Gen Reviews Special: Alone in the dark, now changed and assimilated to fit the LGR library
Alone in the Dark, originally known as Alone in the Dark 5 and Alone in the Dark: Near Death Investigation, is the fifth installment of the survival horror video game series under the same name created by Infogrames. The game was released on Windows, Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 2 on June 20th 2008 in Europe, with North America’s release on June 24th. The PlayStation 3 version will be specially adapted for the console and will get exclusive episodic content. The Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions are being developed by Eden Games, but the PS2 and Wii versions are being created alongside by Hydravision Entertainment.
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Let’s start off with the storyline. It’s sheer brilliance. I don’t have anything to say against it. It’s tense, exiting and it keeps you sucked in to the game like a giant vacuum cleaner. Though to fully understand what’s going on, you have to really pay attention sometimes. The story is set in and around Central Park, New York. The script does a really fine job of incorporating as much of the park as possible. The storyline and the voice acting go hand in hand. Both the script as the voice acting is splendid. Some of the best voice acting I’ve heard in a while. AND, to boot, that was some scary shit.
Now that I’m on the subject of sound, let’s get on to the music. This is definitely great music. It’s tragic, tense and exactly what music should be like in a game like this. The music in Alone in the Dark is scored by Olivier Deriviere, the same person who scored ObsCure and ObsCure II. It also includes the female choir, The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices. In this game, Olivier did not use a orchestra; instead he went electronic.
Seeing as it’s a playstation 2 game, you don’t expect a lot from the graphics. But, I did. A survival Horror game that is as realistic as Alone in the Dark on the Playstation 3 will probably not be as scary as Alone in the Dark on the playstation 2, or even Resident Evil 2 for that matter. Graphics like RE2 and Alone in the Dark on the PS2 go hand in hand. And as I already stated, it was indeed scary. The only time it all failed was when you died. The most impossible things kept happening then. Like you suddenly dropped through the ground and all.
The Gameplay. Now here the game loses serious points. You have two points of views. These being Third person and First person. You can switch between these views manually, or not when Carnby is in tight places, or it happens automatically when you pick something up or use your gun or a manufactured weapon. Nothing to comment there, it all went fluent for me there, if it weren’t for the fact you couldn’t jump forward when in First Person. Why not jump in third person, you ask? Allow me to explain. The camera … IT BLOWS in TP. Seriously, you are too close to Carnby, you can barely maneuver the thing around and it can automatically move depending on where you are or where you are moving too making it very difficult to do anything. Luckily FP makes up for all of it for being kick ass. So, using items can be tricky at points. Carnby himself will look at a usable object and when you move close enough, you can use the button as it is marked on the usable item. Though you seriously have to fiddle with the camera at points to even get that marker pop up. But for the rest it’s A-OK. One more thing about the camera is that you can not move it at all when climbing on a rope or hanging from a ledge, making you go back to the Leap of Fayth technique, as once described by Zero Punctuation in his Tomb Raider review. The inventory screen is perhaps one of the best things in the game. By pressing select you switch views, Carnby opens his jacket and looks down at all the pockets and slots he has. There you can find his gun, ammo cartridges, flashlight -Which can be a godsend at points-, first aid spray -Which I will come back on later-, a lighter and even more things like a molotov cocktail and bottles of alcohol. The bottles of Alcohol can be used by throwing em at an enemy and shooting them as they are close. The lighter can be used for both the first aid spray, for a handy flamethrower, and the molotov cocktail as … a lighter…. Ya know … The first aid screen can only be used when you have picked up a first aid kit. Inside that kit is a spray and some bandages. You move carnby’s view to a wound on your body, use the spray and then bandage it. Like a real doctor. *cough* One more thing I’d like to talk about before I get to the action is the vehicle sections. You drive around like you are in a shopping cart getting *it* by a gorgeous woman. And every time you hit something, let it be a car or a cute little kitten, you come to an instant halt. Which sucks balls. Need I explain more about these sections except for the part that some of them are insanely intense? Getting the car started perhaps. In this game are a few moments when you have to start the car without the key. So, you have to hot wire the thing. Carnby pulls out three wires and you have to find the right wires to cross to get the car started. This also includes a single press of the R1 button at the right time. Problem is, you can cross the wrong wires and start the horn or something. Which could attract either every monster from here Japan or attract enemy people that will come to kick you in the ass. This also guarantees some exiting moments. Now then, Combat. As stated you have a gun at your disposal. With a quick press of the L1 button you can see how many rounds you have left, because Carnby pulls up the gun and retracts the cartridge far enough for you to count how many bullets you have. You can also make a flamethrower by using your first aid spray and your lighter. Bullets are only good for when blowing up a alcohol bottle. Fire is the most effective weapon in the game. You can also use objects in the game as weapons, like a fire extinguisher -which can also be used to …… Extinguish fire ….- and garbage bins. There’s also a gas container at your disposal which you can transform in to a flamethrower. Unfortunately, once again, the First Person attacks like the gun, and the flamethrowers are the best to use, because they are quicker than TP attacks. In TP you attack monsters by mashing their skull in with the object you are holding. How long is the game? WAY TO FUCKING SHORT. It took me three hours or something, not counting the trial and error, to finish this game. I never found one moment or mission where I could extend the game further. It’s linear, it’s over before you know and it ends right as you really get sucked in to the game. It’s like watching We were soldiers with Mel Gibson and the movie ended right as the helicopter took off to the battle zone. Is it worth the time for a replay? Definitely, but after a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time. This game is not finished. Not on the play station 2. All they did was downgrade the graphics, downgrade the playtime by cutting in things to do and downgrade the gameplay. They could have done so much more with the game, even if it had to be put on two discs. I would have payed more to get a game worthy of being Alone in the dark 5.
All in all, Uwe Boll did a better job on the movie, than the developers did on this game. Uwe Boll took Alone in the dark and made an almost half decent movie out of it by using his own style and views. The developers took Alone in the Dark 5 and raped it, over and over again. Let’s say there are ten things to look at when making Alone in the dark, let it be a movie or a game. Uwe Boll made sure that at least 7 out of ten aspects are checked and as it should be. The developers were lucky they got maybe four right …
This has been PJ with a little special for you guys! See ya next time.
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