Alone in the Dark

The Good
This is a great game, better than it's two sequels and still comparable to the many 3D adventure games it has inspired.

Firstly, the graphics are great considering the time it was made. The hand-drawn backgrounds are very atmospheric, and although skins and true color palette didn't exist back then the polygon characters still look good. The movement (animation) is also very fluid although the gameplay itself has a few quarks (mentioned later).

The "horror" atmosphere is done very well, with a dark, muted graphics palette and suitably chilling music (as well as classic horror movie jump music whenever a monster pops into view). The monsters themselves are a nice variety ranging from classic zombies and hellhound-rats, to more surreal Lovecraftian horrors such as a 100 foot worm that fills the entire screen. Some monsters can even move through walls to chase you to your death.

The combat is implemented splendidly in this game, much better than in its sequels. The swings, punchs, and kicks performed by the main characters actually look real and connect with the various monsters quite satisfactory, unlike the sequels where the main character made dainty little jabs which made it difficult to see if you were hitting the monsters or not. There's also quite a nice variety of weapons lying around, ranging from swords, rifles, and even a bow & arrow set.

One of the best aspects of this game is that it's very much open-ended. You can explore all three floors of the house from almost the very beginning , and if you are having trouble with one puzzle you can always move on to another one without feeling blocked. In fact most of the puzzles aren't neccesary to finish the game, but can help you tremendously (for example if you figure out how to defeat the suit of armor, you get a nice sword which doesn't break like the old cutlass you start out with).

One final thing which must be mentioned is the large amount of text in this game, in the form of various books lying around the house. These books are great to read, providing much background information about the story and also providing some vital hints to solving various puzzles. Unfortunately in the CD-ROM version of the game the voice-overs are dry and uninteresting (with the exception of the deceased owner's suicide note and diary, which are laugh-out-loud over-the-top cheesy).

The ending to the game is short but nice and fitting, and does kind of surprise you. However because of it's nature it might leave you wondering if you've forgotten to do something and that there's a better ending somewhere (there isn't).

The Bad
One major grip I have about this game was the trouble I had getting it to run. It was buggy on my 486 (Music switched on and off, I had to re-install the game every time I wanted to play it) and doesn't run on my Pentium.

I had some rather large issues with a few aspects of the controls. For example, in order to run you have to tap the forward key twice. Unfortunately it's hard to tap the key in such a way that the program recognizes it, making it difficult to get your character to run(this was especially a problem when being chased by something nasty). It would have been simpler had they made you run by holding down a key (like shift).

Another problem is that it's very difficult to aim your weapons such as the pistol and the rifle, because the 3D third person perspective makes it difficult to see if you're aiming at the monsters or to their left/right. This results in many misses while you readjust your aim (ammo is also scarce). Fortunately, this isn't a major problem since many of the monsters are relatively slow moving, and close combat (especially with something sharp in your hand) is well implemented enough to make guns not necessary for survival.

Most of the puzzles are generally intuitive, and while they might take some thinking (or browsing the books for hints) none of them are totally obscure, and can be solved without too much frustration. I must mention that one exception to this is the very last puzzle. In order to defeat the mummified sorceror Pregzt two actions are required, one of which is fairly obvious (and specifically explained in several books) and the other one is totally obscure. In fact I quit playing several times over it, and only solved it by lugging every item in the game down to the last room and messing around with each and every one of them. Of course once I did perform the necessary action, I did realize it was somewhat logical (if a bit obscure and never mentioned anywhere else in the game).

The Bottom Line
Alone in the Dark is essentially the game which inspired the 3D adventure/survival horror genre. If you enjoyed Resident Evil, Nocturne, Ecstatica, or Bioforge, you might want to play this game to see where it all started. And its a damn good game in its own right, too.

The Good
The Alone in the Dark games are some of my favourite games from the early to mid-nineties. Carnby was sort of a hero for me, and I've spent hours and hours playing the games...more than once. The first game was, as I recall, one of the first (if not the first) Infogrames games to take advantage of the Cthulhu license. Yes, the game is in fact set in the universe of H.P. Lovecraft, where ancient horrors once ruled the world and man lives in blissful ignorance of the truth. The game doesn't reveal much about the Cthulhu mythos though, choosing instead to be more of a haunted house story. The interface is similar to that of the more recent Resident Evil games, as are the graphics. The camera angles are what you can expect from a horror game - creepy and suggestive. If you play this at night with headphones and all the lights turned out, don't be surprised if you feel more than a little edgy. Another high point of the game is the sound (not to mention the music). I'm not sure if there's a disk version of the game, but if there is, it must be vastly inferior to the CD version, which has CD audio not only for music, but also for the incredible speech in the game (which you only hear when reading books/letters).

The Bad
The game may be a bit too hard for some. I don't believe there are any difficulty settings, so if you're looking for a straight adventure game, Alone in the Dark is not for you.

It's also not as good as the second game :).

The Bottom Line
An excellent survival-horror game with excellent production values. Although one would expect so, it still holds up to the expectations of the modern games player ;).

The Good
The first Alone in the Dark was without a doubt a landmark achievement, (well, most games that singlehandedly invent a genre usually are). Trapped in a hounted house, you are introduced to a very simple concept that would make the cornerstone of it's gameplay: you aren't saving any princess, you aren't out to save the world, your mission is simply to survive and escape this friggin' mansion, preferably with all your limbs in place. Sound simple? Sure, now. But at the time it was a complete revolution, you actually had to think in advance what you where going to do, because the game actually had plenty of sequences that were unbeatable, and for the most part, you just had to run and hope no zombie or monster got in your way.

Enemies were a-plenty, yet weapons were scarce, and ammo was even more so, which only serves to add to the tension. Also throw in dramatic and sometimes claustrophobic camera angles straight from horror flicks, cool & realistic sfxs like creaking wood, a creepy storyline that unfolds as you try to survive, some pretty inspired puzzles and plenty of "jack-in-the-box" moments, and you have yourself the makings for the first great horror game.

And on top of that you had the first polygonal models interacting real-time with 2d backgrounds, how cool is that huh??

The Bad
Could be pretty hard at times (tough never to the extent of it's sequel). And the ending, tough correct by all means in it's writing was really a letdown in the sense that after the extenuous battle you just endured throughout the game you really were looking forward to something a tad more spectacular. I don't say they should have changed it, it's perfect story-wise, but a little more glamour would have been apreciated... then again, most games from that era usually had crappy endings.

The Bottom Line
Survival/horror starts HERE. Alone in the Dark combines enough innovation, gameplay genius and sheer entertainment that years later it's still being copied and imitated. While everyone's idea of "horror gameplay" was Slaughterhouse, we Pc users got a serving of a dish most people would only see years later on the psx, and it's sweet aftertaste remains to this day.

The Good

Alone in the Dark gave birth to survival horror, and while Resident Evil made this very genre a household name for gamers, Alone in the Dark was the founding father of the category.

As either Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood, you explore the large mansion Derceto. Unlike Resident Evil, there aren't multiple endings or character specific privileges, so you need not worry about which character you decide to control....

Many puzzles are straight-forward, but not always. The enemies are mainly zombies, but they are infrequent, and some of the other ghouls are just there to make you solve a puzzle quicker and then exit the area before the monster/ghost gets close to you. In one memorable scene, you have to pick up something left in a ballroom, but without alerting the dancing ghosts to your position. This can be tricky, so I advise you to save first.

Some copies of the game came packaged with Jack in the Dark, a mini game starring Grace Saunders from Alone in the Dark 2. It is a very simplistic adventure in which you have to rescue Santa Claus from a gang of toys that have mysteriously come to life.

The Bad
The game(s) have blocky graphics, and using a keyboard to control your character(s) gets incredibly boring after a while.

The Bottom Line
Alone in the Dark is a splendid mixture of puzzles and monster fun, with a strong emphasis on the work of H.P. Lovecraft.

The Good
Alone in the Dark has so many good points it's hard not to forget some. Let's see :

The story is really good, it respects well the style of Lovecraft's work. OK, the monsters aren't "real" Lovecraft creatures, but the way you discover darker secrets at every step, as well as the main plot line are quite faithful. The use of various in-game books that the the player needs to read to understand it is a nice idea.

Sounds and music were simply fantastic for the time... With very good hardware, it was really frightening (I still remember the effect it had on me after having played it on a computer with Roland MT 32 compatible card), and it was way superior to any title (and still is, I think) if you didn't have any sound hardware but your basic PC speaker. Choose it in the setup menu, and then just listen to the sound when you drink water for example.

Ok, let's look at the graphics : well, simply put, Alone in the Dark was one of the first game ever using real-time flat 3D graphics. With a few other titles such as Strike Commander & Ultima Underworld, it has initiated the evolution which led the video gaming industry where it is now. Sure, the 3D is quite outdated now but still acceptable. What's more, it goes well with the beautiful 2D backgrounds, and the use of dramatic camera angles is really great.

Finally, the gameplay, that is puzzles and fights, is ok but not extraordinary. Note though that there are a few different ways to resolve some problems. Yes, the game seems really short compared to recent games, but first this is true for lots of old games, and second if you really try to do it only by yourself, it's not that easy. And take time to immerse yourself !

The Bad
There are in my opinion a few difficult moments. Do not hesitate to backup old saves while playing, for you can pretty easily get stuck forever (if you play without walkthrough, that is).

A real problem when playing it now is that the controls don't always work correctly on recent PCs. I've tried it on many different hardware configurations, using Ms-Dos booting disks as well as Windows Dos Boxes... Well sometimes, running in the game is, as a fact, very difficult, no matter what you do (I even changed the BIOS keyboard speed settings). And running is VERY important in this game :-\

The automatic camera switching may definitely be irritating when you are in the middle of a fight :-)

I suggest using a software to make it run slower (I don't have any name in mind right now, sorry). You can't really appreciate the introduction, for example, if you run it on a high-speed PC. Remember it was supposed to run on a 386 or 486...

The Bottom Line
A great action/adventure game with a nice story and, most of all, a wonderful atmosphere. Atmosphere clearly makes it all, if you don't appreciate it, you can stop playing. One of the two games I ever played which made me scream (ok, I doubt anyone playing it now would scream, but at the time it seemed much realistic ;-)

The Good
First off I bought this game when it first came out. I was amazed by the fluid 3d graphics, haunting camera angles and tricky puzzles. I was an instant fan. The story is basically a haunted house plot but has a suprising depth to it thanks largely to the fantastically written books that are found around the mansion. The puzzles, unlike the simplistic fodder that's featured in more recent games of the genre such as the famous Resident Evil, are challenging and thought provoking but are never without clues, however hidden. The music on the cd version is great and if you can get hold of it in this form, it's well worth getting. (you also get an exclusive mini adventure called Jack in the Dark that is all but forgotten now.)

The Bad
The puzzles, while good, also have a hidden evil in that it's possible to stuff something up leaving you unable to finish the game without restoring. Also some sudden death is featured so save often and use multiple saves. The game is fairly short. On the first time through you will likely not take more than a few days and subsequent plays are completed in under an hour. Lastly, the battle system is a little confusing at times because of the camera angles.

The Bottom Line
Alone in the Dark is a fantastic survival horror game which started the entire genre. It suffers slightly from some unwinnable situations but if you're a fan of the genre then you really should check it out if only just to see where it all began.

The Good
I personally liked everything the game had to offer. It had some good CD redbook audio (this is probably one of the first games with redbook audio!) and the backgrounds were superb.

The Bad
I didn't like 2 things: The sound effects were a bit hard to comprehend at times, because of the low res sounds used, and the 3D models became see through at times. But I guess that's what you had to expect back then.

The Bottom Line
I would get it. A true classic. I've seen this game at pawnbrokers for $5.

The Good
What could you not like about a game that takes place within the ancient house of a fallen family? This game is the precursor to the survival horror genre and one of the first to animate a polygonal character against a pre-rendered background.

From the moment you take over the playing you must barricade yourself or get attacked by monsters. Also, this game makes great use of camera angles. There is nothing creepier than entering a room and seeing a hint of a monster just behind you.

Finally, loved the library. There are some books that aren't meant to be read.

The Bad
Graphically this game doesn't hold up well. Audio is a little shaky. The biggest problem is the controls, sluggish would be a kind way to describe it.

The Bottom Line
While still a fun game, if you didn't play this game in its time, then you might wonder what the big deal is. One of the better Lovecraft games though.

The Good
The plot which was explained when you selected your character, the wire-frame backgrounds and the CD music (on the floppy release, there is MIDI instead). The sounds are well recorded, you can hear creaks if you step on wood, background sound effects like drips, opening doors, and the digital speech. The graphics of the objects look well and have plenty of textures. These were flat-shaded, way back before the later games which had full textures and these were state of the art back in 1992.

The Bad
The combat and the poorly made control setup. The control is delayed slightly, which means that you must press and tap the up arrow key to run. The monsters look hilarious looking when you can see them for the first time. It could last for some minutes around 10 or so if you are fast enough, or an hour if you readed the books in the game you picked up. There is replay value though. You can try the game once more with a different character.

The Bottom Line
It is a great game back then and it had the best enviroment so far. Sadly the remake was poorly done, resulting in Eden Studios going down after the 2008 remake was made.

The Good
Very creepy for its time. Lovecraftian theme! And of course the gameplay was so original when it first came out.

The Bad
The controls were pretty awkward, especially running. Also the fact that you can trap yourself in a certain situation with no way out especially if you didn't save the game first was very frustrating.

The Bottom Line
An adventure game that paved the way to games like Resident Evil and other "Survival Horror" type games. You control an investigator on a mission to discover the weird happenings in a mansion sometime in the 1920's or 30's. The graphics are a bit dated but they were pretty good at the time. This game was very fun to play with complex puzzles and a spooky atmosphere.

The Good
The athmosphere is great! The different perspectives (almost cinemalike) and the sound support the gloomy feeling of the game. There is often more than one solution to a situation. The graphics are good, even better than in the next episodes.

The Bad
The controls sometimes do not work (e.g. running is difficult). In some cases the perspectives are not very good which is a disadvantage in fighting. There are a few unfair scenes. The puzzles are not that genious. IT IS MUCH TOO SHORT.

The Bottom Line
Action-Adventure that concentrates more on action. You see yourself from different perspectives in the game, depending on where you are. Pretends to be based on a novel but most players won't notice.

The Good
EVERYTHING! The 3D graphics are extremely outdated and boy are they blocky! But the game itself, oh my god! This is just one of those games. You have to download it, play it yourself, see it yourself. You will not believe the good time you will have, especially all the written material lying all around the mansion. I did realize why the written stuff was so good, it's all based on an old H.P. Lovecraft book called "The Call Of Cthulu"...a bit of trivia for you!

The Bad
It doesn't run well on modern computers, remember it was made in 1992 and designed to run on 286 and 386 computers. Find and download a program I used called SLOWDOWN by Bret someone or another and slow your modern rig down to 286 speed. Now you can run by double tapping the Up Arrow. One minor thing though, because of the perspective it's a bit hard aiming that revolver and bow. Don't worry, you'll get used to it!

The Bottom Line
Download and play, you won't regret it...hell I can't even believe it even after all this time...

The Good
This game is cool. The movement is excellent and the items range from matchboxes to revolves. Some are used to kick monsters, and some are for environment. (oil lamps etc.) The fighting and shots are much more realistic than it's other 2 follow-up games. The atmosphere is freaky and the music is cool too.

The Bad
This was a little too short for me. Sometimes the lack of baddies annoy me too. And you can get lost VERY easily in that old house, man.

The Bottom Line
This game inspired the Resident Evil (the best horror genre EVER!) series and several great games because of it's atmosphere, movement and realism.

The Good
It's all there; obscure camera angles, claustrophobic environments, monsters that pop out behind you. Alone in the Dark has them all in a primitive form. Plus it tries to be an adventure game on top.

The story is an exaggeration of the haunted house idea, adding a touch of Lovecraft too. You play as either the niece of an eccentric reclusive come to investigate his suicide, or the more famous Edward Carnaby, detective for hire. Your task is to recover something from Hartwood's (the uncle's) attic. As soon as you enter you're trapped and prey to the monstrous hordes as you must solve the mansions many puzzles and defeat the evil spirit within to escape.

The details of Hartwood and the secret of the mansion unfolds in the game through various note pads, books and journals left lying around the mansion, which range from Jeremy hartwood's own raving scribblings to mysterious books on the occult. These books also give you clues on how to defeat some of the horrors lurking, but some you'll have to solve on your own. Throughout the mansion there are various special ghouls who can only be beaten by a specific action. This gives the game it's puzzle edge like an adventure game. I did find it frustrating trying to work out exactly what I should do, allowing the game to suffer from the classic adventure flaw of trying everything on everyone.

The game-play is good and solid, you must spend time searching and manipulating items, which the engine handles very well. The controls are slow to respond, but that adds to the creepy effect of the game and I never felt frustrated. The music is sparse and helps to notify you of any dangers which is handy even if not very original. The graphics are fairly poor though, the 3D characters are all blocky whilst the pre-rendered backgrounds aren't very detailed, though they never leave you confused.

The Bad
For a horror game, it's just not that scary. The clean and simple graphics and lumbering beasts mean you can always see the danger, and frankly the monsters just don't look scary.

The puzzles can also be mystifying and often unclear as to what you should do to overcome an obstacle. As in any game illogical puzzles become it's undoing as they destroy the atmosphere.

The Bottom Line
Alone in the Dark has gone on to become a highly successful franchise and this game set the tone for survival horror games to come. It's still approachable and easy to play today, though hardly a game to leave you on the edge of your seat as perhaps it was intended. Especially after you've died for the fifteenth time attempting puzzle.