Alone in the Dark 2

The Good
This sequel is the 2nd in the fabulous Alone in the Dark series. First off the game is much, much longer than the original alone game. Based once again in and around an old mansion, this time around the environments are very diverse including a hedge maze, mansion and a pirate ship. The puzzles are for the most part very good and challenging. The music in the cd version is great and the books that you find in the game are read aloud by the supposed authors which is always highly entertaining. The story is fair but is told well through the books and cutscenes. Graphics are beautiful fluid 3d over 2d backgrounds which were amazing when released and still have a quirky charm to them. At one point in the game you get to control Grace, the little girl who Carnby is rescuing which helps break the game up and adds a new spin on the proceedings since she can't just beat a zombie up like Carnby.

The Bad
The combat has been upped tenfold in Alone 2 and this is particularly evident in the first section of the game where basically all you do is fight. Given the awkwardness of the combat, this can prove most frustrating to the uninitiated. The search function has been dropped in favour of a more simple arcade approach which I found to be a step back. Now it's simply a case of walking near an object to take it so skimming a room will likely get you everything in it. A total lack of horror also detracts from the experience. The original Alone was very creepy and had an eerie plot. The horror is all but gone here with the evil clown being the only vaguely eerie thing left. Some of the puzzles are so obscure they are near invisible, the worst offender being the ridiculous teddy bear under the fold out bed puzzle. If you've played through it you'll know what I'm talking about.

The Bottom Line
Alone in the Dark 2 is a bigger and better game in many ways than Alone in the Dark but falls a little short in terms of atmosphere and story.

The Good
The game is a worthy, but very different, sequel to Alone in the Dark 1, the game that started the whole survival horror genre (and to this day, still remains one of the best).

The games features former Private Investigator now turned Paranormal Investigator Edward Carnby,who's friend has been killed trying to rescue a young girl, and now you have to try again to save her while at the same time taking down the cursed gang of pirates that have haunted the area.

The detail to the story and the characters and setting present are incredible. The designers put a tremendous amount of effort into the detail found in the various documents in the game that flesh out the world and the story so well. The enemies don't feel like random people to take out, but that they're there for a reason, and have a lot of detail behind them. Their motives, their methods, and who they are are told at great length, and there's never a dull moment in the texts you'd read.

The game has also quite a bit of action, and (SPOILERS) being able to play as Grace Saunders, the little girl in need of rescue, is a very nice touch.

It is also a very different game from the previous one. Edward is no longer some naive, cynical guy who laughs at magic and ghosts, but understands they're real. Although this takes the horror aspect out of the game, it does make you feel like you're playing a more no nonsense tough guy who's determined to succeed, or die trying.

The Bad
The combat in the game was fairly awkward. Although to be fair, the first game didn't have it that great either. I still found it almost like a glitch that, if you were up close and personal with a gun-armed enemy, he couldn't shoot you and the bullets just went past you harmlessly.

Beyond that, while I enjoyed the action and the story. The game itself had too little of the horror aspect. The first game had one of the most eerie atmospheres of any horror game, and it still holds up all this time. I still get shudders when playing it at night. Although I understand that the exact same thing simply could not be repeated again (due to the fact that in the first game, the protagonist had no idea what they were getting themselves into, and the set up was pretty terrifying. After that experience, Edward would not react that way ever again to any supernatural experience), the developers could have at least TRIED to create some kind of eerie or horror aspect to it.

Quite simply put, compared to the original, this game isn't scary at all. The enemies in the game don't feel like the damned souls they're made out to be, but just a bunch of gangsters that could have been simple bootleggers. Fighting them makes you feel more like a vigilante than a paranormal investigator.

The Bottom Line
I would describe this game as being a great sequel to a great game. If they found the original one a bit too over the top with the horror, this one takes the horror and replaces it with action. It's one of the earliest games to use a tommy gun as a regular weapon, and who doesn't want to mow down ghost pirates with a tommy!

The Good
First of all, it includes a plot featuring BOTH gangsters and pirates for you to deal with on your mission to save Grace Sanders, a kidnapped girl. Now all you have to see is the introduction and you have a clear idea about what is going on, there isn't even any speech in the intro (except the quiet narration you can hear). All you see is a guy climbing across the windows of an old mansion and he just happens to make it into the right room where Grace lies captive. In the same intro, the same guy get STRANGLED by a PUPPET, now that is original and creepy. Soon after that, you step in the shoes of Carnby (the guy from the last game). After blowing down the front gate, you're ready to begin! The music is also excellent I believe as well as the creativity and effort that was put in this game.

The Bad
The game sadly relies on you to do a lot of guesswork. I mean, there is one part in the game where you have to combine a rope and hook (simple enough) then throw it an arm of a statue to open a door, now does that sound simple enough if you're under ten years old at that time. I mean, of course you have to scan your eyes across a photo, but kids aren't gonna have that patience.

The Bottom Line
Well despite a few flaws, Alone in the dark 2 is a great game. Just because the game has outdated graphics, doesn't mean this game is bad. In fact, a lot of people across the World Wide Web have stated this game a classic. It just proves that better graphics doesn't make a better game and that is no exception for this jewel.

The Good

I own the PlayStation version, and it is one of my favourite games. It is hard to come by now, so if you can find a copy....

Alone in the Dark 2 isn't really a horror game. It is horror like in that there's another big mansion with a creepy feel to it, but the enemies in this game act just like normal pirates, and the emphasis is focused more on action than horror.

The controls are very annoying. You have to press different keys at once, and you also have to do a lot of running. If you get cornered by a pirate armed with a Tommy gun, it usually signals the end of your game unless you can find a way to get past this problem.

The story involves the kidnapping of a young child, and the subsequent attempts to rescue her from the clutches of a fearsome pirate gangster. You play as Edward Carnby, the same detective from the original Alone in the Dark game (although it is almost impossible to compare the two since they are so different).

Anything can be used as a weapon against the pirate goons: Frying pans, guns, swords or even your own fists and feet. This is quite clever in my view. The numerous notes you find barely serve a purpose, but they do add a background story to many of the strange foes you encounter.

Playing as Little Grace Saunders is a lot of fun. But sadly, it is not to last as you will quickly resume gameplay as Edward Carnby shortly there after. Hearing Grace make baby like noises as she attempts to ascend a ladder on the pirate's ship is quite cute, and it is strangely challenging having to control a character who has many childish restrictions.

There are loads of environments to explore and the notes are narrated by voice actors, which is quite exciting.

The Bad
Awkward controls, outdated graphics and an emphasis on shooting rather than puzzles make Alone in the Dark 2 a major disappointment to fans of the H.P. Lovecraft-esque original. If you can look past the flaws, then you have a fun game to play through.

The Bottom Line
It might be a sequel to a horror game, but fans of the original may be let down by this very different sequel.

The Good
The MIDI music is truly exceptional; some of it borders on "composition". The voice acting, while cheesy at times, was overall extremely good, and definitely added to the game. Sound effects were phenomenal and very effectively utilized.

Camera action was novel for the time; kudos to the people who wrote the engine.

The puzzles were appropriate. Some were a bit outlandish (every adventure has a FEW...), but overall, this would be a good game for beginner-intermediate adventure lovers.

The Bad
The fighting was awful. The AI is simply too good and controls are too bad. Ammo is too scarce. The enemies are too lethal. The fighting aspect of the game is completely out of balance, and ruined what would otherwise be a top-notch adventure.

The graphics were weak for the time, considering that this game is a contemporary of Doom and System Shock. Even moreso when you consider it came out one year before Quake. Although the graphics weren't really up to snuff for its day, I don't think that's what the game designers really had in mind for this game anyway.

Movement could be wonky. The engine didn't always "register" the edge of a wall or corner correctly. This made moving around a little frustrating.

The Bottom Line
One thing this game got right all the way is mood. The whole game is about mood, and it was brilliantly done. The whole game is creepy. The people who wrote this game did so masterfully. The plot and scripting were brilliant. The music may be something you'd listen to on your CD player.

Unfortunately, the game is unplayable for two reasons.

First, as mentioned before, the fighting aspect is just ridiculous. Had they left out the fighting, this game might have been a classic.

Second, being a DOS game, you'll have trouble with it:

There are actions which cannot be performed unless you play this game under a DOS emulator like dosbox or dosemu under Linux, or use an application to slow down your CPU like "turbo". If you can't make Carnby run, you need to slow down your processor (or install Linux, which is always a good idea).

But even worse, the game will crash at various points if you try to play it under Windows. Various calls to routines to open certain files will fail with a "file not found" error. The "fix" is to either play the game under real DOS or a DOS emulator like dosemu.

Lastly, sound most likely won't work unless you're in real DOS or a DOS emulator or with an application like VDMS.

What the game has right, it has very right. And what the game has wrong, it has very wrong.

The Good
It had improved 3D graphics, and had excellent animated cutscenes which looked great. This game also is far far bigger then the original, and you switch characters halfway through with the little girl then back to Carnby again a la Leisure Suit Larry 3. The fight with the tough baddie on the ship at the end was interesting too.

The Bad
You'd think Carnby + Machine Gun would be good, but aiming and shooting are just as awkward as the original. And if you mess it up, expect no mercy from your enemies, and that's another problem there are literally ZILLIONS of enemies in this game, if you think there are lots in the hedge maze, wait until you get into the house itself and you'll see what I mean (flying pitchfork WTF!!!!, dressing up as Santa OMFG!!!!). And if the endless fighting doesn't drive you nuts, the super obscure puzzles will, the Billiard Ball Puzzle, which opens the door, had me stumped...until I got the walkthrough.

The Bottom Line
If you liked the original, you'll probably like this. Just don't expect too much. You will probably die many a frustrating death in the hedge maze, then the house just keep practicing your shooting and HOPE you don't die.....

The Good
Nothing. I thought it was going to be like the first. Suspenseful, a little spooky, etc. Far from it. VERY far from it.

The Bad
The game was OK as I started playing, but about an hour and a half into it, PIRATE and MOBSTER references started getting involved. This was not the same type of suspenseful / scary / puzzle game like the first Alone In the Dark.

The Bottom Line
Words cannot describe how I feel about this game. I personally feel like I wasted about 4 hours of my life and I RARELY would say that with ANY game. It surprises me as the first one was great. This game was atrocious. Even the camera angles are worse than the first game and the first game wasn't that bad as far as camera angles were concerned.

The Good
A common complaint of the first game was its shortness and this one delivers a longer, harder game that is still quite immersing. While the story was not quite as interesting or mysterious as the original game, it was still a good mystery to solve. The puzzles are also well done. Only a few did I think were a bit too obtuse.

The Bad
For some reason the designers of this game thought that the reason why people loved the original was for the combat. This game has a huge increase in fighting over the first which really tested my patience for the game. The weak point of the first Alone in the Dark game was the awkward combat. It is barely functional and only worked because it was not used very often. Its sparse use meant you never really had to dwell on its limitations. Unfortunately since this game is more about fighting bad guys than ever before I soon started to lose interest in the game. This problem is especially apparent in the opening to the game which is mainly combat oriented. I'm sure this game turned off a lot of new players as they were constantly cut to pieces in the opening moments of what is supposed to be an adventure game.

The Bottom Line
The higher emphasis on fighting in this game spoils what would have been a pretty solid adventure game. Still there is enough in the game for me to marginally recommend it to fans of the first one. But for newcomers it might be best to stay away and play the original.