Alone in the Dark 2

aka: AITD2, Alone in the Dark: Jack is Back, Alone in the Dark: One-Eyed Jack's Revenge
Moby ID: 907
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

In Alone in the Dark 2, you take the role of detective Edward Carnby, one of the two main characters in the original Alone in the Dark. Carnby is now called upon to investigate a bootlegger named One Eyed Jack after an old detective colleague named Stryker attributes Jack to the kidnapping of young Grace Saunders. Stryker attempts to infiltrate Jack's dilapidated mansion of Hell's Kitchen and rescue the girl, only to disappear himself. That's where Carnby comes in.

Carnby soon learns that Jack and his gangsters are really 15th-century pirates who gained immortality after Jack joined forces with Elizabeth Jarret, a Voodoo witch. However, the dark magic which keeps them immortal also requires Jack and his crew to regularly make human sacrifices (which explains Grace's kidnapping).

Now Carnby must battle his way through Hell's Kitchen and Jack's army of Tommy-gun-wielding gangsters, searching for a way to break the spell and make them stay dead.

Alone in the Dark 2 is an action-adventure game, similar to the original Alone in the Dark. Like its predecessor, the game uses hybrid 2D-3D graphics. Completing the game requires you to solve a lot of puzzles while fighting zombie pirates along the way. Some enemies can be killed with the numerous weapons at your disposal, while others need to be defeated via trickery.

Apart from Edward Carnby, the game also includes a short section (two sections in the CD-ROM version) where you play as the little Grace Saunders. Grace obviously cannot fight, and thus the sections featuring her are all about fast reflexes and wits to evade and outsmart the enemies.

Spellings

  • アローン・イン・ザ・ダーク 2 - Japanese spelling
  • 鬼屋魔影2 - Chinese spelling (simplified)

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Credits (DOS version)

35 People (27 developers, 8 thanks) · View all

Produced by
Directed by
First Assistant
Screenplay
Production Design
Technical Assistant
Cutting
3D Modelling & Animations
Set Designers
Designers
Illustrations
Flashback
Roughman
Screenplay Adapted by
Original Score & Sound Effects
Additional Music
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 75% (based on 47 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 106 ratings with 8 reviews)

Makes the mistake of focusing on the fighting.

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.....

DOS · by Simon Kavanagh (5) · 2007

Bigger, harder, less scary.

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.

DOS · by Sycada (177) · 2001

A disappointing sequel, yet still worth a look for series fans.

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.

DOS · by woods01 (129) · 2002

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Trivia

Controversy

In the UK, some moral guardians were shocked by Alone In The Dark 2's content. Detective Chief Superintendent Mick Burdis from South Yorkshire CID called for the game to be banned from sale to children, saying, "It's sick. It can terrify them, damage their thought processes and make them insecure for life." Prompted by this, the Sheffield Star newspaper ran the headline, "Ban Kids From This Computer Sickness".

(info sourced from: PC Format magazine)

Music

When Carnby dies, the haunting music that plays in the background is "Vesti la Giubba" from the opera "I Pagliacci".

Processor speed

In order to not give spoilers, I will try to talk very generally.

There are various actions you're supposed to do within the game that are now impossible. The problem is that they rely on special timing within the AITD2 code. Modern computers are so fast that the timing routines no longer work, and these actions are not doable by computers that use a processor faster than a Pentium II. Therefore, you can not finish the game on a modern computer without resorting to slowing down your processor.

There are various utilities you can obtain via Google to slow down your processor.

Datapoint: On an AMD 1.3GHz Athlon, I had to slow my CPU down to about 40% before the actions became doable. One of the very first puzzles in the game is one of the undoable ones, so you should know right away whether you'll be able to finish the game or not without slowing down your CPU.

Awards

  • PC Player (Germany)
    • Issue 01/1995 - Most Annoying Copy Protection in 1994

Information also contributed by Artful Gamer, null-geodesic

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  • MobyGames ID: 907
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Alan Chan.

PC-98, FM Towns added by Terok Nor. Macintosh added by Scaryfun. 3DO added by Indra was here. SEGA Saturn added by CheshireCat. PlayStation added by Matthew Bailey.

Additional contributors: xroox, Matthew Bailey, Brolin Empey, Unicorn Lynx, Alaka, Freeman, ケヴィン, Patrick Bregger.

Game added February 25, 2000. Last modified March 16, 2024.