Alone in the Dark 2

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.

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
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!