Alone in the Dark 3

aka: AITD3, Alone in the Dark 3: Fantasmas na Cidade, Alone in the Dark 3: Ghosts in Town, Alone in the Dark 3: The God's been unearthed, now only secrets remain...
Moby ID: 908
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

After surviving through two encounters with the supernatural in Derceto and Hell's Kitchen, detective Edward Carnby is ready for another round of being Alone in the Dark.

In the third game in the series, we learn that Emily Hartwood (the other main character from the original game) started a career in Hollywood movies after surviving her ordeal in Derceto. Her latest project is a spaghetti western being filmed in an abandoned western ghost town called Slaughter Gultch, which rests precariously on the edge of the San Andreas fault. Originally a gold town set up rather rudely on ancient Indian sacred ground, Slaughter Gultch was founded by a man named Jebediah Stone and run by his own private army of cold-blooded killers. Stone and his men were killed by angry villagers led by the local Blacksmith, and the town was abandoned soon after. Unfortunately, Emily's crew disturbs the spirits of Stone and his men, who promptly return to the world of the living and proceed to kill off the film crew one by one.

Carnby is called to Slaughter Gultch after learning of the disappearance of Emily and her crew, and is soon met by Stone's Zombie Cowboy gang. Armed with various western paraphenalia such as colt peacemakers, bullwhips, and even a gatling gun, Carnby must fight his way through Stone's minions and discover Emily's fate. Along the way he learns some surprising things about Stone's origin, as well as a sinister plan interrupted by his death which involved the destruction of the west coast and which Stone can now pursue once again.

The gameplay is similar to the two predecessors: The player guides Carnby through static 3D screens which regularly switch camera perspectives. He collects various items and uses them to solve puzzles. Additionally to using items there are four actions which are triggered with the press of a button: jump (only at pre-defined places), open/examine, move (e.g. pushing) and fight. The latter is an important gameplay mechanics because many situations require a violent approach: the player either uses melee attacks or other weapons (with scarce ammo resources). The player has to aim manually and can set Carnby's and the enemy's life energy (which greatly affects the difficulty) in three steps.

Spellings

  • アローン・イン・ザ・ダーク3 - Japanese spelling
  • 鬼屋魔影3 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

42 People (31 developers, 11 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 76% (based on 22 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 63 ratings with 2 reviews)

Just as great as the original.

The Good
Alone in the Dark 3 boasts as many areas to explore as Alone in the Dark 2, but I actually liked this one better. It has a perfect blend of action and puzzles, kinda like a unique combination of the first two games. The environments are about as linear as they have ever been, and I liked how it managed to be a creepy game without you constantly having to shoot every zombie in sight.

If you have eyes like a hawk, you may even spot some easter eggs that point to previous games, such as a gravestone with One Eyed Jack's initials on it. Emily Hartwood from the original game is also featured in a lesser role this time around, as the damsel in distress.

To play this game now though, is a bit tricky. It has lost a lot of the appeal it once had. In the 1990's, this kinda game could be excused. But now it's laughably pathetic, cliched and even a little on the boring side.

The Bad
Some of the puzzles aren't easy to work out, and the horrendous control system put me off of playing this game for more than 30 minutes at a time. I wish this had made it to the PlayStation like 2 and 4 did.

The Bottom Line
This was the last of the original Alone in the Dark games. They will always be known for being the "original" survival horror games, before Resident Evil was released.

DOS · by Melvin Raeynes (22) · 2007

Zombie cowboys, a ghost town and loads of adventuring.

The Good
Alone 3 is every bit as big as Alone 2 making for a large adventure. The ghost town environment works well and provides loads of different places to explore both above and below ground. The music is fabulous and the voices are again very entertaining and usually well acted. Puzzles are very tricky and often leave you stumped so a fair amount of patience is in order, while the action has been toned down to make for a creepier atmosphere. For those with keen eyes and who are familiar with the previous alone titles, the story contains some interesting connections with the other games.

The Bad
The story gets very silly at times with the worst instance being the section in which Carnby is transformed into a wild cat and rises from the dead. The puzzles also were non-sensical on occasion. One in particular involves performing the right actions prior to being killed. If you don't then you are shot dead, if you do then you are shot dead but you become ressurrected. This makes no sense at all and really detracts from the overall experience.

The Bottom Line
Tries to incorporate the best aspects from both alone games with some success. Fans of the series would be wise to get it ASAP as it's true 'Alone style' gameplay, but it won't convert non-believers.

DOS · by Sycada (177) · 2001

Trivia

Edward Carnby still listens to the radio after his landlord cut the power off. It was possible for crystal radios with cat's whisker detector: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio

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  • MobyGames ID: 908
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Alan Chan.

PC-98 added by Terok Nor. Macintosh added by Scaryfun. Windows added by Albert Wesker.

Additional contributors: n-n, Brolin Empey, Unicorn Lynx, formercontrib, Rola, Patrick Bregger, GenesisBR, Zhuzha.

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