Alone in the Dark: Inferno

GameCritics.com (9.5 out of 10) (95%)

Eden Studios's take on the Alone in the Dark franchise was released on the Xbox 360 in June, 2008 after much anticipation. The developers had been quite vocal about attempting to revitalize the survival horror franchise, and also about incorporating fire and physics in significant ways. Although it's not quite clear whether that release was the result of publishers rushing a product to shelves or whether Eden genuinely felt it was ready, but it received nearly universal rejection and damningly low review scores due to a host of technical and design issues.

Gameplanet (8 out of 10) (80%)

The original Alone in the Dark was not about killing hordes of evil mutants; it was at its heart a puzzle game in a horror setting. Backed with an intriguing story and some awesome visuals, it attracted a wide and well deserved fan base for its time. This latest release: Alone in the Dark: Inferno is, believe it or not, the fifth in the series (plus one film, with another on the way) and we are happy to say it has remained true to its roots.

Worth Playing (8 out of 10) (80%)

It's rare that you'll see a game ported to another console in such a short amount of time, but yet having some big improvements made to the actual gameplay. Alone in the Dark: Inferno does exactly that, with improvements made to the camera, character movement, and overall feel of the game that help propel it from the mediocre status that it had on the Xbox 360, and make it into a really decent and engaging experience on the PS3.

Eurogamer.pt (8 out of 10) (80%)

Mesmo na anterior versão não conseguimos resistir aos bons aspectos e às inovações implementadas pela Eden Games mas as suas falhas eram graves demais para ignorar, o que prejudicou o jogo. Agora, em Alone in the Dark Inferno, a Eden Games mostrou a humildade suficiente para admitir e corrigir as falhas e oferece aos jogadores com uma Playstation 3 a versão definitiva e o jogo que deveria ter sido inicialmente, um jogo capaz de apelar a todos os fãs do género e não somente aqueles com capacidade e paciência para ultrapassar os erros que apresentava.

GameSpot (7.5 out of 10) (75%)

Alone in the Dark: Inferno is an ambitious game that features a lot of cool gameplay and bucks a lot of gaming conventions. Many small improvements eliminate points of frustration (enhanced AI assistance, an explosive new sequence, and a few other pacing tweaks), but it's the character movement and camera updates that really help the game hit its stride. Although it's definitely not without its stumbles, Alone in the Dark: Inferno is no longer hamstrung by the issues that plagued its predecessor, which means that PS3 owners can experience this adventure the way it was meant to be played.

Futuregamez.net (74 out of 100) (74%)

All in all Alone in the Dark: Inferno is a hard game to rate. There is no shortage of fun moments - getting through some sections unscathed, combining your weapons to make a bigger, badder weapons, or solving some of the trickier puzzles late in the game is certainly satisfying. On the other hand melee combat is tiresome thanks to the poor control scheme. Most of the other issues can be overlooked easily enough, but dying over and over because Edward simply doesn't handle well will put many people off. Overall if you like the survival horror genre and have a little bit of patience you will find a lot to like about AITD. For those with a short fuse this game is still worth playing, but maybe you'd be better off hiring before committing to purchase.

GameFocus (7.3 out of 10) (73%)

The frustration level with the Xbox 360 version became so strong and apparent that you would have ended up quitting the game, throwing the disc through the window and move on to something else. For the Playstation 3 version of the game, Eden Studios went back and tried to optimize many of the issues we originally had with the flawed and poor Xbox 360 version. And without re-inventing the whole thing, the tweaks are present and welcomed.

Eurogamer.net (UK) (7 out of 10) (70%)

More often than not though, Eden succeeds, and once you get to grips with creating Molotov cocktails, shooting bottles in mid-air, and using aerosol cans as makeshift flamethrowers, it hardly seems to matter that shooting itself is so ineffective. This is a game where fire is your key ally, and overarching niggles aside, it's worth experiencing for all the interesting, innovative ideas it brings to a characteristically staid genre - not to mention the rich ambience and often sublime set-pieces. While it doesn't quite boast the polish or the consistent narrative intrigue of Siren: Blood Curse, its willingness to stray from genre conventions bodes well for the future.

Meristation (7 out of 10) (70%)

El control del vehículo también se ha visto mejorado. Ya no es tan inestable, lo que convierte este tipo de fases en una parte interesante del juego (sobre todo por cómo se suceden en el entorno) y no en un suplicio insalvable. A pesar de esto, sigue habiendo algunas incongruencias. El coche será capaz de estamparse con otro vehículo y seguir la marcha, pero si lo que se encuentra delante es una farola, el coche se detendrá automáticamente ante las farolas más duras de roer de este mundillo. En este apartado se han solucionado otros bugs presentes en la versión 360/PC, cómo que el vehículo saliera despedido sin motivo alguno. En el mismo sentido se han solucionado algunos errores gráficos presentes en puertas que desaparecen o muros invisibles que nos impedían avanzar. Aun así, se mantienen algunos errores como el clipping o la regeneración de objetos en algunos puntos concretos de la partida.

4Players.de (69 out of 100) (69%)

Und Alone in the Dark birgt auch in der "erweiterten" Variante auf PlayStation 3 keine nennenswerten Überraschungen - sprich: Die Spielerfahrung gleicht der auf Xbox 360 und enttäuscht damit alle, die auf packenden Survival-Horror gewartet haben. Trotzdem hat sich die Spielmechanik etwas verbessert: Die Kamera ist weiter weg positioniert und erlaubt über den Einsatz des rechten Analogsticks endlich eine freie Rundumsicht [...]. Sind die zickigen Perspektiven damit komplett verschwunden? Nein, manchmal wechselt die Ansicht in die altbekannte Enge; es gibt nur weniger störende Momente. Außerdem lässt sich der Held zu Fuß als auch in den Vehikeln vom Auto bis zum Motorboot besser steuern, weil sich Letztere etwas schwerer anfühlen. Man kann zudem leichter durch das Inventar navigieren und es gibt eine neue Actionszene auf Schienen. Aber all das kann die großen Schwächen in der Dramaturgie nicht aus der Welt schaffen[...].

IGN (6.8 out of 10) (68%)

Yes, Inferno still has some glitches to its name (it crashed on me twice) and the gameplay could have been further refined, but there's no question that the PS3 version is a major improvement over the originals and offers a much more enjoyable experience. Despite all it's problems, I can really see what the developers at Eden Games were going for when they set out to make Alone in the Dark, and I find many of their efforts both admirable and intriguing. If you feel like you can work through some of the remaining gameplay issues and a few plot holes, I think Inferno is an adventure game that gamers can appreciate. At the very least, you can more clearly see what the overarching vision for Alone in the Dark was while enjoying the game's super cool soundtrack.

GameZone (5 out of 10) (50%)

Inferno for the PS3 might have fixed a few of the problems that plagued the Xbox 360 release of Alone in the Dark but, sadly, it’s not enough to make this a completely better version of the game. This is really too bad seeing as the game has a number of great ideas that could have made this a great entry in the series.

Cheat Code Central (2.4 out of 5) (48%)

Alone in the Dark is ultimately a lesson in good intentions gone awry. Nearly all of its novel ideas misfire. What's so interesting about Inferno is the mentality that a patch was all that was needed to make a better game. The original was defined by a lackluster story, awkward controls, and merely okay gameplay – that's not a formula that needs a few tweaks, it's one that should be scrapped entirely. Nevertheless, Inferno is the definitive version of Alone in the Dark, but that's not the biggest compliment one can give.