When it comes to modern, long lasting genres, survival horror is one of the most prominent and successful ones when it comes to video games. It hasn’t been around as long as most other popular game genres, but it has become one of the most popular and beloved, and there have been many games developed over the years centered around this genre… for better or worse. Of course though, survival horror wasn’t always a staple of the industry, such as back in the late 80s and early 90s, where the genre was practically non-existent. Sure, there were some horror games out there at the time, but when it came to early horror in video games, it mostly just consisted of video games with spooky themes, like with Castlevania and Splatterhouse. That would change though when it came to one of the first most notable survival horror games to have ever been made, Alone in the Dark.

Since Alone in the Dark is being brought back from the dead… again, I decided that I wanted to properly take a look at the series by playing the first entry. After all, I had been wanting to see what Alone in the Dark was all about, since it would be the game to inspire Resident Evil, which would also go on to inspire many, and I mean MANY, different horror games and franchises later down the road. So, I played through the game, and… it was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. Obviously, I can’t judge the game as harshly as other games I have covered, given how it was one of the first to properly take on the genre, and… well, given how it looks, but I actually ended up having a lot more fun with it than I was expecting, even if the game is FAR from perfect.

The story is pretty simple, just about one of two characters going to investigate the supposed death of one who lived in a supposed haunted mansion, but again, for the time, not too many games had this kind of story, and they weren’t really presented in this style, the graphics are… well, let’s be honest, they’re fucking terrible, but for 1992, it is pretty impressive seeing what was made here, even if it looks extremely primitive nowadays, the music is enjoyable, even if there are few tracks, and it seems like they play whenever the game feels like it a lot of the time, the control is… pretty awkward, especially when paired up with the depth perception of some rooms, but again, I can’t blame the game too much given what it is and when it was made, even if it hasn’t aged all too well, and the gameplay is somewhat what you would expect from a game of this style, establishing a lot of the tropes that many games after this would go on to use.

The game is a “survival horror” game, where you go through a mansion full of dangerous creatures, traps, and scares, find many items around the place to help defend yourself and explore around more, solve puzzles to find more rooms throughout the mansion and more tools to help survive, fight off against plenty of enemies with the limited resources you have, and try not to get scared along the way… even though it’s really easy to do in this case. For being one of the first of the genre, the gameplay actually holds up pretty well for the most part, giving the player plenty of room to look around the mansion, as well as enough of an idea of where to go, while also placing enough restrictions on the player to make them still feel powerless, and in turn, more nervous for their own life.

There are plenty of elements that can be found in this game that have influenced many other games later down the road, such as the use of fixed camera angles to avoke a sense of frustration and fear from the player, limited inventory so that you have to carefully think about what you should and shouldn’t carry with you to protect yourself and proceed forward, and having a non-linear sense of progression (for the most part), where the player is given a sense of freedom to explore around most of the mansion, see what they can find, and use what they find to figure out how to delve further down. Needless to say, this gameplay style works very well, allowing the player to go about their own will without needless handholding, while allowing them to feel plenty of satisfaction from solving puzzles, defeating enemies, and figuring this out… even though I used a guide for my playthrough, but even then, I still had a lot of fun going through all the different puzzles.

There are two main problems that I have with the game, which aren’t necessarily the game’s fault, but more so due to its age. First of all, obviously, the game isn’t scary at all. Yes, this is to be expected from a game that looks like this, but I imagine, for the time it came out, it was one of the scarier games to get, and it kind of could still be seen as scary, but more so towards how everything looks strange and unnatural. So, since the scare factor is eliminated, the only joy you would get from playing the game would be reliant on the gameplay, which may or may not turn people away from it.

The second problem is that the fixed camera angles could’ve been done a LOT better here. Now, I am not one of those people who believe that fixed camera angles in these types of games are garbage, and make the game too frustrating to want to play, because they do add another layer of horror to these HORROR games. However, I will say, working around in some of these camera angles can be a huge pain in the ass, whether it be from not knowing what is an object and what isn’t (even though that usually isn’t a problem), unwarranted deaths due to a lack of understanding how to move around an invisible wall that you just ran into, and those times when the camera is zoomed way too far out or in, not giving you enough room to see what’s around you, or too much room to the point where you can easily misguide yourself and end up dying. This isn’t too much of an issue, as I was able to get through the game regardless of these issues, but still, it could’ve been done better.

Overall, despite how poorly the game has aged, and some frustration when it comes to the camera angles, I still ended up having a pretty good time with the original Alone in the Dark, and I am glad that I finally decided to check out an entry in the series after knowing about for a long time. I would recommend it for those who are fans of the survival horror genre, and want to know more about the earliest products to be made around it, but for those who can’t get into it as much as me, you would probably find better enjoyment just by watching it on YouTube. Also, I did lie when I said that this game wasn’t scary at all… because I did get slightly scared by the frog in the intro. I mean, come on, the close-up view of it and the loud-ass croak sound caught me off guard. Gotta watch my back now, just in case a frog tries to jump me sometime in the near future.

Game #316

It's a more well put together game in most ways compared to the first, but in some ways that feels like a loss. The change in actors/models feels like it really encompasses what I mean. The unprofessional actors were a bit goofy but does the game really suffer from it? It added a bit of charm learning "that's the writer, that's his mom, that's his dad." At the same time, I can't say the new actors are a true downgrade either, the live action comic book style is still distinct enough to give the game a defining character.
I do think the gunplay is overall better than the first, but there was a bit of satisfaction in the commitment to a dive/jump in the first I didn't feel here. I feel more connected towards the individual levels here than the first and to me that's a big point here though. My dislike of old PC shooters lacking proper checkpoints still remains.