While the first Alone In The Dark was considered the pioneer of “survival horror” (not counting the top-down proto-horror adventure title Sweet Home), the term was actually coined by Resident Evil four years later. Almost 30 years on, RE has maintained its overruling of the genre: RE4, RE7 and RE2R, have each steered almost all other horror titles in terms of camera style, gameplay, puzzles and combat. Most of the big hitters of recent years, Alan Wake II, Dead Space and, let’s be real, probably the Silent Hill 2 remake, all aspire towards the success of Resident Evil 2 remake. It’s kind-of a shame then, that this ‘reimagining’ of the true pioneer of survival horror remains firmly on the pile of indistinguishable over-the-shoulder monster shooters under RE’s umbrella (intentional reference).

That said, it’d be unfair to overlook this new title’s rich atmosphere and uniquely swampy 1930s Louisiana setting. Unlocking and exploring various areas of the reimagined Derceto Mansion is always good fun. The star power of David Harbour and Jodie Comer… well they don’t add a great deal, the acting throughout is appropriately weird - the characters are quite cartoonish in a way that suits the campy eccentricity of the franchise.

But unfortunately, Alone In the Dark’s remake fails to thrive in any unique areas of its own. And sadly, it barely manages with the simpler things: the combat is functional, but ultimately bland; the puzzles are offensively juvenile; I like some of the swampier monsters, but most of them are uninspired, including a very dull final boss.

Still, it scratches that all-annoying survival horror itch - if you’ve played all the big hitters, this one serves as a decent b-tier entry that just manages to scrape by, albeit as an uninspired imitator of classics that came before it.