This is a game I sincerely did not want to hate despite being a frustrating mess. Alone in the Dark 2008 is a game made of so many interesting and neat ideas but executed in the worst ways possible. It’s a smorgasbord of different gameplay designs that potentially could had been good, great even if there was a more cohesive direction, time and budget.
Just from the opening hours, it tries its best to be bombastic and cinematic, showing off multiple gameplay elements that showcases some advanced technologies that other games were still trying to figure out and integrate at the time. Physics puzzles and complex actions, alongside larger than life scenarios that predates more successful attempts a year later like Uncharted 2.
It’s genuinely neat to see how the various mechanics actually play an important role in progressing through the game, such as setting objects on fire and breaking down doors, where even just the straight up logic of shooting something and breaking it open works. I actually got stuck more times than not because I was thinking of it as a more conventional video game with more abstract logic, and not the straightforward idea of just letting physics and blunt force get me through a path. Even with its more fantastical leaning puzzles, there’s a clever idea behind it all. It’s a shame that all of it is wrapped around with some of the most tedious controls and unreliable inputs that make it a bigger effort than it should be. Various sections I had to repeat constantly or had to do something weirdly specific just so that the game registers it. It’s always a mixed feeling of getting very frustrated followed by a thought of how cool it would have been if it was actually done well.
The game’s combat suffers a similar way in that it does try to make you use the game’s environments and give you various tools to achieve your goal, but again, are all made to be more tedious than intended due to how broken and irresponsive the controls are. There’s even the neat idea of making things diegetic with your inventory being an actual physical jacket with all your items attached, but is ultimately frustrating as it all happens in real time and the game can’t decide between a fast-paced action game and a more methodical survival horror.
The open world portion is mostly unnecessary and probably is one of the major things that hurt the game more than it helps. There’s also the arbitrary padding of making you go through burning 50 out of a 100 ‘evil roots’ scattered across the map, which feels like a proto-version of the ubiquitous Ubisoft-styled towers we see often in most open world games today. But I admire how much it did try to tie in with the game’s core gameplay loop of survival horror and puzzle solving, such as having to use a big truck to make a ramp out of a broken road. Again, all of these things aren’t exactly executed well, but the ideas on paper are so neat that it really made me wish all of these were incorporated into a better game.
There are a couple of genuinely fantastic elements the game has. For one the soundtrack is great, elevating various scenes and making them feel better than they really are, and the protagonist Edward Carnby himself. I can’t tell if he’s meant to be self-aware and campy or unintentionally hilarious, but it’s all the better for it. It’s also just a shame that the story also ends in the wettest of farts, regardless of the two endings you choose.
Despite the frustrating experience, I do have to appreciate the game’s features such as having multiple chapters selects that takes you to various points in the game. I shouldn’t have to want or need to skip through frustrating sections, but the fact they’re there is at least also an unintentional convenience that makes the messy experience more tolerable.
Alone in the Dark isn't a good game, but it is an interesting one that has shown a lot of potential. It was weirdly ahead of its time, with some of its elements being better executed by games that came out relatively soon after. Beyond that, also a fair number of unique ideas that no other game have tried, for better or worse.
One final FACT to ponder, if you are curious enough into playing this yourself, make the experience a lot less miserable preferably if you got some friends to tag along for the ride.
I didn’t play this alone, and fuck you anyway!
Just from the opening hours, it tries its best to be bombastic and cinematic, showing off multiple gameplay elements that showcases some advanced technologies that other games were still trying to figure out and integrate at the time. Physics puzzles and complex actions, alongside larger than life scenarios that predates more successful attempts a year later like Uncharted 2.
It’s genuinely neat to see how the various mechanics actually play an important role in progressing through the game, such as setting objects on fire and breaking down doors, where even just the straight up logic of shooting something and breaking it open works. I actually got stuck more times than not because I was thinking of it as a more conventional video game with more abstract logic, and not the straightforward idea of just letting physics and blunt force get me through a path. Even with its more fantastical leaning puzzles, there’s a clever idea behind it all. It’s a shame that all of it is wrapped around with some of the most tedious controls and unreliable inputs that make it a bigger effort than it should be. Various sections I had to repeat constantly or had to do something weirdly specific just so that the game registers it. It’s always a mixed feeling of getting very frustrated followed by a thought of how cool it would have been if it was actually done well.
The game’s combat suffers a similar way in that it does try to make you use the game’s environments and give you various tools to achieve your goal, but again, are all made to be more tedious than intended due to how broken and irresponsive the controls are. There’s even the neat idea of making things diegetic with your inventory being an actual physical jacket with all your items attached, but is ultimately frustrating as it all happens in real time and the game can’t decide between a fast-paced action game and a more methodical survival horror.
The open world portion is mostly unnecessary and probably is one of the major things that hurt the game more than it helps. There’s also the arbitrary padding of making you go through burning 50 out of a 100 ‘evil roots’ scattered across the map, which feels like a proto-version of the ubiquitous Ubisoft-styled towers we see often in most open world games today. But I admire how much it did try to tie in with the game’s core gameplay loop of survival horror and puzzle solving, such as having to use a big truck to make a ramp out of a broken road. Again, all of these things aren’t exactly executed well, but the ideas on paper are so neat that it really made me wish all of these were incorporated into a better game.
There are a couple of genuinely fantastic elements the game has. For one the soundtrack is great, elevating various scenes and making them feel better than they really are, and the protagonist Edward Carnby himself. I can’t tell if he’s meant to be self-aware and campy or unintentionally hilarious, but it’s all the better for it. It’s also just a shame that the story also ends in the wettest of farts, regardless of the two endings you choose.
Despite the frustrating experience, I do have to appreciate the game’s features such as having multiple chapters selects that takes you to various points in the game. I shouldn’t have to want or need to skip through frustrating sections, but the fact they’re there is at least also an unintentional convenience that makes the messy experience more tolerable.
Alone in the Dark isn't a good game, but it is an interesting one that has shown a lot of potential. It was weirdly ahead of its time, with some of its elements being better executed by games that came out relatively soon after. Beyond that, also a fair number of unique ideas that no other game have tried, for better or worse.
One final FACT to ponder, if you are curious enough into playing this yourself, make the experience a lot less miserable preferably if you got some friends to tag along for the ride.
I didn’t play this alone, and fuck you anyway!
2 Comments
:gigachadedwardcarnbyfax:
NakedNader
1 year ago