Alone in the Dark is an interesting game series that I have very little experience with, as I definitely wasn’t horror game age when the original version of Alone in the Dark released on DOS in 1992. Being a remake of the 32-year-old title of the same name, 2024’s Alone in the Dark ditches the original version’s forced camera angles and uses many more modern tropes. Is Alone in the Dark worth shining a light on, or is it better left in the dark? Let’s find out.
The impetus of Alone in the Dark’s story is an interesting one that’s rife with references to the 1992 classic as well as works by H.P. Lovecraft. The story kicks off with Emily Hartwood receiving a troubling letter from her uncle and hires detective Edward Carnby to figure out what happened to him. The two set out for a plantation mansion that was converted into a mental hospital for the unwell, and wind up discovering a number of wacky and interesting characters who reside in the asylum. These residents, each of whom act strangely detached and in unsettling ways, definitely resemble characters from Twin Peaks or other games like Deadly Premonition.
The story is actually pretty good, though it’s very easy to wind up confused by the events if you’re not reading the documents you find throughout the environments. Characters will reference things in dialogue, as if those things were discussed previously, when the concepts themselves were only mentioned in a random sheet of paper you found in a hallway- so make sure you read the notes that crop up as you play. It’s also worth mentioning that you can choose to play either as Edward or Emily, and there can be some dialogue differences between the two depending on which character you selected. However, it’s important to note that the puzzles and solutions are all the same no matter which character you pick, assuming the puzzles work correctly without bugging out.
As far as horror goes, Alone in the Dark is very similar in style to Resident Evil 4 and Alan Wake, where you venture through a mansion and surrounding areas while getting accosted by eldritch horrors or head-crabs from Half Life. You maneuver your selected protagonist through the various spooky Louisiana locations with an over-the-shoulder third-person camera view, and that’s primarily how you’ll experience Emily and Edward shift between the real world and a nightmarish alternate reality that everyone else seems to be somewhat aware of, strangely enough.
What’s even better is that Alone in the Dark works toward unsettling and surprising the player without commonly relying on jump scares, the Dane Cook of horror. There are a few jump scares present, but they’re by no means common which really enhances their impact when they’re finally used. Alone in the Dark prefers to create tense, stressful moments which are much more in line with Lovecraftian horror. It also doesn’t hurt that there are many periods of down time where you’re free to simply explore and move, which means the player doesn’t need to be on edge all the time. What I’m saying is that Alone in the Dark isn’t too terribly scary and makes great use of atmospheric tension to function as a horror title.
You’ll spend the vast majority of your time in Alone in the Dark exploring the mansion and its grounds, finding necessary items like documents that provide you with some additional story details or that open up shortcuts which makes backtracking considerably easier. There will be times you need to shoot a horror abomination, however, and the combat is really where Alone in the Dark struggles.
The movement, aim speed, and reload times for both Emily and Edward are just a little bit slower than you’d like in almost all circumstances, and the only time you actually move quickly is when you dodge. Dodging propels you forward quite a bit, and largely trivializes enemy encounters since many are also slow and lumbering just like the protagonists. This means that if you perform a dance of dodging away, then turning 180 degrees to shoot at whatever is heckling you, a significant amount of combat in the alternate reality will be cleared without any issues whatsoever.
That being said, you can find some different weapons for each of the protagonists. Emily starts with a machine pistol while Edward has a revolver, and as you explore you can find both a shotgun and tommy gun. There aren’t many firearms, but you’ll also find some melee weapons like pipes and sledgehammers, though these control poorly and are primarily used to finish off monsters that are mostly dead. You can also find throwable objects, like Molotov cocktails, in the environment, but you can’t actually carry them with you. So, if you find a bottle of alcohol sitting out, just throw it and ignite it with your firearm because there’s no use in saving them for later. Should you take too much damage, you can take a quick swig from your hip flask to recover health, as Alone in the Dark doesn’t have automatic health regeneration, either. Healing alcohol is different from throwing alcohol that you can’t carry with you, and Alone in the Dark expects you to know this.
As alluded to previously, however, there are a lot of bugs in Alone in the Dark, as well as things that simply don’t work as well as they should. Brushing up against any object will completely halt your movement, and potentially get you stuck up against walls or furniture when you’re trying to get to the next room or are trying to get away from a creepy crawly creature. The swamp area was particularly nasty for getting you stuck in place, requiring you wiggle your way out of seemingly invisible walls. Or you’re forced to reload your save and replay some content due to no fault of your own. There are also puzzles that soft lock the game, one in chapter 2 and another in chapter 4, which created a black screen after solving them that required restarting until the puzzle finally worked properly.
The good news is that most of these bugs have been squashed in some way or another through the patches that have released for the game in the two or three months since release. When Alone in the Dark released, it was solidly a three out of 10 game, as it launched in a horrendous state where so many players were having similar issues. Months after launch, however, Alone in the Dark is quite passable. It’s not the best horror title out there by any means, but it’s capable of producing a spooky atmosphere when enemies aren’t getting stuck in the floorboards or walls for no reason whatsoever.
So, all that being said, is Alone in the Dark a good game? Months after release, it is finally in a decent enough state that I feel it’s safe to recommend to those who enjoy survival horror titles. Unfortunately, good enough after months of being in a less than stellar state wasn’t good enough to save developer Pieces Interactive from being shut down by Embracer Group. It’s unfortunate because there were elements of a solid game on release, but it was mired by bugs and an overly aggressive release schedule.
Alone in the Dark, all in all, was pretty decent once it had been patched a few times. It is not going to set the world on fire or anything, but after a few months of patches, it has been put into a state where survival horror fans can appreciate it for what it is: a horror game with a good story utilizing Lovecraftian themes, phenomenal use of spooky atmosphere, and amazing characters. The combat could use some work, but it’s highly unlikely that the title will be iterated upon since the studio behind it has been closed. What gameplay there is ended up being pretty fun and has a ton of lore to delve into should that be your thing, which is even better now that puzzles won’t soft lock your experience.
Developers: Pieces Interactive
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Steam, Xbox Series X