The impressions of critics from the new Alone in the Dark (2024) were divided amazing. While someone sang the play of praises, despite the disadvantages, others did not leave the stone on the stone.
Embracer Group, who owns ThQ Nordic and a number of religious franchises, was inspired by the successes of competitors, scrapped in her copying suseki and also decided to breathe a new life into one of her oldest IP.
Here is only where Capcom has been replaced by the genre of Survival Horror, Alone in the Dark turned out to be deeply secondary. But still we have passed it and now share our impressions!
Nesperated horror, boring puzzle
The beginning of the 20th century, the USA. Not far from the New Orleans, among the swamps and muddy rivers of Louisiana, there is a dereseto hospital. Two main characters Alone in the Dark arrive here: girl Emily Hartwood and Detective Edward Carnby. Their goal is to find Uncle Hartwood, who, going crazy, writes about the devilry and some sinister cultists what is happening here. Hartwood Sr. survived the mind or everything is really so bad? Sounds like a backlog on at least a peppy horror in the spirit of several classic projects at once: Clive Barker’s Undying, the first Resident Evil or Outlast.
But this is not a horror. Or just a bad horror. Horror scares or creates tension, and Alone in the Dark may seem terrible at the very beginning when you do not know what to wait for. Yes, in the course of the game there will be a couple of moments when the heart is scorched a little faster – but only!
Pieces Interactive developers call their creation a "psychological horror". In recent years, such a shortcut often means only that for fright you need to imagine something terrible.
In this sense, Alone in the Dark can be called a "psychological horror". If you have a very lively imagination, you may be frightened more than the average player. But if the gamer is configured to evaluate the game what it is, without putting it in the hidden meaning seen – it will be difficult to experience either delight or disappointment.
By all the canon of the genre, in Alone in the Dark there are puzzles. In the novelty there are two models of attitude to riddles and texts: the player will either analyze everything himself, or will appreciate the simplified “modern” mode. It seems that in the first case, real tests await you, but no – another disappointment. Alone in the Dark is incredibly simple.
Yes, you have to run and https://lottoland-casino.co.uk/ read, and to solve individual puzzles you will have to think a little more non -standard or to be a bit more attentive. But you will not meet a single real intellectual call, and therefore real intellectual pleasure.
But the simplicity of puzzles can be compensated by non -standard situations? Remember this wonderful feeling when death is getting closer, and a few seconds are allocated to you to solve the puzzle? Forget: there is nothing like that in Alone in the Dark. For the whole game (!) You will have one relatively difficult situation – a trivial and hackneyed escape from an unbearable enemy. There will be another pursuit with already standard enemies, but there is no drive or call there.
Not a bit scary!
ALONE in the Dark takes place mainly in the hospital. The place is half -empty and, as it seems to the heroes at first, abandoned. At the same time, it is worth paying tribute to the level designers, they squeezed out of a relatively sealed setting: there are terrible open spaces, and dark basements, and uncomfortable, oppressive line spaces.
But the potential of an excellent design approach is not realized even half. Most of the time, the heroes just have to walk through all these halls, basements and corridors alone. Neither crazy patients, nor monsters, nor some other intelligible and threat. Sorry.
Map of one of the floors of the hospital. Over time, players open new doors and find here puzzles, notes and interesting items.
The enemies themselves here are terribly primitive and diversity, to put it mildly, do not indulge. Moreover, all enemies here are oriented towards close combat. You will not see any fluids, nor who are running away, or somehow unexpected creatures. Flying, walking on the ground or moving underground monsters always go to rapprochement the only thing they are capable of-introducing the protagonist into a stupor, depriving the opportunity to move or perform at least some action.
You can fight with the help of near -fighting weapons or firearms – for the latter, very few cartridges are traditionally poured out. On the one hand, we have a pistol, shotgun and machine gun, and on the other, oblong and sharp objects with a limited margin of safety: from bums to crucifixion or ax. Strong blows near the monsters stop, and in the case of a serious threat you can run away or dodge. Hoping not to come across new bugs or in textures.
In Alone In the Dark, you can complain about FPS subsidence. Sometimes the frequency of personnel drops from a stable maximum to ten or even less. This happens infrequently, but it happens.
The combat system in Alone in the Dark is extremely simple. Someone will say that they obviously did not. Someone-that used a proven formula, adding several equally traditional mistakes to the old recipe. But for the most part of the battle, the game does not cause problems (except for the moments when you are “immobilized” or you get stuck in textures). You quickly get used to the distance of the blows close, as well as to simple shooting, and the alternation of weapons allows you to get out of most contractions without loss of health.
The shotgun already mentioned above becomes affordable if the player finds three some items from one specific collection. The developers wanted gamers to look more carefully around and look for things that carry some sense. And to find everything in one passage, apparently, it will not work. In any case, after the first completion of the campaign, you will discover a lot for yourself.
Everything is very slow!
Gameplay in Alone in the Dark is mostly leisurely, even if it accelerates. The developers with great attention came to the visual, even if the picture is far from the beauties of the same Resident Evil 4 (2023) or Alan Wake 2, and the creation of the atmosphere. And some scenes really delight the eye. First of all, scenes with immersion in more and more darkness, since there are obvious problems with bright light in Alone in the Dark.
Sometimes developers seem to remember that they require not only calm, but also dynamic moments for the game. And then the hero (in my case, Detective Karnby) for some time becomes almost Indiana Jones. Such scenes will not impress the connoisseurs of action, but they will surely cause a smile. Sarcastic or satisfied – another question. But in my case, more happy than a stinging.
And separately dwell on acting, as the publisher and developers rely on David Harbor and Jody Comer. These two coped with their work perfectly. They do not replay, behave naturally, but if desired, of course, you can find fault with them. If we talk about other characters, then I was struck by how many NPCs turned out to be played and false. At first, this prevents perceiving what is happening seriously. And let you get used to it over time, the peat sediment remains.
But the interaction of detective Karnby and Emily Hartwood is full of humor and feelings that could really arise between heroes in such a strange situation. When one of them tries to get to the bottom of what is happening, finding herself in other worlds, and the second, for example, considers him simply a rogue and an alcoholic. Or, if you play for Hartwood, an experienced detective will initially treat her arrogantly and with neglect.
In the end, Alone in the Dark seems to be just a secondary game. With an unprepared horror, a simple puzzle, a slow action and a primitive shooter. If you played at least one horror over the past 20-25 years and especially in recent releases, you will not leave the feeling that you have already seen such a thing, moreover, in a much better performance.
And then – it all depends on you and your attitude to this. Some criticize the novelty, while others will feel at home, where everything is simple and familiar. And they will close their eyes to the fact that the game is small, simple and unbearable. Having passed Alone in the Dark, I can understand both sides. And I do not experience at least any strong emotions to seriously scold or praise this in a generally optional work.
Alone in the Dark is not a good and not bad game. Secondary – the most suitable definition for it. It all depends on the mood of the player: someone will rejoice at the familiar atmosphere and unhurried story, but someone will simply be bored. You can enjoy the game, but it is unlikely that you will want to return to it again or re -trim it for another hero.
- Atmosphere
- The simplicity and availability of gameplay
- David Harbor and Jody Comer are really good
- Locations are delighted with diversity
- "Indiana Johns".
- Not scary
- No tension
- Boring
- Non -original
- Supporting actors are annoying.
The author spent about 9 hours in the game on PC (for one complete passage and the first chapter of the second). The key is provided by the publisher.
