Alone In The Dark (Xbox 360)

Author's product rating:   

Gameplay/Playability	Poor gameplay- not very playable
Graphics	Excellent Graphics - visually stunning
Sound	Excellent - makes full use of my speakers
Value for Money	Poor

Advantages:	Amazing Soundtrack !  Innovative ideas .
Disadvantages:	Too short, glitchy, and rather tedious .

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Introduction
I love when a game gets a negative response from the critics, it inspires me to go out and rent the game, with a mind full of pessimism and uncertainty.
The best part about this methodology is that if you actually find the game enjoyable, you’re not only happy, you’re surprised, which is something few games can do these days.

Alone in the Dark, I do believe has been the biggest flop for a long-long while, it was hyped at conventions, promoted for its intelligent physics handling and fire effects.

So, does the game live up to the hype? Are all the critics wrong? Is this worth the £30-40 you could be paying for it? Read this review and hopefully I can help you decide.

As with all my reviews, I want to point out that I have fully completed the game, burnt all the roots and unlocked all the achievements. I only say this as to give you the comfort that I know what I’m talking about and have full knowledge when it comes to this video game, to give you an accurate opinion.

Story
I hate to start with a negative point, but Alone in the Dark really lacks when it comes to the story. Its chock full of terribly cliché ideas, the plot itself wouldn’t look out of place in a horrible b-movie.

You play an unknown guy (seriously, he doesn’t even know who he is) who wakes up in an apartment building being hoisted around by brutes.

Whilst being pushed around the building, a strange presence makes itself known and promptly kills the brutes. You barely survive, and unfortunately for you, things are about to get much odder.

Without giving too much away, the protagonist (who soon realizes he’s called Edward) needs to first of all work out who the hell he is, find out what his purpose is, and discover his, and ultimately everyone else’s destinies.

Gameplay
Here we go, the subject that has caused more complaints than all other factors, the actual gameplay.

I want to start at the very beginning, a segment that immediately put off several gamers I’ve asked about the game.

You begin the game just waking up from being unconscious, your vision is blurred and you’re prompted to click a button to blink your eyes. Now this seems reasonable enough, you’ve just woken up and are being blinded by bright lights.

The problem is, this isn’t a one time thing, you have to keep blinking for quite a while until you reach a mirror a bit later in the introduction. Sometimes, aggravatingly, blinking doesn’t always do the job and you have to often hold the button in to truly clear your vision.

A small problem you may say, and yes, I would agree with you, but a game that puts an irritatingly bad impression on you from the outset is never a good thing.
You’ll soon be in a crumbling apartment building and you’ll have to escape somehow, using what little equipment you can obtain. This initial segment is somewhat linear, but with good intentions. This proves as a sturdy tutorial to the gameplay elements you’ll be using for the rest of the game.

The first thing you’ll be introduced to is the camera, which can be changed to different viewpoints depending on either personal preference or mandatory aiming. A good example would be using first person mode to aim and shoot your gun.

There are also other benefits to trying out different perspectives; the camera in third-person mode for example can often be strategically placed to pinpoint a place or item of interest, such as a gun or a latch.

What makes this game stand out is the amazing inventory system, both in its presentation and execution. You literally can only hold what you can carry and this is proven when you first open up your jacket. Your jacket serves the purpose of any normal inventory screen, ammunition and other miscellaneous objects are placed in the left side of your jacket, bottles and first-aid sprays in your right. This is a great innovative idea but it falls short in that you often feel you’re too limited, and you will have to dispose of an item to make room for something of more importance at that moment.

Most items can be combined to make more useful (or humorously terrible) items which can aid in the killing of all the crazy beings infesting the city. For example; if you find some sticky tape, a bottle of booze, a handkerchief and a lighter, you can make a ‘sticky’ Molotov cocktail! I actually found relatively little use for a large amount of the combinations, although some of them you’ll end up creating over and over in order to burn roots and stronger enemies.

Almost all of the enemies (bar a few spider-like creatures) need to be killed by fire. This sounds tricky, and is, especially at the beginning. There are several methods of burning a creature, you can find a piece of wood (or similar), then find a source of fire, such as a burning torch or car, set it on fire, and swing it at them; or if you’re impatient, add booze to your ammunition to create fire bullets, finally throw an explosive at them. Yes, I know it borders the zany, but I let the fire ammunition thing slide...

Not long after escaping the building, you’re thrown into an extremely (and I really do insist that it’s impossible to complete on any first attempt) difficult car scene. You’re escaping an unknown entity that’s tearing up the road from behind you and your job is to weave your way through rubble, carnage and other civilians trying to flee. The problem comes in when you try to traverse in the car. The car controls are beyond horrible and this isn’t helped by minimal tolerance in failure if you happen to swerve into a 2 inch pavement (which of course flies you into the air at a 180 angle and completely halts you, if not killing you).

Also, you’ll spend around half the game driving around, and it gets to the point where you question yourself if this is a car game or the action horror you’ve been promised.

When you’re allowed to freely explore the park, you can find a mass of abandoned vehicles scattered around. Most of these cars can be hotwired, although the keys can sometimes be found in the glovebox. Hotwiring the car involves a small mini-game which asks you to try different wire combinations in order to successfully hotwire the car. This soon becomes a chore however as it rarely varies.

Now, please, I want to talk more about the good parts of this game, it’s not all bad! The scripted events are marvellous and really immersive. From escaping the building and seeing the camera angle fly beneath you so you can witness parts of the building exploding is sadistically pleasurable.

Oh dear, now we’re back to the bad bits! Halfway through the game, you’re halted from advancing the story and given the laborious and tedious task of burning roots, which are all around the city.

The problem with this is, it isn’t fun, at all. It feels like the developer just shoved it in to extend the already short game. You’ll need to burn about 10 of these roots to advance, and even then it’s not over, a few scenes later, you have to burn some more and it’s just plain obnoxious.

Puzzles in Alone in the Dark can actually be rather difficult, which is great! Towards the end you’ll have to complete several puzzles which are fun and innovative, using the physics engine to great effect.

The gameplay itself is split into DVD-like chapters, it even has it’s own “Previously, on Alone in the Dark’ which is very cheesy, but fits well and serves the purpose.
Overall, the gameplay is a somewhat mixed bag, the negatives far outweigh the positives though, which is sad.

Presentation
Graphically; Alone in the Dark can hardly be faulted, it does look great and the special effects are mind blowing and really pull you into the game. On the flipside the game also self-causes its own hell by being somewhat too adventurous with the cinematic feel. The sequences can often glitch and some textures fail to load making things difficult to distinguish. The lighting effects are superb and would be the best thing this game has to offer, if not for...

The soundtrack is by far the most impressive thing I have heard in a long, long time. It’s a masterpiece and some of the tunes will stick in your head for quite some time. I actually have several friends who have bought the soundtrack to this game. The music fits the sequences perfectly and the eeriness is unbeatable by many of the games released this century.

Longevity
As mentioned earlier, the game is relatively short, clocking in about 6-8 hours for a normal gamer. You might wish to complete the burning of all roots. By the time you finish the game you’ll had to have burn around 75% of them anyway, so it won’t take too long.

Summary
How to sum this game up...well, it’s better than I expected, if that’s any consolation. It’s not a classic, nor is it a great game, it’s just, average. It does have annoying moments, and the difficulty can sometimes be a bit overwhelming, but this game does have a certain charm.

Is it worth the retail price? No. But it’s most certainly worth a rental, or you could find a bargain on the internet.