This reboot of a long-dormant horror franchise doesn’t do enough to justify digging up the dead.
By Mark DelaneyTwitter: @markdelaneysays on March 19, 2024 at 7:00AM PDT
When I think of the survival-horror genre’s best games, I often wonder if they were made better by their frequently unwieldy combat mechanics. The inability to reliably defend yourself heightened the terror in anti-power fantasies like Silent Hill, and the awkwardness of taking on the undead in Resident Evil became core to its tension. With that in mind, could a modern horror game benefit from having similarly janky self-defense systems? Alone in the Dark, the 2024 reboot project from THQ Nordic and Pieces Interactive, emphatically resolves this question for me; as it turns out, the answer is no–it’s certainly worse off.
Alone in the Dark centers on characters and a haunted house all named the same as they were in the original 1992 game, but it mostly ditches that game’s original story and old-school adventure game leanings in favor of a third-person, over-the-shoulder horror experience in line with modern counterparts. The game’s writing pedigree flaunts Soma and Amnesia: The Dark Descent’s Mikael Hedberg, and the story even plays out like an Amnesia game at times, to its credit. Much of what it does well is also derivative, but a larger issue is that it can’t do these aspects of the game well consistently. And all the while its worst parts are ceaselessly unenjoyable.
One of the main issues is the inadequate combat system. The three available guns may intentionally feel unwieldy to heighten feelings of horror, but battling monsters in the rooms and corridors of the Derceto mansion becomes monotonous. Most foes behave similarly, often amusingly failing to pursue or attack you due to obstructions in the environment or each other when in groups.
Those few creatures that exhibit unique behaviors, such as a crawling, leaping monster, or flying insects diving at you, are so easily defeated that the game perhaps would have been more enjoyable without any battles.
Hand-to-hand combat is frustrating, with a swinging motion that feels haphazard. The most effective strategy I found was to frantically hit the melee weapon, hoping to bring down my target before they reached me. I was not always victorious.
On the other hand, neither firearms nor melee attacks compare to the poorly conceived use of throwables. You can discover bottles and Molotov cocktails to hurl at the lurking monstrosities. However, you cannot store these items: they must be used when found. The game signals this by having your character fling the item recklessly as soon as you pick it up. The lesson to learn is to hold the button instead, allowing for aimed throws. But you cannot wander around with the item in hand, you can only plod forward while the trajectory guide remains on your screen. This is arguably one of the worst thought-out combat mechanisms in the horror genre.
There is an odd and noticeable delay in the audio of the first bullet fired during any gunfight. The opponent reacts before the sound of the gunshot is heard. This anomaly only occurs with the initial round fired, and it persists despite my 15 hours of gameplay. This audio glitch was experienced on my Xbox, but not encountered by my associate who played on a PC. They, however, had other technical issues like game crashes.
Alone in the Dark also includes the essential puzzle-solving facet of its genre. The complex establishment in which the game is set is strewn with puzzles to be solved. Although not always, there are times when the game truly excels in this. Operating through the early puzzles in the mansion converted retirement home was enjoyable and rewarding. It wasn’t just progressing the storyline that was fulfilling, but also the ability to piece together the narrative and experience being part of the two main characters.
Uncovering the mysteries of the mansion and discovering new paths to solve its roundabout riddles was intriguing to me. It was exciting to incorporate a few paranormal segments that took me away from Derceto into an array of distorted memories. The switch between the mansion regime and these other realms was mostly seamless, catching me off guard. It did stutter at times, but it wasn’t as intrusive as the gunfire audio lag.
Nevertheless, some puzzles were frustratingly obscure, having answers that didn’t seem to align with the in-game hints. A majority of these were related to cracking safe codes or mending broken items. I had instances where I had to discern a three-digit code from a letter I discovered, and the eventual answer didn’t follow a logical train of thought. At times, Alone in the Dark can be more troublesome than it ought to be.
Fortunately, the unnerving jazz soundtrack provides a pleasant remedy for any malaise. The ambiance of the game was quite captivating, greatly enhanced by the stirring music and convincing performances by Jodie Comer of Killing Eve and David Harbour of Stranger Things. However, it seemed to me that the game’s quality didn’t improve significantly because of these acclaimed Hollywood figures, leaving their inclusion justified by mere star appeal. Though competent in their roles, I didn’t perceive that they contributed something that couldn’t have been provided by other skilled individuals, painting their participation as somewhat of a publicity stunt.
The player has the choice to select either character – Emily Hartwood, played by Comer, or Detective Carby, portrayed by Harbour – and can complete the entire campaign as either person. For significant parts of the narrative, the campaigns are identical, but each features unique gameplay and story sequences related to their pasts, in addition to a genuine conclusion for players who complete both variants. While these alternative routes did inject some fascination into the overall narrative, the game’s deficiencies made a second playthrough less appealing. Despite witnessing a jarring scene towards the end where the plot abruptly borrows a twist from another famous horror game, I primarily enjoyed the story. I was taken aback by the blatant imitation of another game’s shocking turn of events, leading me to question whether it was even possible. Alone in the Dark argues that it is.
Considering all the praiseworthy things Hedberg has accomplished in the horror genre and even in this offering, that decision baffled me. Whenever I found the combat monotonous or the puzzles overly challenging, I was compelled to continue playing mainly because I wanted to see how the story would unfold.
Guided by the game’s enigmatic character known as Dark Man, who resembles a pharaoh, Alone in the Dark successfully incorporates elements of ancient history similar to the Amnesia series. At first, it appears so incongruent that it ultimately enhances the game. Just as you settle into a haunting and historical narrative, the game starts alluding to significant supernatural phenomena and blurring the line between reality and fiction in a way that leaves you doubting everything you’re experiencing. That adds to the unpredictability and danger of the Alone in the Dark world. Except for the story aspect that seemed too reminiscent of another game’s turning point, I found the narrative to be the most compelling and consistent part of Alone in the Dark.
With its reality-bending story, parade of puzzles, and unwieldy combat, Alone in the Dark is, in some ways, more faithful to some turn-of-the-century horror games than their own revitalized modern remakes. I enjoyed the game’s story, setting, and abundant lore, and I felt smart when I’d overcome some of its puzzles. But others proved so obtuse as to be frustrating, and nothing about the combat even climbs to a level I’d call serviceable–it’s consistently poor. This isn’t Alone in the Dark’s first revival attempt, and it’s probably not its last, but it isn’t the one that will put the series’ name in the same breath as the all-time greats it originally helped inspire.
