As I rolled the ending accredit onAlone in the Dark , the new remaking of a foundational 1992 horror classic , I watched on like a puzzled detective . It ’s not that I did n’t enjoy my stay in the creepy Derceto Manor . Quite the adverse — Ihadenjoyed the campy six - minute dangerous undertaking satisfy with hammy vox acting and old - school exploration . It feel like a fitting atavism , catch the endearing sentimentality of 1990s games in a big - budget modern output . But there was one motion remaining : Was that developer Pieces Interactive ’s spirit , or a happy accident born from a inept game with an unconvincing serious grimace ?
I ’d have my constantan second as soon as I begin my 2nd playthrough . After choosing my hero , the Jodie Comer - voice Emily Hartwood , I popped into the preferences menu to play around with some of the remaking ’s bonus features . There , I ’d find a Bonus menu . I ’d enable an 8 - bit filter and a peel for Hartwood that turned her into a blockish mess of polygons pull right from the 1992 plot . As soon as I unpaused , I laughed out loud at the cockeyed sight of it all .
It was the miss piece of the puzzle . Everything that one might call “ out-of-date ” was indeed the peak ; I had just played an unabashedly earnest ode to 1990s silliness .
Alone in the Dark ’s bungling action and boilerplate supernatural story may be off - putting to new players hoping for aResident Evil - like lambency - up . Meet the remake on its own terminus , though , and you ’ll find a charming ’ 90s horror homage that does n’t turn its nose up at gaming ’s tooth root . It whoop it up in its old - school purpose like a dedicated cultist , even inviting Hollywood doer to trip the light fantastic toe around the fire with it .
Return to Derceto
Alone in the Darkis a full remake of the 1992 horror classic of the same name ( not to be confused with the much less successful 2008 reboot with the same title ) . It ’s a significant reimagining , trading in fixed camera angles and cooler controls for a more traditional third - person survival horror format with a greater accent on dart . Though that may sound like a heavy change , Pieces Interactive retain the energy of the eclectic pilot , even when inserting innovative twists .
While the storey has been expanded with cutscenes , it ’s certainly not try out to elevate its source material all too in high spirits . The Louisiana - set revulsion game follow Emily Hartwood , who head out to the eerie Derceto Manor alongside tec Edward Carnby in hunt of her miss uncle . That simple apparatus gives birthing to a simmering supernatural story that builds throughout . It ’s not the most exciting or fresh story , with a slew of worldbuilding happening in dull lore log , but that seems to be by design . The originalAlone in the Darkset the phase for what would become an overused haunted house image . You do n’t getResident Evilwithout it , and Pieces Interactive does n’t hide that with a fancier write up .
In fact , it delights in the hamminess of that premise . Every traditional knowledge log come accompanied with an ham it up audio reading that sell the silliness . Every voice actor seems to infer the assigning here , and that include its A - lean actors . Killing Evestar Jodie Comer andStranger Things ’ David Harbourboth change by reversal in meet performances that call back to the stilted nature of ’ 90s video plot voice act rather than trying to one - up it . Harbour particularly overplay it up as Edward with the old - timey drawl of a classical noir hero .
It ’s a meter ejector seat that ’s an off - kelter joy to open .
The visual service is n’t as striking as its predecessor , a secret plan that ’s instantly recognizable for its otherworldly colors and polygons . Pieces Interactive opts for an understandably modern look that paints the manor house in a more dryly naturalistic manor . The studio does , however , get to have fun with more capable tech . The mansion is reimagined as a liminal space , with story sequences that seamlessly morph its shift hallways . One moment , Edward might afford a doorway , only to be hit with a quick jump scare as he of a sudden finds himself mistreat into a vine - covered gear car or an polar tundra . That visual creative thinking gives the remaking its own playful touch that make the haunt house feel like more of a living scourge .
However , it ’s the instant that call back to the ’ 90s that stick with me most after playing . Chief among them is the remake ’s score , full of cheesy day of reckoning jazz that feels like it was pluck from an old plot of the era . That determination keeps the tone ofAlone in the Darkfirmly in place rather than wash it out with the ambient ghostliness of its equal . It ’s a clip condensation that ’s an off - kilter delight to open .
Old-school puzzling
What ’s a little more hit - and - fille is the gameplay itself , which finds itself more lacerated between modern and classic design ideas . It ’s not too different from games like the recent Resident Evil remaking , with homogenized action mechanism - adventure hooks . Players explore a succinct puzzle box mansion , plunk up items , unlocking newfangled rooms , and shoot down the casual giant . It ’s not the most imaginative formula , but it still feels like a logical phylogenesis of the original game .
On the shining side of the spectrum , geographic expedition and puzzl- solving both carry a retro spell . actor mostly move from room to room grabbing keys , preeminence , and objects that need to be slot into the veracious position . There ’s a round-eyed pleasure to that format , which is perhaps why it ’s so imperishable . When I see a metallic element cutout of France , I ’m enthrall when I rule a Earth I can pop it into , which cracks it open and reveal my next clue . The mansion is one big scavenger hunt club that chains to the terminal of the tale .
The originalAlone in the Darkwas especially obtuse about its puzzle , ram players to carefully read notes and interact with the world in an almost point - and - snap way . For players who desire that experience , the remaking offers it with customizable puzzle difficulty . Purists can deform clues and map markers off entirely , draw them to carefully read through notes to distinguish hidden hint . For those who do n’t have the solitaire , though , a New mode highlights every important detail and fills the function up with the localization of locked doors and puzzles . It ’s a great via media ; I even tried it both ways sinceAlone in the Darkis intend to bebeaten with each character , whose way diverge .
The power of that modification became clear to me when using my Talisman , an iconic tool that ’s used here to encounter out of sight doors with rotating numeral dials . When I played with all the guidance on , I simply had to find three - fingerbreadth code that were often play up in my notes and input them into my amulet . When I turned everything off , I had to search harder for those solutions and even figure out how the mechanism itself actually works without telephone number boxes to draw me . The fact that I could toggle hints on and off as I needed them allow me to revel the classical experience while avoid the eventual frustrations of excessively hidden solutions .
Struggling with action
What ’s less successful here is the remaking ’s almost obligatory third - person shooting . Edward and Emily get a modest handful of weapons throughout their history , from pistols to tommy guns . Rather than loading rooms up with tons of enemies to gun down , Alone in the Darkdishes out more focused action interludes between its freeform exploration segments . That simplicity is a blessing in disguise , as combat is its fleshy weak period .
Shooting feels more like a half - hearted obligation to keep forward-looking thespian entertained .
The systems are n’t very complicated ; it ’s a simple heading - and - shoot system with some underage twists . Objects , like bricks and Molotov cocktail , can be tossed at enemies , and there ’s some spark sneaking involved in a few stealthy department . Nothing feels quite highly-developed though , which often make gunplay sense sloppy . Melee weapons have a short range and do n’t mesh on to enemy terribly well . Whenever I ’d seek to use one , I ’d just end up swinging wildly while a creep bet on me into a wall and stunlocked me to death . Though there are loads of dissimilar weapon to pick up , from axes to boat oars , they all function about the same .
There ’s not much enemy variety that calls for determination - fashioning either . Most enemies are shambling zombies that go down in a few shots no matter of where you come to them . Some teasing take flight bugs pop up near the end , but the remaking lacks in memorable monster designs outside of one gooey final boss . Shooting feel more like a half - hearted obligation to harbor modernistic musician who do n’t have a wad of solitaire for reading - heavy puzzles .
Though that aspect underwhelms , I appreciate how Pieces Interactive did n’t go overboard in crafting a complex action system full of complicated battle royal invigoration and craftable death trap . There ’s something old school about how simplistic it all is , with its small arsenal of canonical guns and minimal combat meeting . One easy climactic battle merely has me unloading automobile triggerman rounds into a slowly lurching foeman , knocking him down so I can walk over and jab a sticker into him three clock time . It has the straightforward pattern of aSilent Hill 2boss fight , adding to the underlie retro feel under its newfangled - historic period visuals .
The real joy ofAlone in the Darkcomes from seeing a developer that admires gage chronicle hug classic conception that today ’s hearing might call dated or unwieldy . This is n’t a project that feels it need to paint over the past to turn the serial into something it never was ( see the critically maligned 2008 reboot to see how that hubris turned out ) . alternatively , it cue us that a goofy obsess house news report has its shoes in 2024 correctly alongsideglitzy open - worldly concern gameschasing a high-priced Hollywood ideal .
pass up modernity ; adopt tradition .
Alone in the Darkwas tested on PC and Steam Deck OLED .
