Marco Fiori reports:
''You really want to like Alone in the Dark, but it's difficult to enjoy a game when it's continually slapping you across the face. The 1992 DOS classic (and in 1994 it graced the 3DO) pioneered the survival horror genre. Resident Evil (1996) may be the household name, but purists will recognise Alone in the Dark's achievement. It spawned two sequels in 1994 and 1995 and a disconnected 2001 follow-up. The franchise went quiet until last year when Atari announced the fifth game was currently in development by the French studio, Eden Games. Fast forward to the present day and we've been playing Alone in the Dark (2008). Fans hoping for a series revival should tread carefully, because Alone in the Dark isn't looking too healthy.
It's only apt that we played Alone in the Dark on the PC, as after all, that's where it began. When a game crashes on start-up because your control pad is plugged in (which you'll need, but we'll get to that) warning bells should be ringing. The official Xbox 360 controller will work fine, but it's hardly a good start. You'll be forgiven for thinking your playing a port as menu navigation still has press A to advance or B to go back everywhere. There is mouse support, but again, it's not a first good impression. Either way, we progressed with the keyboard and mouse unaware of what awaited us.''
Alone in the Dark developer Pieces Interactive has been hit with layoffs a month after its release, as per the latest information.
That genuinely, genuinely sucks. The reboot has clear flaws, but it really felt like a solid first step for this team to receive *greater* investment.
That's standard. Teams are together for a Project, after its done some..and sometimes most devs are fired until the next Project is in the works and people are needed again. Only the core members stay in the time between the hot phase of the game development.
VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "In one sense, it feels strange to even think Pieces Interactive had big shoes to fill with this series' legacy. Given what's come before, did it really? And yet, even when considering the last two flops over a two-decade span, there's still something about Alone in the Dark emblazoned on a title screen that carries a sense of revered history. In that respect, perhaps this reboot's best accomplishment is in honoring that spirit through its inventive world. It's also fair to emphasize knocks against its survival-horror design, some puzzle-solving, and so on; it certainly won't be considered a trendsetter like the 1992 classic. Still, the amount of goodwill wedded to its brighter qualities makes for something that dawdles the line between unfortunately-flawed and impressively-enticing."
The new Alone in the Dark remake doesn't do anything especially noteworthy, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It's just... cromulent.