I know the game has been out for awhile now. However, I felt for a special Halloween update I should be posting about a game that has creepiness. Thus I give you this Alone in the Dark review, the series has had quite a few games before this latest rendition that was released back in June. The game's overall composition is good, though some of the game mechanics are overtly flawed.
The game takes the view of a television miniseries, and every time you load your saved game you'll see a teaser comprised of the game's cutscenes. It helps to draw you in to the story of Edward Carnby and the "path of light" story arc that drives this particular version of Alone in the Dark.
The titles main weakness is it's combat and driving mechanisms that comprise the bulk of the game. Often when stopped by cutscenes where enemies will appear you'll become unarmed and switched to a 3rd person view, when you were previously in 1st person and armed with your magnum. Additionally, when driving, you'll find yourself being hampered with curbs and small bushes even when your driving at high speeds. Moreover, you'll probably find it difficult to control the car as it often feels like your driving on ice.
With that being said, the game does several things well enough to the point that it merits a playthrough, or at least an attempt at one. First, AitD does a good job of telling the story of Edward Carnby and getting those who are unfamiliar with the previous games caught up. Second, the sound/timing of scripted events is done to the effect where it isn't so much scary as it is creepy. The mood and tone of AitD is capable of making the user feel anxious in certain situations, and cautious in others; which I would imagine is the greatest compliment that you could give to a Resident Evil clone. Lastly, the television like approach to the game was so effective in ramping me up for the game that I'd like to see it applied in some other games, but definitely not all of them.
If there was a formula for AitD it would look like the below:
Resident Evil + Prince of Persia + (1/4 The Legend of Zelda) = Alone in the Dark
Essentially the game should last most veterans 8 to 8.5 hours. Though in the last two chapters the pacing gets extremely slow and may push the average hours played to 10 to 11, based upon the some of the last missions. If you can get over some of the niggly hangups and need a break from Fable II then perhaps you should give this above average title a shot.
