Operating systems: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
In the 1920s, Emily Hartwood, a private investigator, and her client Edward Carnby travel to a spooky house located deep in the swamp to look into her eccentric uncle. Rather, they unearth a terrifying universe of cosmic horror that imperils our very existence.
In the same way that the first Alone in the Dark debuted on the PC in 1992, this most recent attempt to bring the groundbreaking horror series back to life is taking place in 2024. However, this is more of a remix than a remake because it improves and expands on the original work in a lot of ways.
David Harbour and Jodie Comer play the film’s two stars, which first adds a hint of celebrity. The most notable departure from the original is probably Harbour’s portrayal of Carnby, who goes from being a sour but Holmesian gentlemen detective to a wisecracking private jerk. It’s a choice that works for the actor—he plays a more noirish version of Stranger Things’ Hopper here—and contrasts better with Comer’s Hartwood, a flimsy academic tormented by her own problems. The two have a fantastic rapport, which is demonstrated twice when events and sequences change based on the protagonist you choose to play as. But don’t worry about missing anything; to learn the entire tale, you’ll need to progress through the game as each.
Though the tale takes some rather strange turns—such as featuring characters from later games in the original trilogy, such Grace Saunders—anyone who remembers the classic version will find that it is largely focused on the enigmatic Jeremy Hartwood. Edward and Emily were initially drawn to the former plantation, Derceto Manor, in 1992 because of his suicide. This abandoned estate has been converted into an asylum, where Uncle Jeremy is a prisoner. However, he vanishes after going on a rant about a menacing “Dark Man.” As Emily and Edward search for him, his frantic journals and unsettling artwork lead to a weird amulet that sends them into a scary shadow world.
The main gameplay loop of this contemporary Alone in the Dark is shifting between realities; it ends up being more of a suspenseful adventure game than a conventional survival horror game. A convoluted sprawl of rooms and facilities steeped in a menacing Southern Gothic style, Derceto’s sections are more geared toward puzzle-solving and research, but they also encourage interactions with the facility’s dubious staff and unusual residents. Guy Davis, a longstanding collaborator of Guillermo del Toro, created the horrifying ghouls, malformed heaps of flesh, and juddering bone that Emily and Edward encounter while searching for answers in the shadow worlds they can visit thanks to the talisman. But as reality becomes more hazy, the barriers dividing it begin to crumble. Enter a new area in Derceto, and it could break unexpectedly, briefly twisting into its own black reflection before snapping back into place.
Careful lighting and design decisions contribute to creating a nearly tangible sense of place.
It’s one of the best strategies in the game for keeping the tension high. Although Alone in the Dark never completely establishes itself as a horror classic, players are constantly on guard because of the lingering doubt about what, if anything, is real and when the spooky Derceto walls could give way to Lovecraftian regions.
The world created by developer Pieces Interactive is also incredibly immersive; notes and clues discovered throughout the game are read aloud by the voice actors portraying the corresponding characters, drawing players even deeper into their web of connections and plots. The patient and staff rooms also reflect and allude to the personalities and histories of their occupants. With the exception of Harbour and Comer’s meticulously rendered likenesses, the game isn’t the sharpest looking in some areas, but careful lighting and design choices help create a nearly tactile feeling of location throughout both realities.
The fact that the majority of the focus is on world-building and exploration is probably for the best, though, as the fighting is awkward throughout. One the one hand, melee weapons break readily, and ammo is vanishingly rare, so you’re not supposed to shot down every enemy you come across. But too frequently, you’re defenseless against creatures if you’re unlucky enough to be without weapons, with your movements clumsy, your dodge barely working, and you having no defense at all. No matter how many times the game tells you to hurl bottles or bricks to distract attackers, the effort at stealth mechanics—ostensibly to avoid the ghouls entirely—fails miserably as well.
Though Alone in the Dark is known to have influenced Resident Evil, the series’ purposefully limited combat is probably a nod to its survival horror roots. With a little more polish, these restrictions could all work incredibly well, supporting the notion that weak mortals are ill-equipped to face the otherworldly horrors they’re pitted against. Unfortunately, though, it all seems like competing systems that never quite offer the abilities or resources required to survive.
However, this relaunch has an understanding of the series’ history ingrained in it, even beyond its genre roots. While a variety of filters and skins enable players to mimic the appearance of the 1992 game—a nice, if gimmicky, touch—a developer’s commentary provides insight from both new and returning creators, comparing and contrasting 2024’s Alone In The Dark to its earliest incarnation (thankfully, this is accessible from the off, not gated behind completing the game first). The game’s guiding algorithms also strike a clever mix between the old and the new, offering a much more hand-holding “modern” option, a “old school” mode where you have to solve every clue on your own, and customizable settings for something in the middle.
This most recent attempt to bring Alone in the Dark back to life finds widespread success in that respect for its origins. Notwithstanding its shortcomings, Lovecraftian elements, setting and cast expansion, and building on the finest elements of the 1992 version all combine to provide a fascinating experience. Sadly, the clumsy fighting, poor stealth mechanics, and mediocre graphics drag it down, but fortunately, unlike the awful 2008 and 2015 attempts to bring back Alone In The Dark, the adventure and puzzle components are compelling enough to at least leave players wanting more. While it might not be sufficient to bring the franchise back to life on its own, it does show that it is still alive.