Sixteen years after its PC debut, Alone In the Dark is back. It thrusts tired (and surprisingly young for his old age) detective Edward Carnby against a frightening supernatural force. However, you'll discover that the monsters are only part of the problem.

Carnby's adventure begins with a kidnapping, as a mysterious figure named Crowley orders one of his thugs to execute him atop a skyscraper. Before the hit man finishes the job, a supernatural creature attacks him. Carnby wanders around, realizing he suffes from a bit of amnesia. However, he's got no time to collect his thoughts. The building crumbles around him, innocent people die and a supernatural force hopes to terrorize New York City. Soon, he finds himself battling fiends on the street and going into Central Park in the hopes of stopping this threat.

Here, Edward point his gun at a fire. "STUPID FIRE!" Click to see more images from the game...

Atari spared no expense when it comes to Alone In the Dark's modern-day design. Its levels are vast and wonderfully designed, with constant shifts in the atmosphere that keep a sense of danger present. For instance, in the skyscraper stage, flaming debris constantly falls and rises around Carnby, giving you the suggestion that he should keep moving in order to stay alive. Enemy limbs burst from the walls, eventually creating lots of "gotcha" moments that make you jump in your seat. The game also has the option of letting you choose either a first or third person perspective, requiring you to change back and forth throughout the level. For instance, one section forces you to point and shoot an extinguisher at rising flames, while another requires an overhead view to clear a dangerous jump.

Sound also plays a considerable role. Voice acting is very good, although some of the dialogue is cheesy. For instance, Crowley's henchmen sound a little too confident for their own good, only mildly concerned at the supernatural elements surrounding them, though that is a minor issue. Furthermore, the music and sound effects are also terrific, really drawing you into your spooky surroundings.

Unfortunately, the gameplay fails to thrill, starting with the item interface. It plays out in real time, having you look into your jacket pockets at your inventory. Although you can combine items for effectiveness (such as a gun with fire to create "flaming bullets"), it suffers from clunky controls. Even worse, the action doesn't pause when you use it. You fumble for stuff in your pockets while fending off monsters. That's not fair.

If that isn't enough, both the first and third-person perspectives have their individual problems. Playing the game in a first-person view is all right at first, but you turn too slowly. So, surprise, you're hit from behind by enemies and killed too easily. The third-person view isn't much better, thanks to awkward camera angles. Too often, you'll miss a ledge or wander off to an accidental death simply because you couldn't see where you were supposed to stop. These camera views also make some puzzles near impossible to solve.

Finally, Alone In the Dark has one of the worst driving stages in a video game. We've hit the New York streets a number of times and ran into stationary, and sometimes invisible, objects that put an end to our joy ride. It's terrible.

It's sad to see a game with such soaring ambition fall flat because it's damn near unplayable. Alone In the Dark earns points for its great presentation and a few clever ideas. However, it simply isn't fun, and as a result leaves its audience in the dark.

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Alone In the Dark Game Guide

Atari

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