Alone in the Dark is back and no this isn’t a remake! This is a love letter to the original Alone in the Dark of 1992 and the atmospheric slow-burn horror genre.
Return to Derceto Manor
Alone in the Dark was one of the biggest surprises here at Gamescom 2022 so I was extremely happy to learn more about the game during a hands-off presentation. First things first, this game takes a lot of inspiration from the 1992 original but isn’t a remake at all. If you would remake the original game, it would be over way too soon and there isn’t much to see except of a scary house and some monsters. No, this new version is far more than just a remake. The developers did look at the original and played it for countless hours, resulting in some fun Easter Eggs throughout the game but more importantly, a return of the characters and locations. The key location once again is the Derceto Manor, a classic horror house without the classic jump scares. The team of Alone in the Dark wants to go back to a slow-burn type of horror, a horror that creeps under your skin and doesn’t let you go until you unravel the truth. They don’t want an action-packed jump scare fest but they don’t want to make a walking simulator either. One of the things that will elevate the overall experience is the setting of the Manor.
What you didn’t got to explore in the original game were the locations surrounding the Manor. The house is situated in Louisiana, a location that will definitely play a role in this reinterpretation. The developers want us to explore the outside too and compare the feeling of the Southern state with the first season of True Detective. We didn’t see that much but we did notice that atmosphere will play a crucial role on this game. There are guns but those are never your main focus, this one will offer a wide variety of gameplay to keep things interesting.
A lot of different mechanics
During the presentation, we saw some more action-orientated scenes where our protagonists were shooting down several monsters. There will be guns in the game but they aren’t the main focus, as said before, this isn’t just an action-packed third-person shooter. The team wants to ensure us that the game keeps a perfect balance between exploration, story, weapons, and puzzle solving. It’s no surprise that puzzles make a return since they were always a key element for the franchise. Solving puzzles and advancing in the house is what a game like this is all about so it’s good to see those returning too. But what about the story?
Well, the story itself is kept a secret for now. Even the playable teaser called Grace in the Dark doesn’t reveal a thing about the story itself. The teaser is a small nod to the very first Alone in the Dark which also had an unrelated teaser to set the atmosphere of the game. Grace in the Dark does the same thing, it gives you a good sense of the atmosphere without spoiling anything for you. When it comes to the story, it’s interesting to know that you can play as Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood and both characters will face different challenges and story events. If you want to know everything, you’ll have to complete the game with both characters. I’m really curious to see where this is going and I’m also very pleased with the direction of horror. As said, they are going for a more slow-burn experience but they also promised us that the era of quirky horror characters will return. If you could compare it to a modern work I would say it probably comes very close to what Them achieved.
Early conclusion:
Alone in the Dark is an interesting return to the legendary franchise and I’m very hopeful that the team is on the right track to creating something new and thrilling for the horror genre. Only time will tell if they’ll succeed but for now, I’m rather hyped to play this and discover all of those dark little secrets.
