Alone In The Dark
Publisher: Atari | Release Date: June 24, 2008

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Blink. The average person blinks 20 times per minute. Like breathing, eating and sleeping the act of blinking is a natural and necessary exercise. Yet, while all of the aforementioned tasks have been seen in gaming, blinking has never before been included in gameplay design. In Alone in the Dark, players awaken as a groggy Edward Carnby who is initially tasked with blinking to focus on the world around him. Yes, blinking is mapped to the controls. The entire exercise ironically foreshadows the negative stigma Alone in the Dark has received in recent weeks. That is to say the game lacks a certain focus.

The Initial Story (Spoiler Warning)
Edward Carnby awakens to a trio of armed men beating up an older gentleman that calls out to the classic survival-horror hero. As Carnby is led away by one of the armed men, who forces the groggy protagonist to march to the roof to meet his demise, an ancient evil attacks (as they have been known to) killing the armed man and leaving Edward to escape. As the level progresses we find out that Carnby has lost all memory of himself, nor does he recognize the old man who called out for his safety. The opening levels take place in a building that is slowly burning and crumbling out of the New York landscape which Carnby must escape. Players meet Sarah along the way, a sassy (of course) potential victim of the fire and evil that lurks within the walls. Once the pair meet up with the old man, named Theophile, they plan an escape through the garage and hijack a taxi and make their way to Central Park. Once at the surface they realize New York is being destroyed and must speed to safety as the city swallows itself behind them. This is the beginning of Alone in the Dark.

Visual Appeal
Alone in the Dark is comparable to a higher quality version of 2K's first-person shooter, Prey. Characters are leathery with the distinct look that they are all wearing masks of their own faces. Edward Carnby, for example, looks like the grandfather of the character displayed on the retail box as his in game model is old and haggard. Environments are varied but are lit to give the impression that everything is wet. Ironic for a game that focuses so greatly on fire. As for the fire (and you will see a lot of it), it looks great and stands out as the best visual in the game. The problem with Alone in the Dark is its numerous technical issues. Characters, weapons and environments often clip through each other. Cut scenes are plagued with pop-in from everything from environments to texture and lighting.

Hands-On Experience
Taking the reigns as Edward Carnby initially feels like a standard FPS on both platforms. In the context of the story, gamers begin the game in the first-person perspective as the armed would-be assassin leads you to your death. Once full control of the game is given to you for the first time the perspective changes and the shift can be rather jarring. The Xbox 360 version of Alone in the Dark suffers greatly from precise movement issues. Turning Carnby can often feel as if you are pushing him unwillingly into position as he swings from left to right. On the PC, control is more precise but still frustrating as classic pivot (or tank) movement is used. At any moment perspectives can be shifted into the first person but the game trains you that the third-person mode is the recommended setting by throwing you out of first-person anytime you are hit or returning from a cut scene (to which there are many).

Initially the gameplay was comparable regardless of platform, however, combat is a completely different experience. There are two basic forms of combat in Alone in the Dark. Third-person environmental use combat and first-person combat. Guns, make-shift flame throwers and even the healing spray mini-game are all designed specifically for the first-person perspective. Battling enemies with environmental pieces like chairs, sledgehammers or an ax are all designed for the third person. In the Xbox 360 version, Alone in the Dark is mapped well to a controller that has a limited amount of inputs while the PC suffers from over-complex default settings. For example, on the Xbox 360 using the right analog stick while holding a weapon will control Carnby's arms. So, to strike with an ax you must swing back to bring the weapon above his head and then down to strike. The PC version uses a similar mechanic, the initial setup of the example given is the same -- pull back the mouse with a weapon in hand but a mouse click performs the action. Why lose the other half of the mechanic? It's an odd choice.

Beyond subtle issues the PC version becomes frustrating over time when new elements are introduced. While climbing a cable upwards to safety you come to a ledge that Carnby must jump to quickly as the world around him is crumbling. By default the rather important task of jumping to safety is mapped to the Print Screen key. As an example of how this can be an issue, consider; controlling Carnby's movement with the standard WASD setup brings him to a cable that requires a jump onto a balcony (both hands would have to be used on the keyboard) where enemies lie in wait then to initiate combat meaning you would need to access your inventory to select a weapon and use the mouse in order to battle. The constant switch from dedicated keyboard to mouse/keyboard is awkward and cumbersome. Even with the use of quick switching favorite equipment selection the sequence can be frustrating. Keep in mind that the PC version allows for remapping of all keys as well as the use of a game controller.

Where the PC outshines the console version in Alone in the Dark are the multiple vehicle sections. Overall the vehicles in the game feel floaty and weightless so analog control will often fishtail cars sending them flying into debris. Using the WASD setup for vehicles allows for precise control and is an overall better experience considering most driving situations are used to outrun or dodge enemy attacks where the slightest error will result in a game over.

The innovative (and sometimes frustrating) menu system also works better on PC. When Carnby looks into his coat to mix and match items on console players are forced to scroll through items using the directional pad or analog stick whereas the PC version lets players select items using a mouse pointer. The reason the PC version works better is due to the speed of the entire process. Going into the inventory management screen in Alone in the Dark does not freeze or slow-down the action so the quicker use of the PC scheme works better when combining items during enemy onslaughts. Remember, if anything touches you in a first-person perspective you are thrown back into third-person so quick management of the frustrating system is a must. It's just a shame that the combat on PC can be even more frustrating.

Final Word
Playing through the majority of both the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Alone in the Dark brings a startling revelation -- despite its many flaws the game can be enjoyable. Between the two however, the PC version can be much more frustrating than its console counterpart. While the PC allows for precise aiming in first-person mode (while the Xbox 360 aids players with an auto-aim feature) the combat is clunky and complex. Alone in the Dark tries to do too many things at once and while it succeeds in some ways, the areas in which it fails make the experience feel broken. It isn't a bad game but its steep challenge is a result of poor design decisions rather than intentional challenge. Regardless of which platform you choose keep in mind that Alone in the Dark greatly benefits from a game controller but even then it can be a frustrating battle of trial and error.

Xav de Matos is a contributing editor for the Joystiq Network at Big Download and Xbox 360 Fanboy as well as the producer of the weekly BigDownload.com gaming podcast, the BigCast. Questions or suggestions for this or future features may be directed to xav.dematos [at] weblogsinc [dot] com.