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Alone in the Dark on Xbox 360 (2008)

Alone in the Dark cover art

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Average rating: 50%
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2.5 stars out of 5
from 2,291 members
 
Certificate: Certificate: 15
Developers: EDEN GAMES
Format: Xbox 360
Number of players: 1
Released: 20/06/2008
Also Available on:  Also Available on: PS2  Also Available on: PS3  Also Available on: WII

Brief synopsis of Alone in the Dark

Don't go into the park alone at night. You'll find all sorts there. Muggers, tramps, sexual deviants, and... maybe something a lot, lot worse.

A lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng time ago, the first Alone in the Dark game drew players into a world where fear was used as a weapon, creating a tense and ominous atmosphere. Now Atari, with the help of developer Eden Games, hopes to repeat the experience.

Edward Carnby, the protagonist of the original game, has returned. Over the course of one frightful night, he must uncover the dark secrets that shroud Manhattan's long-protected 1.3 square miles of greenery, Central Park. Whatever you do, however, don't make the mistake of assuming this is a whodunnit. As you try to unravel the mystery, you'll be fighting for your life against all manner of 'ugly'.

Eden Games has worked hard to make everything in the game work as it would in real life. If you think you could pick something up to bash a creature until gooey stuff comes out of it, you can in the game. If you think you could douse something in petrol and set it on fire in life, you can do it in the game. You'll put these aspects in the game to use not just during combat, but also in puzzle situations where you're left with just enough tools at your disposal to get the job done.

The game unfolds in the vast open world of Central Park, with not a load screen in sight. Evil nasties will pursue you relentlessly across the park, not limited to the areas that spawned them. Fortunately, you'll find vehicles strewn around which you can use to avoid them or, if you prefer, use as weapons against them.

It's probably too late to warn you against going into the park alone at night. But, you know, watch your back...

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Members' Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Rated - 5 starsGood

Maseio from Birmingham , 20/01/2008

Good The Best Game Ive Played In A While

  45 out of 56 people found this review helpful

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Rated - 0 starsTerrible!

Kalclash from Birmingham [Highly rated reviewer] , 24/06/2008

I only find myself writing reviews for games that have really angered me recently and this is one of them. This game is so broken and frustrating it will add years onto your life (my control pad took the brunt of my anger).

If anyone rents this game thinking it will be good (like I did) then you are in for a big suprise! This game is unplayably bad! Anyone that reviews this game highly has either not played it or needs their head testing.

  32 out of 34 people found this review helpful

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Rated - 3 starsA mixed bag

Flameswordsman from London [Highly rated reviewer] , 25/06/2008

I liked this game. I really did.

It has its faults, like a few in-game bugs where a computer controlled character might pin you into a wall etc.... and the game does have scripted moments that forces you to know what is going to happen to react in time, often leading to you dying a few times to get things right, but its also a great game that has tried something new.

'Real-world laws'. If a door is locked, bash it through with a heavy object, shoot the lock, set it on fire and wait a minute for it to crumble, or just blow it up.

Every problem has a solution. The enemies in the game don't like fire, so you have to use what little you have to your advantage. Pour alcohol on your bullets to give them a fiery kick, combine a flammable spray with your lighter for an instant mini-flamethrower, set a trap by pouring alcohol all over the floor and light it at the right time, or just shoot the gas-tank on a nearby car or shoot that liquor-bottle when its right in front of their face.

The game is like a Puzzle/Survival game, with no horror. You get problems, and basically you solve them using the enviroment and what you have in your inventory. Some of these puzzles can be quite hard [got an undead bug constantly drinking from a pool of blood, then running back through an air-vent to its nest thats blocking your metal-grated exit door? Simple, just tape up a bottle of flammable liquid with double-sided tape, pierce it with a knife, attach it to the bug, then when it runs back to the nest it leaves a flammable trail for you to use your lighter on!]

The music throughout the game is epic orchestral stuff that is amazing, the story looses its steam a bit when your required to free-roam all over Central Park for reasons you shall know if you ever play the game, and overall the game is a 'flawed masterpiece' that could have been Game of the Year except for a few problems like the in-game bugs and slight frustration [I do not like to hear people complaining about the controls. Every game has a different control lay-out, once you've played the game for 10 minutes you get used to it, just like you do with this game]

  19 out of 20 people found this review helpful

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* * * This review contains spoilers * * *

Rated - 3 starsgood but has control flaws

DA200 from Cambs [Highly rated reviewer] , 24/06/2008

Was looking forward to the game but am disappointed with the end product. I got use to the on-foot controls but the car driving is utter crap. The car sections are painful to play and I thought it was just the end bit on chapter 2 then it forces another section at the start of chapter 4! God know why the developers thought they were good enough for the end product.

As mentioned I got use to the controls but they are not as well done as Resident evil 4 (a game that is about 3 years old now) The on foot controls are a bit clunky at times but there is no real excuse for them apart from Atari wanted the game out now and got rushed out.

The story is very cinematic with some good voice acting. Shame the controls and the god awful driving brings the game down

  11 out of 13 people found this review helpful

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Most Recent Reviews

Rated - 0 starsTerrible!

Kalclash from Birmingham [Highly rated reviewer] , 24/06/2008

I only find myself writing reviews for games that have really angered me recently and this is one of them. This game is so broken and frustrating it will add years onto your life (my control pad took the brunt of my anger).

If anyone rents this game thinking it will be good (like I did) then you are in for a big suprise! This game is unplayably bad! Anyone that reviews this game highly has either not played it or needs their head testing.

  32 out of 34 people found this review helpful

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* * * This review contains spoilers * * *

Rated - 2 starsCould have been awesome, turned out to be awful.

Sephz0r from Aberdeen , 27/08/2008

'Don't go into the park alone at night. You'll find all sorts there. Muggers, tramps, sexual deviants, and... maybe something a lot, lot worse'

What, like cracks in the floor that don't like fire?!

Seriously - what there Eden thinking? This game has ruined the Alone in the Dark franchise moreso than Uwe Boll's movie - at least I enjoyed that, bad controls and horrible camera stopped me from enjoying this game.

If the camera and player arent positioned right then you cant do some of the jumping sequences such as from platform to platform. Even just running down a corridor and jumping becomes a hard task.

As inventive as it was the inventory system needs a lot of work, I found myself trying to select a certain item by pressing the right direction (ie if i needed something that was at a diagonal from my current highlighted item, and pressed diagonally it should ready the x/y axis input and highlight that item) but the game only recognised 2 points on each axis... left, right, up and down meaning that you found yourself spending too long trying to select items.

Couple this with the fact that it is realtime meaning you are busy messing around trying to select the bottle with alcohol and trying to pour it on your gun to make 'fire bullets' while that creepy bitch of an npc tries to nom nom nom munch on your neck!

And speaking of getting hurt, the real-time damage effects on the character when you look at them (yes you can look first-person at your own wounds, but back wounds make you feel like you're spinning your head 180 degrees) just look like bits of raw ham left out of the fridge for a day or two with a line of tomato sauce on them slapped on top of the clothes. Very good idea for spraying your own wounds with medicine spray - I liked that.

Driving wasnt that bad, but was poor. Very GTA like and the driving in GTA is very poor in my eyes. No bike though! :(

On a funnier note, this game should have been called 'The Adventures of a Pyromaniac, Alone in the (not so dark, now!) Dark wth Edward Carnby' - and that describes the game... just a way for Eden Games to show off that fancy fire effect which up close on a HD monitor doesnt look that great... Older games have done it much better and newer games will do it even better.

Anyway, 2/5. It wasnt too bad.

Summary? Repetitive, irritating and angering. Had it been more sandbox orientated it would have been a lot of fun.

  3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

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