Alone in the Dark

Alone in the Dark was the original survival horror, the inspiration for Resident Evil, Silent Hill and every other game involving a lone protagonist wandering through the dark battling vicious monsters. 

This new game is the first AITD title since 2001 but unlike its predecessors this entry is set in the modern day. Our hero Edward Carnby has to fight his way through New York’s Central Park, which is infested with supernatural creatures.

On the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC it showcases some impressive visual effects and clever features involving the use of realistic fire. The Nintendo Wii can’t handle those sorts of graphics, of course, but what it does have is the unique motion-sensitive controls.

One of the unusual features of Alone in the Dark is that protagonist Edward Carnby stores all his gear in the many pockets of his coat, and accessing  the inventory involves looking down at the inside of the coat. With Alone in the Dark on the Wii you ‘open’ the nunchuck and remote like you’re grabbing the lapels of a coat. Movement and aiming are also simple and intuitive thanks to the well-tuned control system.

As a survival horror Alone in the Dark isn’t about constant gun battles and huge explosions, there are plenty of puzzles and you’ll also need to help Carnby negotiate dangerous environmental obstacles as buildings collapse and set on fire.

But despite making occasional good use of the Wii’s control system this edition of Alone in the Dark is a disappointment. Visually, it’s incredibly unattractive with ugly graphics and poorly built character models, and the game slows to a crawl during busy scenes. And although the control scheme works in first person, when it switches to a third-person view the controls suffer, making it difficult to move Edward or pick up objects. It feels rushed, the developers have tried to cram far too much onto Nintendo’s little console and the system just can’t cope.

Final verdict: Poor graphics, dull and irritating gameplay and many bugs. This is badly done and rushed port. The only upside is the occasional clever use of the Nintendo Wii controls.