國產零零戚 / Made in China

1992 was the year 3D horror came to our PCs. I remember spending countless hours in the dark, trying desperately (and in vain) to beat the game despite its rather frustrating controls.

Although the newly released title by Atari is also called Alone in the Dark this is actually the 5th title in the Alone in the Dark series.

The generally dark atmosphere of the game is what I noticed first and it immediately conjured up memories of Resident Evil 4. In fact, there are two more minor similarities between these two games: zombies and a not very helpful female sidekick. But that’s where the similarities end. Alone in the Dark lets you interact with your environment to a much higher degree than any of the RE games. For example, you can simply pick up a chair and burn it. Or you can use tools that are lying around to bash hostile zombies.

You start the game trying to escape from a building next to New York’s Central Park in the midst of armageddon-like events. This is also the stage where you are introduced to the controls. While generally ok and sound, I noticed that they were sometimes lagging or unresponsive. Even though the storyline is extremely linear, the game does provide you with rather big worlds to roam around and have fun. One of the things I really like is a DVD-like menu that allows you to skip chapters and scenes, should you ever get frustratingly stuck somewhere (this happens a lot to my casual gamer friends). The difficulty of the game is just right. Hardcore gamers might find it a little bit too easy but personally I think it strikes a good balance between being beatable for both long-time and casual gamers.

What I found a little bit disappointing were the graphics. I don’t know if the Wii version is one but I think it looks rather like a port from the PS2. They aren’t bad, but after having played Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Harry Potter (yes, HP has good graphics rendering the environment in and around Hogwarts beautifully) or even RE4 (which was released 3 years ago for the Game Cube), I would have expected Atari to invest a little bit more into what is still the most popular console of this generation out there. ome on guys, the Wii can do better. We all know it! Thank god for the integrated use of the wiimote which makes it feel less of a port.

Another thing I found rather frustrating was that (especially in the beginning) checkpoints were spread rather thin and far away. When you expect someone to get into not only the control scheme but also the hole game, you should always anticipate a high degree of trial and error approaches. Maybe I’m just a crap player, but I died numerous times and after a while it got quite frustrating and it reduced the fun factor considerably. This also ties into my next point of criticism: loading times after death are way too long. Even if you die after taking just one step, it goes through the complete loading cycle again, making repeated death even more frustrating than they already are.

From what I have seen in the official videos there seem to be humongous differences between the XBox 360 and the Wii version of this game besides the obvious graphical HD – normal TV res difference. The one I’m most sorry about is the AI. In the videos, the developers claim that the zombies cannot only see you from far away but can also hear you and plot the quickest route to get to you. In the Wii version, however, there are certain safe zones where they won’t follow you, even if you are right in front of them. This makes them dull creatures, just waiting for you to vanquish them. I don’t know for sure but judging from what I have seen I assume that the 360 version doesn’t suffer from the same restriction. The 360 version also seems to feature a big central park free-roam zone where you can do whatever you want, while Wii version is limited to a constrained and linear storyline. And last but not least, there is a significant difference between the way users can interact with the environment of the game. Although already more extensive than in any other game I have played (with the exception of Elebits) the Wii version doesn’t allow for more intricate object interactions such as changing the form and shape of objects by shooting them as demonstrated in the tech demo videos.

Despite my stark criticism of this game, I still like it a lot. Correction: I am hooked! I played for 6h straight without any breaks. If you love survival horror games, then the new Alone in the Dark is definitely a must for you! If I was IGN I would give it 8 out of 10 points. But being me, my verdict is great game, definitely worth buying! Kudos Atari, that’s what I call a comeback!