Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare
Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmareby Infogrames Entertainment
Platform: PlayStation
ESRB Rating: Mature
ASIN: B00004WFRN
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Features:
• Survival-horror adventure
• Intricate story line with more than 20 characters
• Detailed, realistic environments
• Solve the mystery of a friend's death armed only with a pistol and a flashlight
• For 1 player
Amazon.com: The fourth installment in the series that created the survival-horror genre, Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare doesn't quite live up to its legacy, as it more often than not resembles a shoddy knockoff of the franchise that has since defined the genre, Resident Evil.
You can play The New Nightmare as either Edward Carnby, a paranormal private investigator and poster boy for the series, or Aline Cedrac, a college professor and requisite video game babe. As in Resident Evil 2, the protagonists cross paths but have separate adventures within the main story, which, in this case, involves evil supernatural forces at work on the appropriately (but unimaginatively) named Shadow Island.
Although The New Nightmare uses the genre-standard, third-person, fixed-camera viewpoint, it adds a twist by bathing most of its detailed, predrawn 3-D backgrounds in darkness, and then equipping the player with a controllable flashlight. Not only does this create some rather impressive lighting effects, but it also heightens the sense of fear that is further fueled by the game's ominous music and sounds.
Unfortunately, the rest of The New Nightmare isn't very inspired. Its underdeveloped controls are on par with the first Resident Evil, which might not be so bad if not for that fact that this combat-light game has you tediously running around looking for keys to match its many nondescript locked doors, as well as trying to find solutions to vague puzzles that all too often leave you in the dark. --Joe Hon
Pros:
Play as either of two protagonists, each in a separate adventure
Impressive lighting effects
Effectively ominous music and sounds
Cons:
Awkward viewpoints
Clumsy, underdeveloped controls
Gameplay is more often tedious than challenging
Amazon.com Product Description: Edward Carnby, detective of the supernatural, returns to investigate the death of his best friend, Charles Fiske, whose body was found in the waters of amysterious island off the coast of Maine. Carnby's investigation quicklyleads him to his friend's search for three ancient tablets, which, whenplaced in a specific location, will unlock an incredible and dangerouspower. Armed with a flashlight and a pistol, Carnby must find the necessaryitems to survive as well as the clues that will help him escape hisultimate nightmare.
Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare carries on the survival-horror series tradition of intense action and suspensefuladventure. Within its dark and strange atmosphere, conventional rules donot apply. The player must overcome his natural fear of the dark unknownand control Edward Carnby through the game's deep storyline.
DailyRadar Review: Back in 1992, Infogrames developed a little adventure game set in a Louisiana mansion. At the time, both 3D games and the survival horror genre were quite new, and the result was a classic PC game of suspense and terror. Originally titled Screams in the Dark, Alone in the Dark was the first game to use fully 3D characters on a prerendered background. It also took advantage of the cutting-edge soundcards of the day to create a truly absorbing experience.
Infogrames is hoping to recapture that experience with the fourth installment in the AitD series, this time as the publisher. Darkworks is taking over the development duties, and from what we saw from a recent build, is doing an admirable job of capturing the basic feel of the original. But unlike the previous version of AitD, The New Nightmare will be coming out for a wide variety of platforms, including the PC, Dreamcast, Playstation and even the Game Boy Color.
The story continues from the original game... sort of. In Alone in the Dark, players took control of Edward Carnby, a detective of the paranormal who barely got out alive. But in The New Nightmare, everything has been updated -- even Edward. Gamers still control Carnby, only this time he's a hipper, younger-looking dude with an itchier trigger finger. According to the developers we spoke to, the name Edward Carnby stays the same, but every 40 years it is bestowed on a young orphan who is destined to live a life tiptoeing around creepy shacks with only a 9mm and an industrial-strength flashlight to protect him.
This time, Edward is investigating the death of a good friend, which occurred on the shores of the naturally mysterious "Shadow Island." Since nothing mysterious ever seems to happen on the topless beaches of St. Tropez, players shouldn't be surprised that Edward must travel across the wintry island to uncover the mystery of three missing tablets. Fortunately, he won't be alone this time. Aline Cedrac is a young archeologist who gets caught up in Edward's quest and pulled deeper into the mystery. Players will be able to play as both Edward and Aline, alternating between the missions to get a better feel for the storyline.
Also updated this time around are the amazing graphics. Darkworks has been working hard to develop a proprietary lighting system that makes the shadows and light from Edward's flashlight look utterly convincing. While we only saw a few of the more than 1,200 prerendered backgrounds, they looked almost photographic in their detail. Just as impressive are the subtle segues between the in-game play and the profession CG cutscenes. In one instance, Edward walked up to a carpet, and the game cut to an animation of a serpent coming alive in the fabric and jumping up at the camera. When the camera finally cut back to the game, the transition was smooth and natural.
And just as smooth as the graphics is the clean interface. While we moved about in the standard mode, no graphics or interface cluttered up the screen. But when Edward or Aline pulled out a weapon, a small green life bar appeared in the screen's lower righthand corner, with the a corresponding ammo gauge on the left side. They were slight and almost transparent, but they provided plenty of information in a hurry. That sort of minimal interference between the game and the gamer seems to be a hallmark of Darkwork's approach to the project.
The gameplay itself should be familiar to fans of original Alone in the Dark series, as well as other horror titles. Moving your 3D character through the prerendered environment is a snap with a gamepad, and the intelligent camera system was always well positioned in the action we saw. There are going to be 12 different kinds of weapons in the final game, which will include everything from the familiar revolver to items a little more supernatural in origin.
The 15 different kinds of monsters have been designed not only to scare the bejeezus out of us but also to react intelligently to different stimuli. Some will react to light, either to seek it out or to run away from it. Others will react to the sound of a character's footsteps or even seek you out when your health is low. The hell dogs will also demonstrate pack intelligence, circling around behind a player to take out the legs and then go for the throat. It won't be easy getting Edward and Aline off Shadow Island alive, but the developers we spoke to assured us that while there is going to be plenty of gameplay, they aren't going to artificially extend the game by making it extraordinarily difficult.
The gameplay is going to be a balance of both action and puzzle solving, with an emphasis on puzzles that fit into the tone of the game. Saving games on the consoles will be handled via amulets that have to be discovered, but, once found, will allow games to be saved anywhere. PC players, however, should be able to save anywhere at will.
It's a beautiful-looking game so far, and Darkworks promises us that Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare will be ready to go in the spring of 2001. Since the last AitD game came out five years ago, there is some question whether the series has much clout among gamers. And the market is a lot more crowded with horror games these days than it was back then. But Darkworks is taking its time with this one, and if the version we saw is an indication of the final product, we're looking forward to being alone again.
Customer Reviews:
Don't play it alone when the lights are out!!!!!, August 8, 2002
Reviewer: Kenneth from Shelbyville, KY USA
I love this game! It has the music, the gore, and the terror to make this one of the best survival-horror games of all time! You can choose between two characters that you would like to be and each of them take different areas. Has creatures like rabid dogs, bugs, spiders, plants, zombies, ect. The music can be very scary just like the music for the Resident Evil series. The terror is unspeakably evil. You can go into a room and look for stuff. Then all of a sudden the lights will go out and you will see images of zombies only for a second. ...go on to the next room. This game is about as scary as Resident Evil, or Clock Tower gets. When things just pop out that is only a fraction of the horror in this game. It does challenge you with tough puzzles especially the library. This game lives up to being one of the best surrvival horror games for 2001! I like the Resident Evil series but, they are starting to loose their touch. Get this game unless you are to afraid to play it alone in the dark! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!
It was OK, but not as good as the other reviews say it is!, August 6, 2002
Reviewer: A gamer from Somewhere on Earth
In a sense, the game does have good lighting and use of the shadowing, but it just didn't scare me that much. Maybe, that is because I have been through the horror in other games such as Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, and other games in the survival-horror genre and already have experienced that. I find though that the monsters in some parts were not that frightening like the shadow monsters in the attic area. Althogh there was a somewhat frightening effect added with the monster in the water towards the beginning of the game. There wasn't that much to offer, though. I recommend the games from the Resident Evil series over this and the Dino Crisis series. They have a scarier vibe. I don't recommend playing the Silent Hill series because it is just crap with cheap monster and overly dramatic effects, which detract from any horror of the game.
ALONE IN THE DARK-RESIDENT EVIL, June 21, 2002
Reviewer: Wolf from USA
This game is great. If you like the Resident Evil games or Dino Crisis you'll love this game.
Challenging and fun, June 20, 2002
Reviewer: A gamer from Bethlehem, PA United States
despite what some people may think, This game's camera angels DO NOT copy off of RE, the first game in the alone in the dark series had switching camera angles just like this game, and alone in the dark 1 was released in 1992. There's just about everything in this game, puzzles with a definite plot, different ways of doing things, combined with action and different fight scenes... etc. The only things that could have been better is that the entire storyline of alone in the dark is thrown out by this game... the second game took place in the 1920's, and this one takes place in 2001, the carnby of the original was middle-aged, now he's in his 20's... and so forth. Also, in some parts saving ammo is crucial, in other parts you have more ammo than you know what to do with. There is no more melee combat or weapons such as knives or swords. There isn't much replay value, but keep in mind there are two different missions, each one with the same basic idea but with different actions, areas, and so forth.
Great game, June 9, 2002
Reviewer: An amazon visitor from Lake Tahoe, California
A wonderful game. Impressive graphics. Creepy storyline and gameplay. What more could you ask for? Buy it.
Creepy and fun!, June 9, 2002
Reviewer: A gamer from Lake Tahoe, California.
Ok, what I know is that most survival horror video games rely more upon giving you chills and making you jump rather than gameplay. This game, however, is fun and it's creepy. The music kinda got me scared so basicly I went to option and completely muted the music. The reason that I didn't give this game 5 stars was bassicly because the puzzles were way to hard. It's impossible to beat this game without a strategy guide. Other than that, howwever, this game totally rocks.
I chose Carnby as my character. I haven't yet played Aline, I probably will soon though.
Alone in the dark for adults only, March 10, 2002
Reviewer: Scott E Benson from minturn, co United States
I thoght this game was pretty good.It keeps you guessing and has the blood and gore to make you worry about the creators. There are even a few places that make you jump a little. SAVE YOUR AMMO whenever possible. Tword the end, after the manor, you will need it. The book is not essential if you are in mensa, so I recommend you get it. The only thing Bad to say about it is that once you get the book, you can solve it in about 12 hours. That is if you choose Carnaby as your charachter. I have not tried it as aline yet but will probably do so soon,
Very disappointed., February 20, 2002
Reviewer: Karen E. Farquhar from Ogden, Utah United States
I was very disappointed in this game. There are way too many files. On top of that, they are way too long. I got a quarter of the way through the game and was scanning through the files without reading them. Monsters are few in this game. I am a big fan of Resident Evil and I admit this game is very similiar to it, but, its suspense level and its puzzel solving level are incredibly poor. Way to many sealed up doors. I did not find the graphics very appealing at all. I bought this game...used. If I had paid more, I would have returned it.
Great Creep Factor, December 7, 2001
Reviewer: A gamer from Atlanta, GA United States
I played this game and expected it to be much like the Resident Evil series. I was right...but there is much more to this game. While the premise of this game is far from new (they have borrowed heavily from the RE series and Silent Hill) this game has a few cards up its sleeve. The graphics for the most part are exceptional, with only a few problems here and there with the camera angle. Character movement is easy to learn, especially if you are familar with the RE series. The music and voice acting is also good (something that CANNOT be said about RE). The game gives you the option of playing as two different characters and while the end result is pretty much the same and the puzzles are similar, it does add to the replay value giving you more for your money. The creep out factor is definitely there, with the detailed graphics and overall dark atmosphere of the game. If you like horror/action games than this one will be right up your alley.
Suspenseful Supernatural Fun, October 31, 2001
Reviewer: David L. Peck from Colrain, MA USA
One of the first games that I got when I purchased my playstation was Resident Evil, and I thought that that was going to be the best game ever. It was, for a while, but for those of you tired of the T virus and zombies in bloated sequels, I would definitely recommend AITDTNN. A haunted island, and black magic combine to make one horribly freaky gaming experience. You did not have to play the original to enjoy this wonderfully chilling sequel.