Customer Reviews
Alone in the dark burnt! - By: Bruce Banner, 05 Jul 2010 
Ok the title is a bit of a stretch I know but that is how I feel after finally completing this game.. sort of! Don't get me wrong this game has its moments where it has rewritten the rule book. The way you heal yourself has been mentioned but I am also suitably impressed with the `blinking' & closing your eyes to use spectral powers.
The level design & some of the puzzles were also a throwback to a greater era when games were made to stimulate the brain.. take note capcom for Resident Evil 6.
But for these few positives there are a number of negatives which make you think that the game was a rush job whenin fact it was actually a polished version of a previously released game.
Take for example the driving which is all fine & well when you are drivingin a straight line at a pedestrian pace, however, once you put your foot down .. & I use that phrase loosely as you still feel like you are driving through treacle .. your car has all the manoeuvrability of a tank! And not a very good tank at that .. as you will notice when you attempt to cut across central park & get stopped by every drivers worse nightmare an iron bush! Not very realistic I hear you cry .. but that is a minor gripe.
Some parts of the game are simply just broken, collision detection is iffy at best, camera apparently has been improved but if so I would have hated to see what it was like before!
The big question I guess is would I recommend it? A tough question because for all its bad points there are a few gems of ideasin there. As its a budget buy now as its been out a while, I would recommend it to anyone that has played Condemned 2 or Silent Hill & enjoyed them. My ague memories of Alonein the Dark on the PS1 were of a game that was of an adequate filler of time between Resident Evil & Silent Hill, unfortunately the hardware has changed the changed but the games placein history hasn't.
I played this alone in the dark - By: Inspector Gadget, 04 May 2010 I'd never played any of the previous four AITD video games so I figured I'd be lost an unable to keep up with this one, but the previews looked good so I added it to my wishlist, where it remained until the price came down.
You play as Edward Carnby, a man who has lost his memory. Edward wakes upin a crumbling Central Park West apartment building. A supernatural force is ripping through the walls & turning the inhabitants into mutated killers. A huge earthquake rips Manhattan apart & on top of that there are ugly monsters spawning all over the park. It's all part of a prophecy (yawn)in which Edward must prevent Lucifer from entering into the world.
The plot is mostly mumbo-jumbo. But the main strength of the game is the oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere that turns a supposedly safe environment bustling with people (Manhattan island) into a lonely, apocalyptic nightmare. As a survival horror it's not as good as the Resident Evil series, & it doesn't have tension that made those games so good. I never felt scared to look around a corner or felt fear of what was lurkingin the darkness beyond the character's view. But it's fast moving enough & gives you plenty of monsters to shoot at (though it's never satisfying enough & totally bloodless). It's also the 86th gamein a row I've played that features Central Park.
Despite my complaining, I never got bored with the game or felt it was hard to control (I played the PS3 version, which improves on the Xbox 360 release). Though when driving around a shrub or a bush is completely impenetrable to a two-ton car & it's kinda infuriating. The fact that trophies are handed out left, right & centre makes up for it.
The ending hints at a sequel, which has yet to materialize. But AITD is a fine way to spend a few bucks & a few days playing.
Graphics B+ Sound B- Gameplay B Lasting Appeal B
Unique Game that takes you out of the repetitiveness that you see elsewhere - By: Mr. M. E. Alshaikly, 28 Apr 2010 
This game is the best offline PS3 game so far (cuz I think COD-MOD2 is the best online game).. I've always been a big fan of horror games like Silent hill & resident evil ..but I would say that this game had beaten them & all the other horror games.
The graphics are brilliant.. the story line is awesome.. the puzzles & the game play are the best part.. for example:
- U can switchin between 1st or 3rd person modes
- U can combining items that you collect to make brand new stuff...its a game of improvisation..
- U could use anythingin the scene or environment as a weapon to beat the enemies!! bats, mopes, trunks, chairs...etc (you might say,in silent hill you do the same..but its not!! you don't have to carry these items as part of your inventory list..(its more like manhunt)
- U can jumpin to a car & drive it anywhere you want!! how cool is that (not mentioning that you can check & search the car for items)
- U can switch to the healing mode which is pretty original (more like MGS only better) & search for woundsin your body & heal them.
There are much more stuff that will keep you amazed throughout the game.. no repetition at all.. Great bosses with weakness points that you need to figure outin order to defeat them..not just shoot & beat!! In all the horror games that I've played, the rule of thumb is to get powerful weapons, collect ammo & be economical..here its not the case
If you like uncharted, & if you are a fan of horror games, then u should definitely get this one!!
I only hope that there will be a sequel to this game (btw... I haven't completed it yet)
Buy this game & you'll never regret it
PS I never played any of the alonein the dark gamesin the past (i.e. PS & PS2)
Daring, Different but flawed - By: Mr. R. J. Wilson, 14 Mar 2010 
I was quite impressed with this game. It is very different. For a start there are few weapons & you have to combine things to make effective weapons. It is a supernatural tale so don't expect too much realism. The story is quite good & runs like a TV series. If I have one complaint, it is that if is difficult to know just what to do sometimes but there are a couple of walkthroughs on websites to help.
Full marks for daring to be different from the usual RPG & shooter.
The dark awaits you... - By: James Thomas Jeans, 11 Feb 2010 "Alonein the Dark" is a game that had a lot of hype behind it prior to release, but when it finally landed on the 360, Wii & PS2, it was pretty much broken beyond repair. All of the fundamental elements that make a game enjoyable (outside the storytelling aspects) were leftin a perpetual state of disarray. Long story short -- it played like an undercooked beta release. Why Eden Games chose to release the title with its fundamentals fractured so terribly is beyond me.
What we've received from Eden Gamesin "Alonein the Dark: Inferno" is a greatly improved build that, unfortunately, still suffers from some clunky play mechanics.
First, the improvements:
01 - For the most part, the player has been given full control over the game's camera, allowing for a 360 degree view of the environment. Occasionally the camera locks itself down, but this is donein moments that require the cinematic effect. For the most part, it works.
02 - Edward no longer controls like a tank. This change was pretty much a given when the camera was freed up.
03 - The inventory system is less convoluted. The orderin which you combine items is no longer dead set, & its easier to navigatein general.
04 - The driving mechanics have been tweaked. Now one of the game's most exciting levels (the final stagein episode 2) is a lot more fun & a lot less frustrating. The cars no longer handle like boats.
05 - A "hint" system is integrated into the early stages to help orientate the player (this may have beenin the 360 version, but I certainly don't remember it, particularly during the first driving level).
06 - The storyline is pretty much identical between builds, but there's been a fundamental change made surrounding a quest thatin the initial build involves a LOT of painful backtracking. I don't want to say too much for fear of spoiling things, but this change helps the flow of the game immensely.
07 - A new level has been added mid-way through the game.
Now the problems:
01 - Despite the tweaked control scheme, Edward is still a bit difficult to control. There are times where I'll want him to walk one direction, & he'll sort of wanderin a slightly different direction. This was particularly annoyingin the later half of episode 1.
02 - It's easy enough moving him aroundin first person view, but the controls are never as sensitive as one would likein first person, & getting into a gun fight can be really irritating, particularly if you're used to the precision aimingin games like "Resistance".
03 - There is no 5.1 surround supportin this game, which is sort of a letdown. It's the only game I own that lacks 5.1. There are also no subtitles, which just feels lazy. One of the peoplein my house is deafin one ear & partially relies on subtitles to convey the story. This is probably the only PS3 game I own that lacks subtitle support.
04 - Using melee weapons is problematic. It's a good idea for a combat system, but it's implemented poorly. It reminds me a little bit of that PS2 Jet Li game, but less refined.
There are a lot of big ideasin "Alonein the Dark: Inferno". It's a very ambitious game, & I think that's one of the problems. I get the feeling that this title was just slightly outside the capability of Eden Games. They couldn't quite pull it all together into a cohesive experience.
Having said that, the game features an exciting episodic presentation & a wonderful musical score that utilizes the award-winning female choir known as The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices. The voice acting is solid (the guy who plays Max Payne voices Edward Carnby) & there are some excellent set pieces that really get the blood pumping.
If you can look past the slightly awkward control scheme & the occasional graphical oddity, I would suggest picking the game up. The price has already dropped quite a bit (I picked the game up brand new for $29.99 at a local Game Stop) so now's the time.
