Alone in the Dark (2024) [PS5]

“I don’t understand anything that just happened”

– Emily Hartwood, Alone in the Dark

Alone in the Dark is a series that I missed out on, completely. I had never experienced any of the classic PC games or the maligned movie and everything after and in between. When this new iteration was announced with a fresh coat of paint and some interesting star power, fate decided for me that it was time to be alone in the dark.

Taking place in 1920s Louisiana, Alone in the Dark introduces the player to Detective Carnby and Emily Hartwood, an unlikely duo investigating a curious plantation looking for Emily’s uncle Jeremy. Upon entering Derceto (the name of the building), things start to go downhill and rather fast at that. Depending on which character you choose to play as, Carnby or Hartwood, the story takes small detours here and there which add to the replay value. Is it madness? The game will have you guessing if your character is slowly losing their mind or if something more sinister is afoot.

In the last quarter of Alone in the Dark, the story does change depending on your character and this was a genuine surprise for yours truly. Different puzzles, locations, and monsters appear in Emily’s scenario compared to Carnby’s. I personally preferred my playthrough of the good detective, but there were some bombshell moments in Emily’s story that made the 2nd playthrough worth every minute. Add to it that there are multiple endings with each character having both a good and bad ending, along with a 5th ending that I would compare to Silent Hill’s secret UFO epilogue.

As I mentioned earlier, I did not have prior experience with PC classics. I did research the original trilogy after completing this title to get some perspective. The gameplay of Alone in the Dark takes notes from the modern survival horror games and implements an over the shoulder camera in comparison to the fixed camera of the originals. I prefer the modern setup, as it also removes the tank controls that filled ’90s and 2000s era horror titles. This title, however, keeps the focus more on exploration and puzzles and less on combat, which was a welcome throwback.

The puzzles here were never mindboggling to the point that I was searching for guides, but there were a few that I solved by trial and error, without figuring out why it worked. Most of them had their answers hidden in plain view, or in the room with the puzzle. I personally found this to be refreshing as the puzzles were more self-contained, like escape room puzzles.

The combat, while using the modern over the shoulder camera, feels somewhat lacking. The melee feels off, like if I were to hit a monster in the head with a shovel as a grown man, I feel like it would bring it down. For argument’s sake, I have never hit a monster in the head with a shovel so I may just be puffing up my own chest. After I saved up a bit of ammo, I chose to not use melee weapons unless it was absolutely a last-ditch effort. Throwable items, on the other hand, are a complete mixed bag. You can pick up bricks and Molotov’s, and that’s it. Bricks felt useless, while Molotov’s were completely overpowered. Sadly, once you pick one up, your character does an awkward slow walk until you throw it.

The game does a really interesting thing with its difficulty settings. Not only can you change the combat, but you can make the puzzles/objectives more 90s-esque. I appreciate this as some players of the original will want a less hand-holding affair, whereas I don’t mind a bit of handholding, especially with my limited time I have to invest in gaming.

Alone in the Dark is an odd duck when it comes to the visuals. Derceto looks great and other than some visual tearing and random white lights between textures, it looks as old and grimy as it should. The areas outside of Derceto also usually look great. No spoilers as they are often wild and unexpected, but certain scenes are supremely high quality in design. The monster designs are also top notch. They are otherworldly and odd, but sadly not varied enough. I guess it makes sense to have a fewer A-level designs than multiple C or D designs. The final boss in particular was top notch and unexpected.

But it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows as the human models suffer quite a bit. Emily and Edward both have an uncanny valley attribute to them. They look like their counterparts, yet they lack the spark that many other AAA games have when animating a very lifelike model. When the characters have closeups that aren’t in cutscene, their eyes just look dead. It gets worse for the other characters as they feel more like caricatures. They look human, but the downgrade is noticeably different.

In a stark comparison, the voice acting is perfectly campy. Every actor, from large to small, felt like they gave a great performance. In perfect horror fashion, things go from eerie to “what did I just witness” and as a fan of B-Horror, I loved it.

The soundtrack felt very quiet throughout the horror elements, but during the cutscenes and investigation sections, you could hear the pulp. Seedy jazz would saunter in like Audrey Horne in Twin Peaks. The noir feel was strong, and I found myself wanting to snap my fingers to it whenever these sections began.

Screen tearing, pop in, awkward white lights between objects were just some of the visual glitches that I encountered in my time with the game. I’m hopeful that these will eventually be patched out, as they take away from the immersion that the game’s atmosphere creates. Thankfully, I did not experience anything game breaking, so if these are fixed, the overall package will be elevated higher.

I really didn’t want to be too critical of Alone in the Dark as I really enjoyed it, jank and all. I am a sucker for stories set in the early 1900s, and cosmic horror, when done right, adds to this weird cocktail of B-movie presentation. It is not a perfect game and I appreciate it for being that. This is a mid-tier game, but it is a mid-tier game with heart. I can wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone that likes a bit of cheese with their horror.

The 8-bit Review

Visuals: 7/10

The atmosphere and some creature designs are great; the human characters can be rather lacking.

 Audio: 8/10

The voice acting is great, and some songs are memorable, but there wasn’t a wide enough selection of them.

 Gameplay: 6/10

The puzzles worked most of the time, but sometimes they didn’t add up. The fighting ended up dragging the experience down.

 Accessibility: 8/10

The ability to adjust both the combat and puzzle levels makes it more accessible for players of different styles.

 Uniqueness: 6/10

It is a remake and while it has its moments of being “different”, horror has seen many takes on the genre like this.

 Replayability: 7/10

There are two characters that share 5 endings between them. While once you complete it with each character, you have seen almost everything.

 Challenge: 5/10

I don’t think I died more than once. Raising the difficulty can change that, but the game did feel rather easy overall.

 Personal: 7/10

This game scratched an itch that I had been craving. It wasn’t perfect by a long shot and by the time my 2nd playthrough was reaching its climax, my attention span was waning. Regardless, this is a fun game that should be played by fans of 90s horror games, noir, and cosmic horror.

Aggregated Score: 6.8

Derek aka Schwetty is a lifelong game enthusiast who loves to dabble in *almost* every genre! He can be found talking about random things on Twitter @schwetty.