4pm, broad daylight, house full of awake people - the perfect setting to play the latest game to my evergrowing library, Alone in The Dark.

I popped this game in the tray and expected it to be a game that scared me a little but also excite me and get me interested and I was bang on the mark with all of those assumptions (except it is a lot more scarier than first thought)

The game sees you take control of Edward Carnby who quite frankly, know's nothing about who he is with lots of strange and life threatening things going on in what surely will be the most horrifying night of his life.

So how did the game play? Let's break it down a bit

The Story
Straight away you are immersed in the story as it's a cut scene like scenario however you do have limited control functions to allow you to feel part of the game. As it progresses it keeps you on the edge of your seat with the episodic format and when I completed episode 2, I couldn't wait to get back on the next day and play some more!

Controls and Camera Work
This was my main bug bear throughout the game. I believe the games biggest flaw is in trying to be too much like a film that in battle situations it's hard to see where the enemies are coming from and takes a little longer to react. Other times were when I was mid-mission and thought it had entered a cut scene and ended up being killed as I thought it was a cut scene.

On the second level, in particular the car controls, are also quite bad when you collide with another car. It basically sticks you to the opposing car. So for example you hit a car coming towards you then you basically stick to its headlamp. Not good when you try to reverse or drive forward as the car sticks with you and it's hard to get away quickly. This is the only area which I think lets the game down. It definitely shouldn't be used as a reason not to buy the game, just something I would love to see changed in any future titles for the series.

Achievements
Ah, the ever so lovely achievements. How do they fare in this game? Well, I am pleasantly surprised and think the achievements are great in this game.

The main thing I like is that you are rewarded for completing levels and the game. This is something I would like to see every game implement. Where I am most excited however is it gives you achievements for being creative. Creative with the environment, things you come across, methods in which you kill and how creative you are with items you come across. I'm not going to say anymore as it may spoil it for some people, but I got a lot of achievements just for being creative.

Summary
All in all this is a fantastic outing for the new generation of consoles and if they make a few tweaks with the camera and control systems this could easily be a top level franchise in the future.

Thanks for reading

George McMenemy

How is the fire? I know that being able to use fire was supposed to be a major part of this game, at least from what I recall. Does it look and react as good as in trailers we saw? And is it something that's around throughout the game, or just in a few spots?
This is a game that definitely looked interesting, but I haven't picked it up or rented it due to lack of time recently. Good to hear that it's overall an enjoyable experience.

the fire to me was the most impressive thing about this game. It spreads and reacts realistic like you think fire should. but the camera, controls, and the shear amount of bugs and glitches overshadow everything else that was good about this game. I would give it a rent. But its not good enough for a buy. This game needed at least 6 more months of development time

An opposing opinion.

I played through this game, got my 1000/1000 (possible on only one play-through), and I gotta say, it's a pretty bad game. I didn't like it. The controls allow you to switch between 1st and 3rd person but neither are very good; the inventory is far too small and you open it in real time so you can't even use it properly is you are under attack; the only way to kill enemies is with fire and that not nearly as interesting as it sounds; the combat itself is awkward and tedious, especially melee combat; and the story is pure camp. Worst of all, I was never once scared or even tense while playing this.

It could have been a good game but in my opinion it's not. Sure, the fire looks good but is that enough? It's worth a rent, at most. If you are dying for a survival horror game or an adventure game, this might do the trick but don't expect greatness.