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Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

List Price:
Your Price: $19.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Far, far below average
Review: Okay. I'm going to do my best to be brief. If you are a player of PC games, you might want to avoid this game. From every angle it screams "I WAS MADE FOR A CONSOLE!" Very little attention went into importing this game for PC, and I'm afraid the bad outweighs the good.

The graphics sub-par. In some respects, they're actually embarassing... After all the hype and all the screenshots, the end result looks like it was produced about five years ago. The backgrounds are all washed out and flat, and strangely pixelated. The animation is generally terrible. In some places, the fact that they attempted to pass it off as professional animation actually makes me hurt. When you backstep, it's like watching film of someone walking played in reverse. When objects overlap, you could swear you were playing, say, Space Quest. When your character opens a gate, the screen goes black and then comes up again with the gate now open. Aiee.

This should give you some hint as to the lack of care given to this game's PC incarnation: there are no options. You can't select higher screen resolution, enable environmental sound, adjust mouse sensitivity or invert the y-axis... No, the designers apparently felt that such an array of choices would merely confuse gamers today, and in their generosity opted instead to allow you to configure a key or two and choose whether you'd like to listen in mono!

The saving system (that's right, there's a system), is bizarre and painful... for every amulet you collect, you can save once! I wouldn't recommend it, though, because whatever you did in the level on which you save, you'll have to do again. Yup, I'm not kidding.

The controls are awkward... They were clearly created for a gamepad, and only reluctantly assigned to a keyboard.

The voice acting is right on par with everything else, so I suppose they get points for consistency. Let's just say it won't help you immerse yourself in the story. The male lead shouts everything like Freddy from Scooby-Doo... and listening to the female lead is like attending a reading of the epic poem "I'm a Large Plank of Wood" put on by the National Association of Cardboard Boxes. "Carnby. Please. Come quickly. There are things. Terrible things. I'm begging. You."

The game does have some good elements... the design is extremely strong, and I can see how, with some more work, it could provide the foundation for the creepiest horror game ever. It isn't there yet, though, and what good it does have is simply overpowered by its problems. It may work on a console, but on a PC, it falls very flat. I can't recommend this game... I am a tremendous fan of the genre, both in gaming and in literature, and even I couldn't bring myself to complete it. It goes out of its way to prove that console gaming will eventually ruin the medium. No, that's not fair, because Silent Hill was brilliant...

Honestly, if you're the sort of person who really enjoys immersing yourself in a PC game, this is likely not going to satisfy you. If you're looking for a truly spooky and atmospheric horror game for the PC, please go out and pick up a copy of Nocturne. That game reflects real care by the designers, and contains possibly the most effective interpretation of Lovecraftian monsters I've ever seen.

This game would have been wonderful in 1997. Graphically and aurally, that's right where it is. By today's standards, though, it simply doesn't measure up. A lot of these problems could be addressed in patch form, so there is hope... but I have a very strong suspicion that we won't see that happen...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ITEM WAS NOT WHAT I THOUGHT & PROMPT REFUND WAS ISSUED.THX
Review: Only being able to save your game a half-dozen times or so over the course of the entire game is bad enough.

But this game is ridiculously hard. The combat engine is horrible, the weapons are ridiculously weak, and ammo pickups are rare, which is unusual since it takes around 50 bullets to kill anything. And when you do run out, unlike in previous aitd titles, you have no defense whatsoever. In fact, it seems like the only way to get anywhere is to constantly run.

I got it for 10 bucks and consider it a waste. After having to wade through the same cut-sceens over and over again, i just got bored with it.

I give it two stars simply because it had some potential. Unlike the resident evil series, this was genuinely scary. The atmosphere is nice and creepy, the use of a flashlight being a nice touch. That and the various monsters pop up out of nowhere, usually when you least expect them.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Only being able to save your game a half-dozen times or so over the course of the entire game is bad enough.

But this game is ridiculously hard. The combat engine is horrible, the weapons are ridiculously weak, and ammo pickups are rare, which is unusual since it takes around 50 bullets to kill anything. And when you do run out, unlike in previous aitd titles, you have no defense whatsoever. In fact, it seems like the only way to get anywhere is to constantly run.

I got it for 10 bucks and consider it a waste. After having to wade through the same cut-sceens over and over again, i just got bored with it.

I give it two stars simply because it had some potential. Unlike the resident evil series, this was genuinely scary. The atmosphere is nice and creepy, the use of a flashlight being a nice touch. That and the various monsters pop up out of nowhere, usually when you least expect them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Alone in the Dark
Review: So I just wanna say a few things.
Thoose who don't like the survival-horror camera, dark, mistery, fear, hard to kill creatures just don't buy it.
And the ones who don't like to think, to use the human brain, are obviuosly not welcome to this game.
Now for thoose like me who know how to appreciate this game, know that is a great game along with Alone in the Dark 1,2,3 and Resident Evil series.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pain...so much pain!
Review: STAY AWAY!!! This game is terrible! The dialogue, voice acting, plot, music, monsters, interface, and fighting are awful! Ooohh, scare monsters away...with a flashlight? Huh? One character explains how scared she is because everything is, "Really dark," when it's night out. The girl is a simp. (...). The music is a bizarre techno-rumbling which I thought was a computer malfunction. Everything about this game is just so...bad. Horrible. HORRIBLE!!! Oh, and it's not scary at all, just dark.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pain...so much pain!
Review: STAY AWAY!!! This game is terrible! The dialogue, voice acting, plot, music, monsters, interface, and fighting are awful! Ooohh, scare monsters away...with a flashlight? Huh? One character explains how scared she is because everything is, "Really dark," when it's night out. The girl is a simp. (...). The music is a bizarre techno-rumbling which I thought was a computer malfunction. Everything about this game is just so...bad. Horrible. HORRIBLE!!! Oh, and it's not scary at all, just dark.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The New Nightmare is the classic adventure game
Review: The Alone in the Dark series has always been an adventure series. To all those who have played The Quest for Glory games, Alone in the Dark is not that much different except that it has a horror theme. You find items and you must use them to solve puzzles. There is some fighting, but for the most part it is not an essential part of the plot or storyline. The storyline, as stated very clearly by the creators, is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft's stories are not that of brazen heros blasting monsters to bits. It is exactly the opposite. Lovecraft is of old gods, insanity, and the unknown.

The system used by this game for game play has always been a problem. If you have never played an Alone in the Dark game, you will find the same kind of system in Nocturne. In fact, Nocturne might a be the best test for this game. If you liked the storyline to the Texas adventure in Nocturne you will probably like Alone in the Dark. The only difference between that scenario and Alone in the Dark is that Alone is more puzzle oriented.

The biggest con to this game is that like all classic adventure and puzzle games has no replayability. Once you have played both characters, the game is done. This is not a Diablo nor will they probably create expansions for this game. You will just have to wait for next Alone in the Dark game... which if you watch the credits at the end, another game is coming. Edward Carnby will return.

In the end, if you like adventure and puzzle, you should like this game. If you like Lovecraft you will like this game. If you are into games like 1st person shooters or other action oriented games this is probably to slow of a game for you.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: How to destroy a franchise
Review: The original Alone in the Dark game was truly innovative and set many technological landmarks for other PC games of the day. Oh how far we have strayed. This game uses the Nocturne engine and, like every previous game that has used the Nocturne engine, the end result is washed out graphics, horribly awkward camera angles, bad movement control, and the joy of having to fight offscreen creatures that you can't see unless you run to a different area. I can only imagine that the Nocturne engine is [inexpensive] to license.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The original and the best!!!!
Review: This game is marveolus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Excelent graphics!!!!!!!!!!!! Excelent Sound!!!!! Excelent history!!!! Better than any Resident Evil game!!!! 3 CDs of pure terror The original survivor horror game is here............Buy it now!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This Game is in a class by it's self.Three words. Go buy it.
Review: This game is worth every penny.I have been playing this game for 15 hours and still playing. The special effects are beyond the realm of computer gaming. Finally a game that is fun and makes you think. Resident evil is no match to alone in the dark.


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