Alone in the Dark for PlayStation 2 Reviews by Gamers

Let me say for one that Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare was/is one of my favorite survival/horror games of all time back on the PSOne. So when I heard Alone in the Dark was coming to PS2/PS3 and so on, I was pretty stoked. It's with great pity then that I must say, this game is not worth it.

First off, an ending of a game can make or break it, see Myst which has one of the worst almost-endings of all time. This one now has my number two spot. It makes you feel like there's more, a lot more to the story, which is pretty weak to begin with. Why Atari did you spend days on the mechanics only to screw with us so on the endings?

Second off, I got this game to play a survival horror game, or at least an action game, the two driving sequences in the game are a major pain in the butt, not to mention very poorly viewed with the cameras.

Why Atari, why did you have to come so far to drop it? What were you thinking with this almost ending? That you want to leave us wanting more? Then at least leave an ending with some kind of conclusion! Is there more game on the other versions? I don't know, but if it is, very poor planning on Atari's part yet again. I so wanted this game to be good, but really, I just can't say that, and I'm pretty tolerant of most things.

Alone in the Dark was, I admit, an entertaining game to play. I liked its originality and different style. It made things tough to figure out, and as many times as I got stuck in that game, it felt more rewarding when I figured it out. The hints were very vague, but there nonetheless. You just have to really look.

The obstacles mostly consist of puzzles, and enemy fights are mostly optional. (You can usually run right past them and take less damage.) There's not much variety in enemies, but again, it's mostly based on investigation, not fights. No boss battles and such. It's mostly consisted of realism.

Problems? The game just could've been developed more. It's as if they just rushed to finish it. Characters move in a blocky form, and the game is generally very short. I was having fun until the ending, which made no sense and was extremely unfulfilling.
"...What? THAT'S the end?"
Although putting the entire game in a DVD movie sort of fashion was creative and interesting. As if you were playing through a movie.

The perks for me were one, the music. Nicely composed, ambient feeling that went well with the game. Also, the realistic healing and inventory system. Lastly, the challenge of figuring out a situation. It was about the only thing that prevented me from finishing the game in a few hours.

All in all, if you'd like a quick game to be entertained by and play through, it's a nice, interesting rent. But definitely far from being perfect, and definitely not a buyer.