Alone in the Dark V

10.04.2008

Since no one else is in range for me to terrorize with the latest game featuring the protagonist Edward Carnby, I take what is closest at hand. My keyboard. Now – if you get the feeling that I talk to my keyboard about Alone in the Dark like a brainless ape, you would be wrong. What happens when a reviewer has to wait too long for a game, and no one around him shares his serious hyperactivity about this thrilling title now lies in front of you in digital form.

It was true enough, after Uwe Bolls’ film of Alone in the Dark even die-hard fans forecast the downfall of the franchise. But now that good old Uwe has turned to Postal (as trash director you can not go wrong there, as everyone who has seen this completely politically incorrect comedy knows), Eden Studios, under the wing of publishers ATARI, has decided to make an Alone in the Dark V. With the subtitle Near Death Investigation, the developers have not however connected the frequent death of the protagonists, as it is known from the first instalment of Alone in the Dark, or even the end of the series. Rather, the secondary title connects the series with the basic attribute of every game: we are talking about the genre here. Eden Studios know that Alone in the Dark in 1992 created a complete sub-genre called “survival horror”. That did not however stop these boys from heading off in a new direction with Alone in the Dark V without forgetting the vital characteristics of a spine chilling game. Yes, that’s the way innovation must be.

Do you remember the dumb clock mystery in Silent Hill 2, where the young, dynamic, pleasant (one could use any positive adjective for the poor soul) James Sunderland did not want to open a clock using brute force? He first had to look for the key on the floor below to open the wooden timepiece. In an era where politicians worldwide claim that computer and video games have an increasing influence on the habits of consumers, the lack of violence can be no bad thing, right? Well, one can always exaggerate. Alone in the Dark V finally fulfils (my!) player’s dreams. Sure, the key to door X may lie somewhere in the depths of the dungeon, but why waste time searching for it when you can simply smash in or torch the wooden door? A steel door? Until now, THE element to make a linear level design appear spacious. As visually appealing placeholders they have recently become more widely used than “invisible” walls for an obviously open room, such textures have often become the source of frustration - “I MUST SOMEHOW GET IN THERE”. This is different in Alone in the Dark V. Not only is every door smashable, but the “Real World Rules” which Eden Studios have incorporated in Alone in the Dark V allow creative gamers to give full rein to their destructive tendencies (we are assuming the evil in humans, even in gamers). First, a little fire is applied to the door, after which a couple of aimed strikes with a hard object (ironically such as a fire extinguisher or an iron bar) will bring down the now butter-soft door. Yes – that is definitely fun.

This point alone would be enough to make me look forward to Alone in the Dark, and despite the protests of my office colleagues, to continue to praise anything to do with Alone in the Dark to high heaven. But there is still a lot more to come. The game offers a full 30 combinable objects in an innovative, detail-obsessed inventory. Instead of a careless menu, Edward Carnby looks down into the inside pockets of his jacket to present his inventory to his guiding mentor. All the objects can be found in there. What you as the player do with these is up to you. Imagine the following situation: you enter a dark room. In your coat pocket, you find a bendable light-stick and a piece of sticky tape. Hey presto, combine them with each other and there you have, more or less, a nice ceiling light, which you can position anywhere. Great, right? Rig up a fragmentation grenade (with a somewhat deadlier effect) with the help of a bottle, a bit of gasoline and revolver ammunition? Yes, of course, if you can think of it. Alone in the Dark wants to leave all imaginable possibilities to the player.

But that is enough innovation for now, some of you might think. Yes, one could say that. But we haven’t even mentioned the controls yet. Obviously, you control the cool Edward character as usual with an analogue stick via the gamepad (or with the mouse and keyboard). But here comes the really interesting bit. Weapons – regardless of their type – are wielded with the left analogue stick. Moving this slowly forward makes Edward move his weapon slowly in the desired direction, until he is holding the cudgel in front of his chest. Let’s assume now, the weapon is a wooden stool held over a burning fire – maybe the fire from the same burning wooden door which we mentioned earlier. If Carnby holds the aforementioned stool over the fire, after a short time, this will actually burst into beautifully animated flames. Whether to use the thing as a torch or as a bludgeoning tool – the choice is yours.