Alone in the Dark (2024) Reviews
It’s not without its memorable moments, but Alone in the Dark fails to escape the shadows of the other contemporary survival horror titans that it helped spawn.
The 2024 Alone in the Dark is a deeply flawed game, but at least it's never boring. The first playthrough is fun despite its issues, mostly thanks to the campy story, and exploring Derceto is rewarding, even with the simplistic puzzles. The second playthrough is where it becomes apparent that there isn't much to the game. At best, it's an incredibly basic and generic survival-horror game that's stuck in the past, and at worst, it's buggy and doesn't justify its $60 price tag.
Great ideas and a storied history are mired in mediocre combat and a disappointingly unpolished delivery.
Unsettling and narratively ambitious, this is the best Alone in the Dark game since 1992.
Alone in the Dark is, interestingly, a more communal game than I tend to expect from survival horror. You're frequently running into the other inhabitants of Derceto. I enjoyed talking to them, though the writing isn't especially good, but the game never really delivers on its title and all that company prevents it from ever really getting scary. This is a solid enough retread if you've played through Dead Space and the Resident Evil remakes and want more. But it won't bring many converts to the genre. We'll have to settle for being alone, together, in the dark. Which sorta defeats the entire point when you think about it.
A lackluster and fragmented game that never really comes together in any meaningful way. In almost every sense that matters, from story to combat, horror, and atmosphere, Alone in the Dark leaves much to be desired.
A spirited attempt to revive the former glories of gaming's original survival horror but a lack of scares and sub-par action can't defeat the ghosts of the past.
This reboot of a long-dormant horror franchise doesn't do enough to justify digging up the dead.
While it's great to witness the return of survival horror royalty, Alone in the Dark haphazardly follows modern genre trends where it once invented them. While it mostly succeeds at drawing players into a Lovecraftian mystery, it's hard to ignore the underbaked action elements used to patch these story beats together.
Designed for those who want to enjoy a classic adventure with modern conveniences, this game will make Derceto veterans a lot of enjoyment. Don't expect heart-wrenching scares, but an experience of mystery, with gray matter, some smell of gunpowder, and Lovecraftian lore pills.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A promising reboot with a solid narrative and good gameplay. Too many bugs, though, deprive the experience of what could have really been.
Review in Italian | Read full review
After several installments that have failed to do justice to the Infogrames classic, Alone in the Dark returns in a new episode somewhere between a reboot and a remake. An original story with an all-star cast that modernizes the classic and offers a new starting point for this mix of Lovecraft and intelligent humor.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Alone in the Dark is a faithful take on the original, with some smart puzzles and a charming Southern tone despite some frustrating combat.
Alone in the Dark is a considerate reimagining of a pioneering classic, weaving together nifty puzzles, edge-of-your-sofa combat, and clever scares.
I was pleasantly surprised, especially given the series’ ignoble history to this point, to find 2024’s Alone in the Dark is actually really enjoyable. While not the most polished or visually impressive game, it’s a charming one that goes out of its way to pay tribute to the original trilogy with its survival horror elements and shameless lore dumps. An effectively spooky presentation, violent enemies, and clever puzzles round out the package, making this the first Alone in the Dark game since the 1990s to be an Alone in the Dark game.
Returning to its interwar period roots, Alone in the Dark successfully reworks and expands the original game's scenario and characters, but its exploration, puzzle solving and combat largely stick to now familiar survival horror routines.
Alone in the Dark is the confidently silly horror remake the 1992 classic deserves.
Alone in the Dark plays more of a moody psychological thriller with a heavy emphasis on puzzles rather than a traditional survival horror experience. That combined with the plethora of technical issues hold another remake of an original masterpiece back from reaching its true heights.
Alone in the Dark's promising atmosphere is let down by annoying and repetitive puzzles, poor combat and frequent glitches. There's a good game in there somewhere but you have to put up with a lot of frustration to find it.