Alone in the Dark (2024) Reviews
Alone in the Dark had the potential to be a truly great game; I was really rooting for it. All the ingredients are present for a great cosmic horror story with interesting characters and a horror environment that could have been one of the best in years. If that’s all you want, then I would recommend picking this up on sale. However, the lacklustre gameplay, bugs, and weak horror segments bring this experience down. Maybe this franchise should be left Alone in the Dark.
Alone in the Dark is a solid reimagining of this classic horror franchise, but it doesn’t necessarily provide a perfectly compelling experience.
Alone in the Dark offers a compelling world filled with interesting characters and engaging puzzles, brought together with its great ambiance and immersive audio. Combat is sloppy and could use refinements, although it wasn't enough to deter me from thoroughly enjoying this eight-hour descent into madness.
The developers did a fantastic job with this reimagination of ‘Alone in the Dark’. It was the perfect mixture of puzzles, mystery and a great storyline to keep you enthralled in the title for hours. If you love a great eerie story where you need to think outside of the box then this is a perfect skin-crawling experience for you.
Alone in the Dark isn't the most entertaining game, but it has some excellent moments.
A lack of horror behind the captivating puzzle adventure. While exploring the Derceto Manor is consistently enjoyable, it is really hard to catch the sense of fear which is crucial to a horror game. Still, it might serve as a nostalgic journey for those who remeber the original.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Although not perfect, with its clumsy combat and a limited variety of foes, the things that’ll stick with you are the story and the characters, and those ooze zing in abundance.
Alone In The Dark does a phenomenal job to return the franchise into the survival “horror” battle.
Horror fans assemble and clutch those flashlights tightly, as once again we find ourselves beseeched by monsters, stuck in a maze, and Alone in the Dark. A classic mainstay of the survival horror genre has reemerged, and been reimagined.
Despite Alone in the Dark's promising premise, and legacy, it ultimately disappoints. The game offers a mediocre experience, hindered by lackluster combat mechanics, a narrative that fails to fully utilize its potential by not offering multiple perspectives, and a wide variety of technical issues. Although it provides occasional moments of intrigue, particularly through its puzzles, and atmospheric setting, these are outweighed by its flaws. Consequently, Alone in the Dark may leave players feeling underwhelmed and unsatisfied.
Alone in the Dark puts the series in the right direction following some mishaps over the past eighteen years, with the unnerving storytelling, clever puzzling, and intriguing setting making for a genuinely enthralling horror experience. Sure, it has some missteps here and there with the combat sequences and it does play things very safe, but the intense atmosphere and flurry of surprises ensure that this marks a return to form for the old-school survival horror series.
An attempt to reinvent the series without distorting the obvious inspirations of the original title, where creativity was lacking in its narrative and in the tiresome gameplay that never knows what it wants to be.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Despite not reaching the level of the original, Alone in the Dark honors the franchise's legacy by being the best title since 1992, with a decent, albeit modest, use of Lovecraft's madness, as well as a great setting and an enigmatic story that captivates from beginning to end, tying several knots in your head. A great experience for long-time fans, and for the most aficionados of survival horror, old or current.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
All in all, Alone in the Dark celebrates a positive resurrection with a new direction that I really like at its core! The dense atmosphere in combination with the staging, story and detailed world of a marvellous 1920s setting carried me through the title very well. The puzzle solving shines as a core gameplay element in the narrative-driven game, making Alone in the Dark a really competent video game, at least in these aspects. However, I have to grumble a little more about the combat. Spongy gunplay, a bitchy camera, a meagre variation of enemies, as well as a sometimes stupid AI spoil the fun of the game. This needs a comprehensive overhaul for a hopefully upcoming second part. Because the new edition is a really successful work in this series, which has recently been in crisis and has a really solid pillar in its story, presentation and puzzle solving, on which a rosy future can be built. However, developer studio Pieces Interactive should take another look at the battles, which fortunately make up a smaller part of the overall work, as their genre colleague Resident Evil has already demonstrated in the third-person spin-offs.
Review in German | Read full review
It’s rare that I say this, but this video game probably should have been a movie instead. Honestly that’s the biggest thing I felt during this whole experience, between the live action stars, the way the cutscenes are shot and paced, the way the gameplay felt almost like an afterthought, it truly feels like they were basically trying to make a movie but decided it must be a game instead. Now, that’s not to say there’s nothing to enjoy, far from it! I really enjoyed the writing and performances, but it likely says something that I had a lot more fun just rushing through on a second playthrough on easy to see the story differences than I did on my initial go on normal where I actually had to explore.
"Alone in the Dark" is not the revival the series deserved, but it's not a complete descent into madness either. It's a middle-of-the-road experience that might entertain, and might frustrate, but will undoubtedly leave you thinking about what could have been.
The new Alone in the Dark is just the right game for fans of games full of suspense, who are tired of annoying jump-scares. So if you value the captivating atmosphere over adrenaline jumps in similar titles, you will really enjoy this reboot.
Alone in the Dark, despite its aspirations, falls short of delivering a cohesive and captivating experience. The disjointed narrative, coupled with lackluster gameplay mechanics, detracts from what could have been a triumphant return to form. While it may offer moments of enjoyment, it ultimately fails to recapture the essence of its predecessors, leaving fans yearning for the chilling embrace of true horror. As the credits roll, it becomes apparent that Alone in the Dark, for all its ambition, remains but a shadow of its former self, a tantalizing glimpse into what could have been.
Alone in the Dark pays homage to a horror classic with a strikingly familiar and yet utterly fresh retelling of a cult classic. Modernized gameplay, stunning graphics, and a faithful yet expanded retelling of the classic story make Alone in the Dark perfect for fans of the original and newcomers to the series alike.
Alone in the Dark is an impressive take on the 1992 classic. Featuring solid survival horror mechanics inspired by the latest Resident Evils, a strong selection of puzzles and a narrative that returning fans and newcomers alike can enjoy.