Computer Graphics Memory Disk Space Minimum 386/16 256K VGA 580K Free 13 MB Max/Rec. Control: Keyboard Sound: PC Squeaker / Adlib / Sound Blaster Notes: Fairly easy install Reviewed English version: 486/66, ATI GU Pro ISA, Gravis UltraSound, OS/2 2.1 Reviewer recommends: 386/33, Sound Blaster Compatible
There are a few games that have actually scared me. Not a constant "ohgeezohnoohgawdimgonnadie" type fear, but a momentary "Yaaaah!" as someTHING comes around the corner with mayhem in mind. CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN ("Achtung!") did it, as did DOOM and WOLFENSTEIN 3D. So did ALONE IN THE DARK, which is perhaps one of the most genuinely scary games made. Sure, all the characters were made of rather crude polygons, but they acted pretty lifelike (or deadlike as the case may be) and the revolutionary 3D action helped pull you into the game. And it had a decent Cthulhu-related storyline.
So it was with some anticipation that many of use awaited ALONE IN THE DARK 2 (and cursed when Infogrames decided to make SHADOW OF THE COMET first). What would it be like?
It's almost Christmas, 1924. Our pal Striker sneaks into an old mansion in Hell's Kitchen, California to rescue waif Grace Saunders from the evil clutches of One Eyed Jack, only to be strangled by a clown puppet from hell (no, literally from hell). You, Edward Carnby, hero of the Alone in the Dark, have just gotten his telegram. Looks like Striker's gotten himself in a spot of trouble, what? Let's try the front door...
Alone in the Dark (AITD, pardon my aching fingers), and AITD2 share a unique 3D perspective. The backgrounds are nicely drawn, but static. Over this are placed all the characters and objects of interest, which are continually rendered as 3D polygons. Your character (Carnby) is one of them, and you can control his actions. The characters are actually fairly crudely done (though very recognizable), but the movement, ah, that's where the game really shines!
Each character has several obvious pivot points... waist, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles. The game has an extensive database of extremely smooth "actions" that each character can perform. When your character walks, he really walks just like someone with a few round edges would. If you've played OUT OF THIS WORLD you have an idea what it's like, except that everything's really in 3D and you're closer to the action. He throws punches, kicks, pushes, even head-butts. If he gets hit he staggers back - "Oof!" Zombies, on the other hand, tend to move stiffly, and satanic clown dolls stalk... Some of the actions are so well done (especially in the opening scene) that I'm convinced the animators were using live-action references.
If you've got an Adlib compatible you'll get the fairly spooky music. If you've got a Sound Blaster compatible, you also get the full array of digital sounds which are used fairly well. Guns go "bang" or "ratatatat," your own character has an extensive repitoire of grunts and pain noises, and it'll give you some warning. Before they open, the machine-gun toting zombies, always polite, will greet you with "Good day, sir" or some other pleasantry, in a wonderful bit of dark humor.
What? Doesn't every game these days require use of the mouse? Not this one... for full control of Carnby you need to use the keyboard, and I'm glad they didn't try to cram it all into a mouse interface. The cursor keys for movement, the space bar for combat, and the enter key for inventory. Carnby has three modes - walk, fight, and push (oh yes, also die). You fight by holding down the space bar then using the cursor keys to throw one of your array of punches, kicks, and headbutts, or to use a weapon.
You turn Carnby left or right with the left and right arrows. He turns fairly fast, and here's my first big gripe with the game. The controls are just too crude. You have to be lined up pretty well on the screen to shoot someone. Unfortunately, the screen doesn't give you much clue as to where you're pointing. Yes it's 3D, but the backgrounds are static and the screen is 2D. You'd really need a true 3D version of the game using 3D goggles or the like. You might think you're firing at that cook, but you're really aiming 10 feet to the side of him. The game _does_ show you where your shots hit, so you can correct, but when you go to turn, Carnby whips around and goes too far the other way. Ammo is scarce, so this is doubly irritating.
Even worse, while you're fist or sword fighting you can't turn! You have to let go of the space bar to get out of combat mode, turn, then quickly hold down the space bar again. Don't turn too far! It can also be especially nasty when you're doing close fistfighting, turn to hit the guy, and miss him totally. Also, the game likes to switch perspectives as you move around the area. Not bad normally, but it seems to delight in placing you into positions where it's almost impossible to see the fight. Sometimes you may not even see the bad guy who's shooting you. At times it may seem that the major curse in this game is you swearing up a blue streak at the keyboard.
Surprisingly little, qualitatively. The game engine looks just like I remember it from AITD. I thought maybe they'd render everyone more realistically, and maybe use light sourced shading, but no such luck.
The game is much bigger in that there are more types of bad guys, who move in many different ways (I especially like the acrobat), and the setting is far larger than that in AITD. You get to play another character briefly, as a bit of a novelty, and you can change your outfit. AITD2 has lots of new things to slash and club with, including a frying pan. There are quite a few pictures for cut scenes (slide shows with commentary).
It looks to me as if they used almost exactly the same game engine, but just put a lot more "stuff" into the game. This didn't include the plot, unfortunately.
Alone in the Dark had a great plot. A horrific start followed by a long slow build to the hideous end (though the maze scene was a big detraction). Unnamed purple things lurked in bathtubs, terrible blind worms roamed underground tunnels. Books gave dark hints and veiled references to the ultimate horror that lurked below. Even better, as you were exploring things would happen upon you. You'd be examining the bed when the door would slam open and a zombie would attack. A slavering killer chickendog (I'm not making this up) would crash through the window and try to chew your head off.
Alone in the Dark 2 doesn't live up to that, unfortunately. It's more a standard adventure / beatemup game. Yes, the plot involves the supernatural, but the game gives away the whole thing away almost immediately. And your first few hours of the game involve fighting innumerable guys with guns while wandering through a maze.
It's during this mind-numbing experience that you learn how to fight. And, clumsy controls aside, once you learn how to fight you've learned it all. Just get in as close as you can and punch. If he backs off, close with him and punch again. Save the game before every fight, and if you get hurt restore the game. Because if you die you might have to do it all again...
Once you get inside the house it gets a bit more interesting, but it's still most going from room to room and destroying zombies, and there's really nothing scary at all. After you get to the next part its, yes, lots of fighting. And not really of the "surprise" type fighting. It's the "go in a room, somebody's doing something, you kill them" type of fighting. There's only one fairly horrific monster in the game, and it's a wimp.
Also, I considered the AITD puzzles fairly logical (if you read all the books, anyhow). Many of the AITD2 puzzles seem to me to be of the Sierra "try using every item on everything in the room" type and hope something happens. Does using a gold coin on a jack in the box really make sense to anyone? It's even more irritating because some of the puzzles are rather position sensitive, and the controls hinder fine positioning.
Well, I finished the entire game, though most games don't hold my attention that long. For the last half of the game, though, I was mostly playing just to finish and see if anything nifty would make itself known. Not really. The plot was pretty much what it was revealed to be from the start, even with the occasional minor twist. Even the head bad guy was just like all the other bad guys - keep slugging him till he dies.
It's nifty to show to your friends if they haven't seen Alone in the Dark, and it's certainly different than anything else you'll play, but I wish they had spent a bit more time on what made the first game not just something different but something different and fascinating - the building horror. The plot and suspense are just lacking here, subsumed in the tedium of fighting and figuring out what object does what.
I can suggest without any hesitation whatsoever that you go out and immediately buy the original Alone in the Dark (preferably on CD, which will get you JACK IN THE DARK as well). If you find that this 3D action type adventure really appeals to you, you get into the fighting, and you wish AITD had been more traditionally puzzle oriented, then by all means try Alone in the Dark 2.
This review is Copyright (C) 1993 by Ron Dippold for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.