Alone In the Dark: Inferno Preview

The horror genre has seen its share of good titles and not so good titles. The Alone in the Dark title released in the middle of this year (from Atari) didn’t fare too well critically, despite the longevity of the franchise. The very first title in the series was released back in 1992 and Alone in the Dark: Inferno is the sixth iteration, albeit the first on the PS3.

The game seems, at the outset, to presume you know what is going on, as mysterious, living cracks run through the deteriorating office building you are in (one that overlooks Central Park), and you have to figure out how to avoid the carnivorous whatever, and escape.

It should be noted (and this is not a give-away) that Central Park plays a major role in this title, so being trapped on what appears to be a 20-something floor overlooking the New York City landmark is not coincidence. But what is coincidence is how your character, Edward Carnby, manages to – again, as the game’s onset – avoid or escape what others cannot.

The game begins with a group looking to utilize some device. They have two captives, one of which is Edward. Edward is disposable and it is on the way to the roof that the would-be executioner falls victim to the fissures that move, open a gaping maw, suck in humans, chews on them and then disappears – presumably to finish digesting its repast.

Right away, though, the game will either hook you and your leave you muttering under your breath. Why? Because the dev team decided to add a little authenticity to Edward’s blight by having his vision start to blur as he is trying to clear the cobwebs. This means that when things start to get fuzzy, you have to click down on the right thumbstick to blink and clear Edward’s vision. This is annoying.

(The disk received was for the debug unit and anything information contained in this preview may be modified or changed by the final release.)

The whole opening sequences act as a rudimentary puzzle-solving introduction to the gameplay that will follow as well as a tutorial to some of the game’s new features. For example, melee combat is handled in a much more realistic manner by tying the movement of a weapon to the right thumbstick. This is a nice touch. By way of example, in one of the early scenes, you are fighting what was once a human that has been possessed by whatever creature has invaded the building. If you are lucky, you have found the katana (what office is without one?). Moving the thumbstick from left to right, or right to left, gives you a horizontal slash. Moving the thumbstick up and then down allows you to hack down. This has obvious benefits. If your enemy has been knocked down, you can’t very well perform horizontal slashes and expect to hit them.

Conversely, the only way to truly get rid of monsters is to burn the bodies they possess. Since the building is on fire, there are lots of sources of fire. Simply pick up a flammable object, hold it in the fire to ignite it and then drop it on the body.

Another very nice touch is that if a setting gets too involved and you can’t figure out how to get past it, you can head for the main menu and skip to the next scene. This is sort of like the way DVD movies play out. You simply jump ahead or back.

Alone in the Dark: Inferno has an intelligent game design, for the most part. The inventory system is a bit on the unique side with it tied to the inside of Carnby’s coat. Open the coat, select what you wish to use and then equip it. You can combine items there to create more powerful elements for your use in the battle against this evil infection.

The opening scenes are very defined and even if you get out and eventually into the open-world of Central Park, using the scene skipping method shows that while you can explore, there is a definite line that needs to be followed to get through the game.

But Atari and developer Eden Studios seem to want players to enjoy the game without the frustration of being bogged down by a certain area of the game. Can’t solve it? Tired of trying? Skip on ahead.

Graphically the game does a solid job of selling the setting the setting, and the sound is well done.

Alone in the Dark: Inferno is gearing up for a release in mid-November. This is a title to watch for down the road. It could be a nice return to glory for the franchise.