Is it time to end the television series Alone in the Dark?

The original trilogy from way back in the 1990s is the highest-scoring title in the Alone in the Dark series, according to Metacritic. Though the name "survival horror" didn't actually exist until Resident Evil came out a few years later, the initial game was a huge influence for the genre. But its influence cannot be denied.

We now question again whether we can bring AitD back to the forefront in light of Pieces Interactive's fresh interpretation of the beloved franchise. Reviews for the most recent game are still coming in at the time of writing, but generally, it seems like the series is having trouble making a major return.

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of the 2024 remake, or whatever it's called, and I finished Emily's tale at a faster rate than most people would expect after at least one game. My research has left me with the impression that Alone in the Dark just doesn't have a chance in the current gaming market, and I don't know why.

This isn't really a Ontario Online Casino review since the real question here is if the ancient beast still has breath. It's totally OK if you really like the new game. Right now, Steam has it well positioned under "Most Positive." But will it be sufficient to bring the series back to life? Or has Capcom set such a high standard for survival horror game remakes that even the original creators of the genre find it difficult to match up?

The senior's birth

In 1992, the game industry was still very young. A year separated us from titles like Doom, and the SNES system had just been available in the US for a year prior to that. To put it another way, that was a very long time ago. However, a brand-new 3D adventure was about to debut on MS-DOS, bringing with it never-before-seen gaming graphics, a narrative that combined mystery with Lovecraftian horror, and a gameplay style that prioritized escape above pointless combat.

The original Infogrames game Alone in the Dark has left a lasting impact and is now firmly established in gaming history. Its puzzle mechanics and genre-defining look later served as inspiration for the 1996 film Resident Evil. For better or worse, Capcom's venerable series has continued to be a mainstay in the horror genre ever since, yet because to its immense popularity, many people probably aren't even aware of the origins of its inspirations.

AitD saw the release of a sequel in 1993 and a third entry in 1995. The result was a trilogy bundle that was released in 1997 (per Metacritic). The show was put on hold until the early 2000s after that. Three Resident Evil games had already been released by this time, and something even more boundary-pushing had emerged: Silent Hill.

A new horror has arrived.

Even the well-known titles in survival horror, such Alone in the Dark, had a difficult time competing. The grandfather of them all was dormant until 2001 because Capcom and Konami (or Team Silent, as I should say) were riding high on the success of their respective brands. Then Darkworks released The New Nightmare.

Look, I can't provide any personal commentary since I haven't played the game myself. What I can say is that the majority of folks didn't appear to think well of the most recent entry in the well-known series. Given that the game has a meta score of 66, one might argue that, at most, it's an average horror title and not actually a terrible game.

After a few more years, Eden Games released Alone in the Dark in 2008, which seemed to be an effort to change things up by providing an alternative play style. The Wikipedia article states:

The game is organized into "episodes" that resemble DVDs, and if a player gets lost, they may opt to go to a certain segment or start again from the beginning. The previous events are recaptured in a "Previously on Alone in the Dark..." cutscene at the beginning of the episode, if they so wish.

That does seem like a very fascinating interpretation of the franchise, but based on Steam ratings of 58 ("Mixed"), the gaming community as a whole seems to be, at worst, ambivalent about Alone in the Dark. That being said, I've heard the fire effects were rather amazing for the period. However, it didn't seem to be sufficient to free a beloved horror property from the deadly grip of obscurity.

Then, in 2015, there was Alone in the Dark: Illumination, a submission that was mostly overlooked. Some of you reading this may not have ever heard of it before now, I'm ready to wager. I am included in it. And then there's the film adaption directed by Uwe Boll. However, we avoid discussing it.

In 2024, Pieces Interactive, in collaboration with publisher THQ Nordic, is attempting a "return to form" approach, although with a taste that evokes memories of the Resident Evil 2 remake. Though it's not necessarily a negative thing, you have to acknowledge that the comparison between AitD and Capcom's contemporary reimagining of the RE brand was inevitable.

Are hopes diminishing?

Despite being available for only one day, the 2024 edition of Alone in the Dark doesn't seem to be much of a relaunch. Perhaps new content or fixes to address some of the more serious problems might save it from plunging too quickly into the gaming abyss. However, I'm not holding out much hope, and I can't identify a single factor that is contributing to Alone in the Dark struggles to get back.Although it's easy to draw comparisons between it and Resident Evil, both in terms of the original series and the more recent remakes, RE has succeeded in staying prominent and, therefore, relevant. The remakes have been more of a ballast, ranging from the initial three installments from the 1990s to the way RE4 drastically changed the genre with its now-notoriety over-the-shoulder appearance to renaming the series with the seventh and eighth episodes.In Alone in the Dark, it just vanished, reappeared, vanished, and reappeared. Repeat after rinsing. The fact that studios not usually identified with the horror genre have started trying their hand at it may have some merit. Darkworks had only created one game before New Nightmare, while Pieces Interactive was mostly recognized for the Magicka series.More disappointing to me is the fact that Mikael Hedberg's name appears on Alone in the Dark 2024, which might end up being just another instance of the franchise failing to stay afloat. Though it's not always about the writing, I can't help but wonder whether there is much hope left for the genre if the author of SOMA, which is in my opinion one of the greatest horror games of all time, can't make it work.But that's my opinion. We feel as if we have been around the airport a few times already, and nobody knows for sure whether there will be a landing.