Alone in The Dark, preview

It’s amazing how intellectual property of extraordinary importance can die or be reborn in the magical world of video games. A good game was enough to revive the entire Resident Evil series after huge gaffes in Capcom’s dark decade. Meanwhile, several bad moves by Square Enix (and a truly forgettable competitive online game) have caused legendary names like Deus Ex and Legacy of Kain to disappear from discussion. Let’s not even talk about Konami’s IPs at the time, because there’s a risk of a decent bust if you think about the huge potential that hasn’t been expressed for years now.

In short, a prestigious name is not enough to guarantee success in the market: insight and strong projects are needed to support the brand. this is THQ North He seems to know this all too well, since the house has recently been looking for notable IPs with the crystal intent to exploit them all. We saw one of these return during the last show, shown as a press “cut” and focused only on four new productions.

The first was none other than the rumor of the return of Alone in the Dark: an ancestor of the survival horror genre and the iconic series…at least until a brutal genre collapse and total disappearance from the spotlight.

Given the ugliness of 2008’s comeback and lighting, it was legitimate to shiver before a possible new “modern” reboot, far from its past glories. However, in THQ, cunning is not lacking, and after listening to the wishes of the fan base, the choice was a comeback strongly connected to the roots of the saga, as well as enhanced by the presence of an exceptional director. Let’s find out about this Preview alone in the darkThe original survival horror returns.

Welcome back to Villa Dersito

Wanting to stay true to the spirit of the origin, this new title also introduces two champions To choose from and they are the same people historical fans remember: Emily Hartwood and Edward Carnby. After discovering her uncle’s disappearance from Villa Derceto, the opulent resting place of the wealthy with serious psychological problems, Emily enlists Edward (who is actually a private investigator) to investigate and escort him directly on the spot.

It is clear that they are waiting for them not finding simple wealthy people drugged with medicinal cocktails, but the nightmares that have formed, taking them to the realms of hell and the usual evil entities engaged in pulling strings in the shadows. Normal for a mustachioed detective (although the mustache hasn’t been confirmed yet, as Edward has only been seen from behind).

As you can see from the hypothesis, the plot It is not completely identical to the original, but the similarities are many and it is clear the desire to rework a much loved rule so as not to betray its spirit. The developers have also revealed to us that the demo available at Gamescom in Cologne (more a playable teaser than an actual quiz, but so be it) will let you play as Grace of Alone in the Dark 2 mini-character, so we doubt there will be no shortage of classic quotes. during the campaign.

The narrative is difficult at the moment to consider, we have seen so little, yet the desire to respect the brand is clear and, as mentioned earlier, the reins of the project are Michael HedbergSOMA and Amnesia writer. Therefore, there are excellent reasons to expect painful and potentially twisting events, as well as a world disturbing enough to amplify its effects on the player.

swallowed blood

Less convincing, in fact, isdrawing effect The game, which does not currently appear to have the production values ​​needed to handle other “brilliant returns”. Attention, it is clear that there is still a lot to do (no expected release date, although development has begun in 2019), but the engine is the usual Unreal Engine 4, and although the project in general looks solid, the Character models and settings suffer a bit from the shiny look of some of the products you use.

What little has he seen? Villa Dersito If nothing else, it looked well detailed, and some scenes confirm the development team’s intent to use “duplication of settings” in this case also outside of Silent Hill, with alternating between normal locations and disgusting scenes filled with organic horrific stuff.

Some care has also been taken in designing monsters, which looks like a mixture of microorganisms and insects to say the least. However, only a few basic enemies are introduced, perhaps to avoid revealing too many cards before a more significant trailer. It seemed fine to us – although it’s impossible to assess his actual health now – Weapon Response during work. The approach chosen by Pieces Interactive feels close to a Resident Evil remake: slow motion, rear camera, but fairly close, and stifling settings that often leave little room for maneuver to avoid dangers. However, unlike Capcom’s notable recent work, where the primary pistol had the power of a pea shooter and required a significant expenditure of energy to hit even a single zombie, the weapons here seem to have a lot of power. In fact, the service pistol seemed to us capable of hitting enemies with just a few shots and the gun really showed muscle in the few seconds of observed play. We immediately noticed a secret difference in resistance between two of the two different monsters in the video, and wouldn’t be surprised if that sense of safety was only related to the first trailer, with much worse threats yet to be discovered. In all honesty? We also appreciate acceleration through movement phases, as long as they are handled correctly and monsters require minimal movement and tactical thinking to get rid of them.