Alone in the Dark Review: "A Timeworn Classic Receives A Thoughtful Reboot"

A timeworn classic receives a thoughtful reboot in THQ Nordic’s upcoming . Developed by Pieces Interactive – a studio arguably best known for co-op action-RPG sequel – the new release reimagines 1992’s formative survival horror forebear, studding its homage with references but delivering a modern presentation. delivers a fun horror experience with a narrative that gets better as it goes, but its puzzles are mostly simplistic and its combat sluggish to a fault.

The IP has changed hands three times thus far, with various studios and publishers exploring their own takes on the action-tinged bayou horror journey. The original release by Infogrames proved to be a watershed moment in PC gaming, even having founded the fixed-camera horror shtick, a standard which would later be used by the likes of and countless others.

Alone in the Dark is a serviceable remake that misses the mark on combat but makes up for it with a moody atmosphere and interesting puzzles.

In that respect, inspiration has come full circle, with movement and combat here largely modeled after that of (which set its own new genre standards). Furthermore, the new ’s concept ultimately feels less like a haunted house of ghouls and more a kind of horror dreamworld hub, a space which connects set pieces only periodically grounded in mundane reality.

Inspector Edward Carnby drives Emily Harwood to Derceto manor, an early-20th-century homespun asylum in the Louisiana wilds. Prompted by the receipt of a distressing letter, Emily is checking up on her uncle Jeremy, whose fits of madness relegated him to Derceto’s supervisory care many years prior. Carnby joins her as hired protection, and to bear witness in case anything nefarious has befallen Emily’s dear relative.

While the staging of Alone in the Dark’s introduction acts as pure homage to that of the original, the narrative sharply diverts from there. Rather than happening upon a house abandoned of people and packed with monsters, the new game introduces a