Are you a Resident Evil or Silent Hill fan? Well, if you’re waiting for the next release of those two series, then you should be hyped for another Remake that is coming later this year. We’re talking about Alone in the Dark, which is getting the Remake treatment the aforementioned series have recently been getting (well, Silent Hill is still yet to be seen). Alone in the Dark has been inspired by the recent success of Resident Evil, and the former is making an epic comeback thanks to that. If you’ve never played any Alone in the Dark game, here I will show you 5 reasons to be hyped about Alone in the Dark Remake.
Alone in the Dark Remake: A Love Letter to Old and New Fans
It’s safe to say the game will be a great release for any horror fan, regardless if you ever heard about the series before or not. The game is a complete reimagination of the first Alone in the Dark game, which seems to include story elements from subsequent games. Who knows, we eventually might end up getting a Remake of the PSOne classic Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, which is remembered more fondly by the people of my generation (the 2000s Survival Horror gaming era was basically our whole childhood). In any case, here you have my reasons why I think we should be hyped for this entry!
The Grandfather of Survival Horror is Back
This is probably the best reason any horror fan could have to play this game. In fact, this may be hard to believe for some people. But Alone in the Dark was the first 3D Survival Horror game ever made, and it was originally released in 1992 for PC.
That’s why even if you’ve never got the chance to play the first game for any reason (in my case I wasn’t even close to being born at the time), it is the perfect chance to pay tribute to the revival of the genre. The original game inspired other 90’s titles such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Dino Crisis, Parasite Eve, and many other horror game titles by using pre-rendered scenarios and the same tank movement system. Ironically, it is now the success of the recent Resident Evil Remakes that has inspired the developers of Alone in the Dark to bring their own Remake. It’s the cycle of life in videogame format, and it’s beyond beautiful to experience it firsthand.
The original Alone in the Dark game was released for PC in 1992.
A Hollywood Cast
One of the principal aspects that have been used to promote this game is the actors who will be portraying the main characters. David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow) and Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Free Guy) will be respectively portraying Edward Carnby and Emily Hartwood. It is always nice to see famous movie and TV actors get included in video games. While this obviously won’t determine if the game ends up being good or not, it adds value to it if you’re a fan of the works of any of the two actors. It’s also a nice way to bring back the original protagonists of the IP, which weren’t too graphically or narratively detailed back then. Thankfully the gaming industry has evolved enough for that to change here!
David Harbour and Jodie Comer as Edward Carnby and Emily Hartwood.
A Talented Writer and a New Developer Team
In terms of the game’s narrative, we can probably rest assured. The story is in the hands of Mikael Hedberg, the writer of other big horror titles such as Soma and Amnesia: The Dark Descent. It is not something to ignore, both Soma and Amnesia have been praised by critics and the audience for their atmosphere and pacing, so we’re more than glad to have him on the team.
It’s also important to note that the Alone in the Dark series was probably in one of the worst streaks of the videogame industry. Their latest entry, Alone in the Dark: Illumination is considered to be one of the worst games ever made in history, having the almost impossible rate of only 19/100 on Metacritic. The game franchise was owned by Atari back then. But after the poor reception of the aforementioned atrocity, the franchise was sold to THQ Nordic. We’re still waiting to test with our own hands what our friends of THQ are preparing with the beloved saga, but it seriously can’t be any worse than that.
We haven’t had a solid Alone in the Dark game since The New Nightmare back in the PS1 era, and by the looks of it, the time for that to change has finally come.
If you have ever played any Amnesia game, then you are familiar with atmospheric horror.
The Approval From the OG Creator
Frédérick Raynal, the original creator of the 1992 Alone in the Dark game, has given his blessing to the THQ team that is working on the Remake. While he isn’t part of the project per se, he says he has seen the works of this new game and affirms the developers have made a great job preserving the core feeling of the original game. In case you want to listen to him by yourself, here you have the spotlight video of Alone in the Dark Remake where the developers share their vision and intention with the game, and Frédérick Raynal makes a short appearance mentioning his thoughts on the Remake as well:
A Terrifying Atmosphere & Gameplay
As I previously said, this Remake has been inspired by the Resident Evil franchise and the reimaginations of their most popular titles. This means Alone in the Dark Remake will be completely rebooted trying to keep the best elements of the 1992 game, but also bringing the new mechanics of the Survival Horror genre.
An over-the-shoulder camera, a modern combat system, and a deeper narrative are definitely guaranteed. All of this combined with the scarce resources, the constant danger sensation, the no-hope feeling of depending exclusively on yourself to survive, and everything right the original game had will bring us a very fresh entry of a title that is more than three decades old. What a time to be alive, isn’t it?
Make sure to take a look at the spotlight video above for a small glimpse of the gameplay too, which looks amazing and well-polished.
You will have to use everything you can find to fight the monsters.
Try the Demo Today!
As a final note, the developers also released a short prologue demo (it takes around 10-15 minutes to complete), but it essentially shows the atmosphere and graphical quality we should expect from the final game. It is available for free on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. You should give it a try so you have an idea of what you’ll eventually play before buying the full game (which is available for pre-order on the aforementioned platforms).
