GSI: Alone in the Dark

Alone in the Dark is looking like a great re-launch for the series so we thought we’d let the GSI boys out of their swanky office to do some investigating. Alone in the Dark might have started out life many years ago, but the latest game to carry the famous name is a very different beast. Read on for some vital nuggets of information on Atari’s creepy action adventure game.

The roof, the roof is on fire

Fire is nothing new to video games, but the way it’s been implemented in Alone in the Dark is rather exciting. Objects in the game ignite as they would in real life, so set a chair on fire that’s sat next to some other combustible items and the whole thing will go up. It looks great and gives you opportunities to use your imagination. Of course, if you’re not a pyromaniac you can opt to put out fires, although where’s the fun in that? Hopefully the final game will include numerous fire-based puzzles that don’t simply require you to burn an obstacle stood in front of a door.

Playing with weapons is fun

Fancy using those swords hanging on the wall as your weapon? What about the chair you just walked past or the chair leg that fell off when you battered it with your sword? Alone in the Dark lets you use all manner of different items as weapons and they’re not always obvious. You’ll also have the expected gun to use if you don’t want to get involved with close-quarters combat and a flashlight will light your way when you’re moving through especially dark areas.

Interactive destructible environment

Modern games are all about immersing the player in the game world and there’s no better way of doing that than letting players smash things up. Is a scary looking monster running at you, eyes fixed on your face, teeth dripping blood? No problem: tip that table over and use it as cover. But it’s not that simple. With a few swings of its heavy clawed hand it’ll have smashed through the table, leaving you exposed. With all the breakable objects in the game behaving this way you always have a way to interact with the environment.

Making things is fun

A lighter, some tape, fuel and a grenade are all good items in their own right and would almost certainly be picked up by any self respecting adventure game playing gamer, but they can be so much more when used together. Take the lighter and the fuel: why not lay down a line of highly flammable fuel that takes you well away from the danger area, before lighting it and letting the power of combustion take effect. Kaboom. Don’t have any fuel on you? No problem. Puncture the gas tank of that car parked outside and use the fuel from that. Tape and Grenade together… I think you can work that one out for yourself.

Real men need a utility belt

Few games manage to get you excited about simple things, but Alone in the Dark has managed to make the simple inventory screen into something worth writing about. Rather than pressing a button to bring up a standard screen showing your items, in Alone in the Dark you are presented with your own belt, holding whichever items you have in your possession – you’re still in-game. It’s a minor thing but one that should add a lot to the immersion factor and something that shows the developers are making an effort to give gamers a fresh feeling game.