Alone in the Dark Comments by Rob Fahey

"Wait I think I got a better name, On my own in the night"

I think a far better name would be 'Not with people during the day'

Shinji, the whole horror genre was a niche (and I got dates mixed up which was my bad with AITD and Clock Tower) until the Playstation era.

Yeah, totally. Alone in the Dark was something of a break-out title, as was Clock Tower to a small extent, but it didn't get anything like the kind of recognition that Resident Evil, and subsequently Silent Hill, received. Those games are credited with inventing their own sections of the horror genre, and deservedly so.

Even without the recognition or success of its followers, though, Alone in the Dark can certainly be credited with inventing big chunks of the survival horror genre that we know today - hence my comment on Sweet Home. I would genuinely love to know if any of AITD team had played Sweet Home, or even heard of it, when they created the game.

And yeah, it's something I'd love to see on VC. It's the foundation for what's probably my favourite videogame genre, and it'd be great to get it on there simply as a piece of genuine gaming history.

Experiencing Solace After Dusk

(With extra pirates)

It's sort of dusky but I'm wearing my shades so it might as well be dark and I've got Jeff with me but he recently lost both his arms and legs in an industrial threshing accident so I sort of don't at the same time. Wait! What's that noise?

THAT'S a bloody videogame title.

...up against foes vastly more powerful than him - this is survival-horror, after all, not action-adventure. Combat is heart-in-mouth stuff...combat time will be spent with your heart in your mouth and the sensation that you're up against something vastly more powerful. Just how survival-horror should be, really.

Someone needs a thesaurus :)

How is a dinosaur going to help?

"Talking about HD consoles would be clearer."

So not the PS3 then.


Hehehe.

Indeed, I don't think many will get the "point" of Sweet Home considering how games are today, but even then within this very obscure little Japan-only NES title lies the foundations and fabric of everything that has followed it. If no-one gets it, that's fine, but it's a piece of gaming history as you say and rightly so.

AITD for me was an eye-opener but I don't know if the point was to create or reinvent a genre. I loved AITD, but by most standards I've always found the AITD series to be flawed - there's plenty there to admire but I always had the doubt that perhaps it was missing the point. Resident Evil and Silent Hill basically came in and polished those mechanisms to such a gleaming shine that looking back on AITD is a very difficult thing to do - it most certainly had it's part to play, and for the day AITD was gorgeous beyond belief, but there was certainly problems there. Which the genre did carry on doing until we got to about RE3, by which point little niggles were finally being stamped upon violently. But it wasn't AITD that polished them, it was others, and at that point most probably wouldn't have been aware of AITD. Who knows what may have happened if they'd really had the gall to push the boat out to the extent the Japanese did...

But then, there are other examples of the horror genre that seem to remain overlooked. Still, I hate when people say Resident Evil ripped off AITD. Capcom did Sweet Home and besides the 3D stylings, Resi had far more in common I felt with Sweet Home than AITD. AITD is a game of it's own - both good and bad - and with the Survival Horror genre splitting ever further now into different territories, AITD could be a surprising and refreshing little comeback. There's plenty of room for it now and we're not so jaded that we're going to automatically compare it to Resident Evil (which we kinda did with The New Nightmare but fuck it, TNN deserved that gripe).

The only real worry I have is that AITD, to me, has always been a little flawed. In my youth I may have overlooked those things but now, my hard-earned on the line, I'm sustantially less forgiving unless there's a female character wearing very little... thank you RE3...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiHfYFGPaHU

I find it fascinating nobody's got Razzle's (and perhaps even EG's) reference!

having no gameplay and linear progression with the illusion of freedom got bioshock 10/10 most places... looks like it will probably work out in this case too... it'll do well. just don't buy it if you expect to play a game. it's another ghost train em-up. under 10 hours, no replay i reckon...

Timberwolf ruins Christmas.

anyone remember Estatica? I think thats what it was called...

Ecstatica, had a weird non-polygonal renderer where everything was made from ellipsoids.

sorry...

"just don't buy it if you expect to play a game"

Yes, because it's not a game, you're actually buying a tupperware set aren't you. Pleb.

I remember Estatica. It certainly had elements of the horror survival genre about it but I am pretty sure it was a year or two after the original AITD game if we are looking for early influences on the genre.

@JSPOOLE

"This is going to be an amazing game. I hope it gets the sales it deserves."

Care to elaborate on this being an 'amazing game' and why it 'deserves' to get sales?

7/10 = Some good points but falls short of greatness. In a time such as this, with so many great games on different platforms, I don't have time for 'could have been great, if only they'd....' games.

In short, go fuck yourself, Mr I Work For Atarigrames.

@JSPOOLE

" I was talking about Ninja Gaiden, you fucking retard. You didn't read all the comments did you?

Oh well, maybe reading comprehension isn't your strong point ;)

Maths isn't either, considering 70% (ie 7/10 so your brain can figure out the connection) is above average.

If you live your life on what reviews say are ''great'' games, good for you, needing someone else's opinion to dictate your purchases. I don't. I was just saying that whoever thinks 7/10 is a ''shitfest'' needs a brain in their skull and not their anus.

Plus, I don't really give a shit if you play the game or not. It's no skin off my nose if some idiot who can't read properly or follow conversations misses out because he just had to buy the new Fifa or whatever schlock is out that week catering to the idiot masses"

And yet, for all your blathering, you still haven't explained why AITD5 'deserves' to sell well and, according to you, will also certainly be 'an amazing game'.

Based off a preview and some tech vids?

Who's the retard?

@JSPOOLE

"As for why it's going to be amazing? If you've followed the game and still aren't impressed by it's pure ambition, then go get a new hobby."

LMFAO!

I couldn't give a fuck about its 'ambition' if the game turns out to be dogshit. There's optimism and then theres you, JSPOOLE. It's fucking retarded to state that a game will be 'amazing' based off the development 'ambition', as seen in tech vids, previews and dev diaries.

No, wait, you're right! I must simply go and pre-order this game, and many others, based on the development 'ambition'. For fucks sakes, I must have missed dozens, if not hundreds of games in the past, based on this mindset.

Cunt.

@JSPOOLE

"Yes you are a cunt :)

I can't disagree.


A retarded cunt at that lol"

Errm, remind me again which one of us thinks that a game is 'amazing' without having actually played it and basing all their access to the game on previews, dev diaries and tech vids, which amount to nothing short of advertisement and marketing propaganda?

Hmmm?

@JSPOOLE

"We will see won't we?

I'll expect a grovelling apology from you when the reviews hit.

But hey like I said, if you don't wanna buy it, don't. I really could care less if you killed yourself, nevermind what type of games you like to play lol"

Whoa, Nostradamus! No need to go there with the insults!

Oh fuck...if he's predicted AITD5 being a smash hit maybe he's also seen me doing myself in! I mean, its possible, right? Right?!?!

ladies! ladies!

What's the point in arguing with a person who's already decided the game will be 'amazing' without even having played the fucker?

I'll let the reviews do the talking. 7/10.

JS, you're coming across as either a fevered fanboi or an individual who has a vested interest in the success of this particular release.

If its the latter, then i'm sorry if you don't like my comments, but Atarigrames have a proven track record of releasing games, sometimes too early, without enough polish or attention to detail. In other words, shit. Now, based on the marketing so far, we're having physics this and super-duper inventory mix'n'match that shoved in our faces, but this all amounts to advertising. Y'see, Atarigrames have already said they're out of high-profile releases, once this goes, and will instead focus on 'family orientated' titles.

In other words, they don't have the finances or the talent or the know-how or the correct level of professionalism to see big releases out.

If AITD5 is 'shit hot', 'amazing', 'astounding' and lots of other similiar things, why would Atarigrames bow out now? Surely if its amazing and sells really well, that would be a positive thing, right? If they make lots of money, surely they'd want to continue to do so, yes? AITD6?

No, i'm afraid not. This game will lack imagination, artistic style/direction and will be adversely affected by bad framerate issues.

The article in question already states that the game plays along a linear path which to me means that it will play like RE.

It will be played mostly in 3rd person. Like RE.

It will feature a variety of weapons that can be used against monsters. Like RE.

The only thing it has is the physics aspect and, to an extent, inv combos. Vehicles are just an extention of the player character, so see Dead Rising for that, if you want to get arsey.

The worst aspect will be the lack of imagination and style. It will clearly show through and I guarantee reviews will share my thoughts. Atarigrames have shown time and time again that they can't get this aspect right. Why should now be any different when they're about to bow out of the market and never look back?

@JS

"That's like saying Half Life 2 is like Turok because they have ''guns, a first person viewpoint and a sci fi theme''.

Yes, exactly, it is and they are. Whats your point here?

They're both shooters that feature a first-person perspective in a sci-fi theme that follow a linear path through the game. At various points you'll upgrade your guns to bigger and badder things and fight bigger and badder enemies with them.

Except in HL2 you have the physics bit thats used, along the way, so 'solve' gimmicky puzzles and traps. Nothing more nothing less.

AITD5 will also have a handful of these 'physics' puzzles, you can be sure, but don't be fooled into thinking they'll be 'the whole game' because they won't. The majority of the game will be you, in 3rd person, walking through dimly lit, spooky, environments hammering/shooting/whacking monsters with various weapons. Like RE. Fact.

Trying to paint this in any other way is stupid and ignorant and we absolutely will see that upon review.

For whatever reason, I think you're confusing similiarity with quality. HL2 is leagues ahead of Turok, in terms of quality and content, of that there is no doubt.

Do not compare AITD5 with HL2. Valve will eat you alive.

That or you've realised what a pathetic argument it is that you've tried to put forward? Regardless, its the last i'll say on the matter. Reviews will come in and will bolster what i've already said.

BTW, for the record, I used to work for Atarigrames, so I know of what I speak (in terms of what kind of quality they kick out of the door)

much too short 50 squid for 10 hours if you don't skip.

does the game give the player to play through entirely in 1st or 3rd person perspective?