Austin recommends: Alone in the Dark (Review)

Summary

Highlights

• This game revisits the origins of survival horror, reminiscing the 1992 classic's impact. 📜
• Skill Up finds it less scary and more atmospheric, avoiding typical horror tropes. 😌
• Noteworthy performances by David Harbour and Jodie Comer enhance character depth. 🎭
• The narrative includes themes of dreams, cults, and cosmic horror, providing a rich, albeit convoluted, story. 🌌
• Despite tech issues, the return to a nostalgic-style horror game is a fresh take, especially for new players. 🚪

Key Takeaways

• 'Alone in the Dark' is a gentle introduction to survival horror, making it approachable for newcomers. 🎮
• Emily Hartwood and Edward Carnby offer unique perspectives, enhancing replay value. 🔄
• Despite modern performance hitches, the game visually impresses with stunning environments and dynamic lighting. 🌆
• The game balances horror with detective intrigue, creating a unique but simple narrative experience. 🕵️‍♂️
• While lacking in-depth systems and complex scares, the game excels in atmosphere, bolstered by top-tier voice acting. 🎭

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction This chapter introduces a sponsorship by Manscaped for grooming products, with a promotion code for a discount and free shipping.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Alone in the Dark Review Intro The chapter introduces the game 'Alone in the Dark' as the subject of the review, highlighting its significance as a survival horror title developed by Pises Interactive. It is a remake/reboot of the original 'Alone in the Dark' game from 1992, which is recognized as the founding father of the survival horror genre, predating the first Resident Evil game by four years. The original game eventually became a cult classic, especially for those who experienced survival horror games for the first time through it.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Gameplay Overview This chapter provides an overview of the reboot of 'Alone in the Dark,' highlighting its role as an introduction to the survival horror genre. The game isn't complex mechanically or narratively. However, its fundamentals are solid. Puzzles in the game are enjoyable and satisfying, emulating a detective's journey by finding clues and using collectibles. Combat is straightforward yet effective, and infrequent enough to prevent it from becoming a drawback.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Production Value and Atmosphere This chapter describes the impressive production value of the game, highlighting its stunningly lit and detailed levels, variety in locales, and excellent voice acting. It emphasizes the reliance on atmosphere over jump scares or disturbing imagery to create tension, noting that it isn't too scary. Though it has a few technical hitches and a somewhat complex story towards the end, the game is presented as a captivating adventure.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Story and Characters The chapter 'Story and Characters' analyzes an eclectic cast within a game. The reviewer suggests that while enthusiasts of this genre might find the content familiar, the game may not meet expectations due to the high standards set by recent survival horror releases and its high cost. However, the game is described as low stakes and approachable, lacking deep systems and scares, which could appeal to those intimidated by traditional survival horror games.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Character Deep Dive The chapter, titled 'Character Deep Dive,' explores the intrigue and mystery surrounding Emily Hartwood, a character likely to captivate audiences much like the original game did for its players. Set in the eerie ambiance of 1920s Louisiana, a place notorious in horror lore, the narrative unfolds with Emily being portrayed as a pivotal figure with the power to turn the world inside out. As the plot progresses, it highlights the solitary sacrifice she must undertake, emphasizing her critical role in the storyline. Concurrently, Edward Carnby's character is introduced, depicted as a struggling individual whose story intertwines with the chilling events in Louisiana. This character analysis provides a gateway to an engaging and suspenseful tale that echoes the classic appeal of its predecessors.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Narrative Complexity The chapter titled 'Narrative Complexity' begins with a renowned World of Warcraft streamer and actor David Harbor playing the role of a private investigator. He is one of the protagonists, while the other is his client, Emily Hartwood, portrayed by Jodie Comer. Emily has been informed about her Uncle Jeremy's demise due to a form of mania that runs in her family. The narrative raises questions about whether this is a curse, possession, or mental illness, which remains to be explored. The story progresses as they arrive at Deetto Mansion where Uncle Jeremy was being treated.
• 06:00 - 08:00: Environment and Design In the chapter titled 'Environment and Design,' the protagonists face a mysterious estate where something feels off. The situation escalates when Jeremy goes missing. The remaining duo must split up to find him and unravel the secrets of the haunted estate. Players can choose to play as either Kby or Heartwood, but they cannot switch characters during the campaign, nor does the narrative alternate between the two. To experience the story from the other character's perspective, players need to start a new save. Both playthroughs offer another version of the story rather than entirely different perspectives.
• 08:00 - 10:00: Performance and Technical Issues The chapter 'Performance and Technical Issues' discusses the importance of multiple playthroughs in understanding the full narrative of a story. Each playthrough, lasting around 8 hours, offers different experiences influenced by the characters' relationships and motivations. The narrator shares an example from their first playthrough with a character named Ki, who is impartial and primarily focused on completing the job to get paid, despite the extreme challenges faced. This highlights the need for players to sometimes suspend disbelief to appreciate the unfolding storyline.
• 10:00 - 12:00: Horror Elements The chapter titled 'Horror Elements' centers around a character played by David Harbor, who is dealing with past mistakes and seeks absolution, perhaps unknowingly. Harbor's character is compared to Hopper from 'Stranger Things', showcasing his prowess in portraying similar roles. He is described as charismatic and stern, balancing his approach to appeal to a more patient side. Despite the chaotic and wild events unfolding around him, he maintains a nonchalant attitude, adding depth to the narrative.
• 12:00 - 15:00: Puzzles and Combat The chapter 'Puzzles and Combat' delves into characters who are accustomed to supernatural occurrences, indicating a deep history with mysterious events. One character appears unfazed by the supernatural due to prior experiences. There's a mention of a closet, implying a potential secret or hiding place. Another character, Hardwood, has a significant history with the patients of a location called Deetto, suggesting she has made frequent visits, possibly related to a family connection since she checks on her uncle regularly. The chapter seems to balance character insights with elements of mystery and supernatural intrigue.
• 15:00 - 16:30: Overall Thoughts and Recommendations The chapter delves into personal conversations and connections, focusing on the protagonist's investigation and her uncle's condition, the Heartwood curse, that may affect her. The character Jod Com is praised for their performance, displaying confidence and drive due to the personal stakes. There is also amusement found in discovering the young lady's choice of drink.
• 16:30 - 21:00: Manscaped Sponsor Message The chapter delves into the stylistic elements of noir conversations characterized by soft-spoken interrogations in dimly lit rooms, often paired with a cigarette in one hand and whiskey in the other, amidst downtempo jazz. This ambiance sets the scene for a narrative intertwining detective intrigue and otherworldly horrors. The dialogue hints at a mysterious endeavor to break 'Jeremy's promise to the dark man,' suggesting hidden motives and suspense in the unfolding plot.

Austin recommends: Alone in the Dark (Review) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 this episode is brought to you by spring cleaning Champions manscaped this season make sure to groom your carpets and your drapes with the leaders in below the waist grooming embrace the season and join 10 million men worldwide who trust manscape with a special offer go to manscape.com and use offer code skillup for 20% off plus free shipping all right so fun fact about me I do not like horror horror movies horror shows horror games you name it I generally try to avoid this stuff why because I'm a big baby so imagine my delight when I
• 00:30 - 01:00 realized that the next game I'd be reviewing was alone in the dark this is a survival horror title from pises interactive it's a remake SL reboot of the original alone in the dark released back in 1992 in fact it was actually the Founding Father of the survival horror genre I believe arriving a whole 4 years before the first Resident Evil game over time it became a cult classic as for many this was their first exposure to survival horror games as it turns out
• 01:00 - 01:30 this reboot of alone in the dark appears to share a similar role acting as a sort of gateway drug into the survival horror genre it isn't a mechanically nor narratively deep experience but the fundamentals are sound the puzzles follow a similar structure better a joy to solve fulfilling the detective fantasy of finding clues in your surroundings and scanning your Collectibles for hints the combat is simple yet functional and any of the pitfalls it could have fallen into are alleviated by how sparingly it's used
• 01:30 - 02:00 throughout the game the production value is impressive as well sporting stunningly lit detailed levels a surprising amount of variety in its locals and excellent voice acting across the board luckily for me uh it's actually not too scary either relying far more on atmosphere to keep you wound up rather than jump scares or disturbing imagery the game's got a few technical hitches and the story does get a little tricky to follow toward the end but it's a nonetheless captivating Adventure show
• 02:00 - 02:30 with an Eclectic cast of characters that really goes places if you're into these kinds of games though I'm sure a lot of what I'm going to say in this review will sound familiar to you in fact I suspect it'll fall short of expectations given the caliber of survival horror games that have released in recent years and especially considering its rather steep price on the other end though the lack of deep systems and lack of Frights makes this a very low stakes approachable title if you're intimidated by the survival horror genre like me
• 02:30 - 03:00 this may act as a good entree to get you hungry for more in much the same way the original game was for many way back when it's Miss Emily Hartwood there's no reason to call me anything else she'll come and turn the world inside out I have to make this sacrifice alone in the dark takes place in 1920s Louisiana don't need to be a horror fan to know nothing good happens around these parts it follows the story of Edward carnby a down on his luck
• 03:00 - 03:30 private investigator played by renowned World of Warcraft streamer David Harbor and I guess he's also in stranger things the other protagonist is his client Emily Hartwood played by jod comr who you might recently recognize from free guy she's been informed her Uncle Jeremy has succumb to some form of mania common among her family line is it a curse possession mental illness only time will tell they arrive at deetto Mansion where he's being treated but immediately
• 03:30 - 04:00 there's something off about this place to make matters worse Jeremy appears to have gone missing so it's up to the duo to split up and find him while uncovering the mysteries of this haunted estate you can choose to play the campaign as either kby or Heartwood do note you cannot swap between them throughout nor does the story do that for you so you'll need to start a new save to experience the others version of the story to be clear it is simply another version it's not two totally different perspectives during the same
• 04:00 - 04:30 timeline of events while you do get a complete narrative from just one playthrough I do think it's worth going through the story with both each playthrough is roughly 8 hours long and all the cutcenes are very different because of their relationships to the patience of deetto mansion my first playthrough was with Ki who's kind of impartial to this whole situation he just wants to get the job done and get paid in that sense you will have to suspend your disbelief a little because he's willing to go through some truly crazy deals for the sake of closing this
• 04:30 - 05:00 case rest assured it makes more sense toward the end he's battling some past mistakes that he hopes to absolve through this though perhaps unknowingly as mentioned he's played by David Harbor and his performance is as expected very good he actually plays a very similar role to his part as hopper in stranger things he's charismatic Stern when he needs to be but knows when to reain things in to appeal to a patient better nature his nonchalant attitude toward the wild events happening around him is
• 05:00 - 05:30 always amusing you get the sense he's seen some and is therefore unfazed by the supernatural you don't see this it's fine it's fine catch you later are you going inside the closet yeah you got a problem with that hardwood by comparison has a much deeper history with the patients of deetto she's clearly been here many times before regularly checking in on her uncle so
• 05:30 - 06:00 her conversations with these characters are far more personal similarly the investigation to find her uncle seems far more compelling from her side given their connection as the delusions he suffers from labeled as the Heartwood curse May one day pass down to her jod com's performance is just as excellent as Harbor's here though she exudes far more confidence and drive given the personal Stakes involved the only Amusement I took from my visit was discovering that the young lady's drink was an old
• 06:00 - 06:30 fashioned very astute is that supposed to make you seem attentive or intelligent whatever you prefer there's a real Noir quality to all these conversations as well which I loved they're often soft spoken interrogations in a dim room a lit cigarette in one hand a whiskey in the other backed by some downtempo jazz reminding you that this is just as much about detective Intrigue as it is about other worldly Horrors I heard you're trying to break Jeremy's promise to the dark man yeah do
• 06:30 - 07:00 you know anything about that kind of stuff no but it makes you wonder if he made a promise can't he simply stand by his words I enjoyed all the performances here including the rest of the cast who each have such distinct personalities I only wish I could have spent more time getting to know them with the exception of Jeremy you unfortunately don't get the chance to properly learn about them as you'll only have about two to three conversations with each of them and rarely they about anything other than
• 07:00 - 07:30 Jeremy they're not wandering around the Mansion for you to talk to there aren't too many Collectibles that divulge you with more information there's a patient log that you can pick up early on that tells you why they're here and it's all interesting but brief I would have loved to have learned more about them directly from them and while you do seem to get a little extra from the alternate playthrough I was still left wanting for more the story really is all about Jeremy and I was really not ready for how wacky this story gets in both a good
• 07:30 - 08:00 and bad way it's hard to talk about without getting into spoilers but what begins as a simple missing person's case skyrockets into a broader mystery involving dreams psychos science mythology Cults astrology and love crafty and Horrors there's a mysterious figure known as the dark man that appears to be behind Jeremy's torment you've got to find out what he wants who he is what he has to do with the mansion's curs and its ill inhabitants as as well as explore the past trauma
• 08:00 - 08:30 that carnby or Hartwood are working through I mean with so much going on it was definitely exciting no doubt but with so many elements weaving themselves into the story so many characters names locations and terms from different cultures packed into a short 8h hour run time it really is a lot to process I've done about one and a half playthroughs and to be honest I still struggle to keep up with it all though perhaps those with a Keen Eye and a good memory will fare better
• 08:30 - 09:00 the benefit to this crazy narrative though is that it does take you to some surprising destinations I entered another one jer's m at first I thought the whole game was going to take place within the halls of this mansion and that is true to some degree the estate acts as a sort of Atrium from which the rest of the story branches from you'll frequently loop back to it in order to progress you'll study the map and learn how to to navigate these halls in all its decrepit
• 09:00 - 09:30 detail but throughout your investigation you'll also be entering Jeremy's dreams through this Talisman sending you to outdoor locations that his mind has manifested I was really impressed by the environments here there are some I expected like simple Street Scapes a graveyard a swamp but then there are others that totally caught me off guard like an ancient egypti Temple all of these locations are so visually distinct and so stunningly rendered the volume GE ometric lighting accentuates the rolling
• 09:30 - 10:00 fog that bathes these Landscapes as well as being strategically placed to guide you through them the game will often seamlessly transition you between the doto mansion and the Dreamscape without you even noticing sometimes it'll even flicker between the two or snap between them in an instant it's really cool stuff that only modern tech could allow for and it's used to such great effect here this is a fantastic looking game in my opinion and it does meet the standard we expect when it comes to to Modern AAA
• 10:00 - 10:30 games having said that performance is a little mixed the full specs are up on screen but playing at Mac settings on my PC with an RTX 4080 super at 1440p dlss set to balanced I was getting well above 60 FPS as expected even on my laptop though with an RTX 3060 a 2K resolution with dlss set to Balan on Max settings I was able to hover above 60 FPS most of the time though there was a fair bit of stuttering and dropping down to high settings seemed to resolve that on both
• 10:30 - 11:00 machines however I did experience significant frame drops upon entering new areas there were a couple occasions the game would freeze completely and I thought the game crashed but it had resume sometime later I did run into an actual hard crash early on which isn't ideal but then it didn't happen for the rest of the game in terms of bugs there were a few times where I couldn't read my collectibles or couldn't switch weapons nothing gamebreaking though and they fix themselves up pretty quickly without having to reload the game so you know a few niggling hiccups but
• 11:00 - 11:30 generally I didn't actually have a problem with performance throughout my playthrough so I do consider it technically sound overall can't comment on PS5 performance though as I didn't get a chance to test on there I mentioned in the intro that the game isn't too scary the atmosphere that the visuals and soundscape create here is essentially the Crux of the horror present in this experience the trailers for alone in the dark gave me the impression that this was going to be like a Conjuring type deal you know an eerie house a weird creepy child
• 11:30 - 12:00 possessed corpses I really thought I was going to struggle to get through this game and for the first couple hours I did purely because of the sense of unease that this Mansion Sinister halls in gender but eventually I came to the realization that basically nothing scary actually goes on when you're walking around the deetto estate it's less Conjuring more stranger things and not just because of David haror the only time there are enemies at all are when you're in those dream escapes and even
• 12:00 - 12:30 then they're all just these zombie swamp monsters there's no jump scare QuickTime events overthe top Gore or anything like that the atmosphere is what keeps you on edge it's the thick fog the distant Silhouettes and gurgles of strange creatures it's the lack of music I mean the soundscape Is So Silent you can hear a pin drop to the point that what made me jump the most was the door closing behind me upon entering a room so yeah I think some fans of the survival horror genre will be dis disappointed to hear
• 12:30 - 13:00 that you know they're probably after a really creepy experience that gets under your skin but as someone who's avoided this genre out of fear I found it offered just enough to keep my blood pumping without the crippling scares only as palet mask shelters my remain [Music] Insanity when it comes to the core gameplay of alone in the dark it's much the same as other survival hor titles
• 13:00 - 13:30 puzzles and combat both of which are nothing spectacular but they aren't bad either they're simple yet effective as far as the puzzles go they're all quite similar typically it revolves around finding a key for a door or these jigsaw style puzzles often missing a couple pieces that you'll also need to go and find to do that you'll search the surrounding environment for Clues and study their contents to figure out their whereabouts you may even need to go through older clues for hints but thankfully you'll never have to go back too far as as the game does remove Clues
• 13:30 - 14:00 no longer relevant to that chapter a neat touch is that all the clues and collectibles in this game with text in them it's all narrated and that brilliant voice acting really makes each of them intriguing to listen to despite how long some of these texts are every night the dark man stands opaque at the threshold of my room counting the days until my spirit spills out of my tired shape only his palid mask shelters my remaining sanity once you've collected the pieces you'll
• 14:00 - 14:30 insert them into the puzzle and then move them around I think you'll have a much better time here with a controller I found keyboard and mouse implementation kind of weird some puzzles will have you use WD some will just use a andd to move and then Zed and X to rotate and others will have you use the literal keyboard arrow keys for some reason there's just a bit of strange inconsistency in the controls here that made some puzzles feel cumbersome and it would have been nice to be able to just click and drag stuff with a mouse
• 14:30 - 15:00 instead outside of the jigsaws you'll often be asked to cross reference images and texts to find a sequence of numbers for a padlock or to input them into the Talisman so you can enter a new Dreamscape overall I really enjoyed the puzzles again I don't think it's anything new but I did like how much it made you feel like a detective by manually deliberating through your Clues to solve them combat is much the same in its Simplicity you'll have just three firearms by the end of the game a handgun shotgun and Tommy gun ammo is
• 15:00 - 15:30 quite scarce though so you'll need to make every shot count and Target enemy weak spots to save precious rounds doing so will require a steady hand and patience as each shot will Bloom your reticle out drastically so you'll need to wait for your aim to stabilize you can throw objects to distract enemies during stealth sections or light them on fire in the case of a Molotov but you have no way of storing these you basically just throw them from where you picked them up so I never found myself using this much most of the combat is low considered gun play there's not a
• 15:30 - 16:00 lot to it but I think it does what it needs to I had enough ammo that I didn't need to engage melee combat to often but thank goodness for that because it's definitely the weakest part of this game you can light attack and heavy attack there's no block or anything though there is a Dodge that sort of works you cannot melee if you don't have a melee weapon though and the problem with that is that you can only equip one melee weapon at a time and they have durability not just durability but low durability
• 16:00 - 16:30 like a single weapon will only last enough for you to kill one maybe two enemies there's enough of these laying around that it didn't become a huge problem for me but I imagine if you do find yourself with no ammo and no melee weapon you're going to have to run around like a headless chicken to find one or else you won't be able to defend yourself at all main problem for me is that your melee attacks just don't really connect with the Enemy you'll sort of just swing past them and deal damage enemies don't don't react much to getting hit in melee or perhaps the
• 16:30 - 17:00 camera pans too far out to tell so you'll end up just mashing the button until they Keel over there's a few enemy types that are either very low to the ground or up in the air and when up against these guys uh melee attacks just totally with past them most of the time if this game gets a sequel this is something I'd like to see properly overhauled it doesn't need to be overly complex just tightened up a bit one other component that could do with some work are the bosses there's actually a real lack of them here to be honest I
• 17:00 - 17:30 counted like two they both happen way at the back end of the game and neither of them are very good I won't spoil what they look like because I mean there's only two you just shoot the monster in a tiny Arena until they die they could have involved some puzzle mechanics more setpiece moments I know it's wishful thinking but I do believe a lot more could have been done here even with such basic combat these gripes would have annoyed me and detracted from The Experience if it weren't for how well paced the combat is throughout the
• 17:30 - 18:00 campaign it's used very sparingly you're only ever asked to kill two or three enemies at the most and it doesn't typically take place in confined spaces where camera issues might impede on it it's just lightly peppered in here and there as a pacing mechanism to mix up the game play and that meant I just never got frustrated with it the puzzle solving and combat are functional and balanced against each other in just the right amounts that neither becomes monotonous despite their lack of depth
• 18:00 - 18:30 trust me you're getting your money's worth alone in the dark doesn't reach for much and for those familiar with the genre I don't suspect it'll reach anywhere near the heights of recent entries like Allen wake 2 or Resident Evil 4 remake it doesn't take many risks uh it isn't particularly Innovative I mean everything I've mentioned in this review is likely present in other survival horror games done better even and with no memorable encounters or setpiece moments no deeper systems to explore yeah I can't argue that there's
• 18:30 - 19:00 enough meat on these bones to justify that steep $60 price tag and I suspect many will feel better served waiting for a discount but this isn't totally worth skipping it does a decent job with what little it offers it's a tidy experience that strips all the fluff and ensures its core elements are up to Snuff there's no inventory management to deal with no upgrades no gear system the puzzles and combat work within their limitations Never outstaying Their
• 19:00 - 19:30 welcome to needlessly Pat out the game the production value across the board is impressive with fantastic visuals and Top Class character performances The Narrative is perhaps the only thing that gets ahead of itself but even then it's in service of providing a diverse experience that isn't restricted to the confines of a haunted mansion if the OG game was the spark that ignited interest for survival Horror in 1992 I think this reboot of it will do the same for some here in 202 4 it certainly did for me I mean it's got me
• 19:30 - 20:00 thinking about playing all those big survival horror titles I've missed and what better way to uphold the spirit of the source material so yeah if you're down to dip your toe into the genre or are looking for a familiar yet simplified offering then I do recommend alone in the dark gentlemen in the mood for a little bit of spring cleaning I'm not talking about whipping out the feather duster mind you I'm talking about whipping out the manscaped lawn mower 5.0 to give
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