Alone in the Dark

Alone in the Dark is a survival horror game from Pieces Interactive, which in 2024 revived the legendary series from the nineties with a story set in the crumbling Derceto mansion, shrouded in the atmosphere of American Louisiana. The player can choose to play as private detective Edward Carnby or mansion resident Emily Hartwood, both characters are fully voiced with their own unique game content, and both experience the story slightly differently, revealing a different perspective on the family secret intertwined with cosmic horror in the spirit of H. P. Lovecraft, whose influence is felt in every corner of the mansion's atmosphere.

The gameplay combines exploration of the sprawling mansion and its strange dreamlike detours with light combat elements and puzzle-solving based on key items, letters, and symbols scattered throughout the mansion and its surrounding grounds. On PlayStation 5, the game benefits from a detailed, richly modeled Victorian mansion with lush surrounding swamp vegetation and changing weather that underscores the breakdown of the boundary between reality and the main characters' nightmares. The musical score and the sound backdrop of cicadas and creaking wood evoke the sultry atmosphere of the American South, while the narrative rests on the vocal performances of well-known actors lending the characters believable humanity amid the horror.

The series restart faced comparisons with the 1992 original, considered one of the pioneers of the survival horror genre, and reviews were mixed, mainly due to the uneven combat side of the game. Even so, critics praised the atmosphere, the visual style, and the effort to return to a slower, story-focused horror instead of the action pace of many current titles. For fans of classic psychological horror, Alone in the Dark offers a pleasant return to the atmosphere of the genre's old roots in a modern technical package, even if it is more of a tribute to the classic than a revolution of the genre.

Why play it: For fans of classic psychological horror, it's a pleasant return to a slower, story-focused pace in a modern coat, though the uneven combat is a reminder that it's more a tribute to the classic than a revolution of the genre.