Genre : Aventure

Editeur / Développeur : Atari / Pocket Studios

Sortie : 2001

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Versions : -

Sauvegardes : Pile

Nombre de Joueurs : 1

Prix Payé : 3 €

Mon Avis : Pas encore joué.

¡Bienvenidos de nuevo a la sección del gore y los calzones manchados! La semana pasada hablamos sobre los básicos de los Survival Horror, así que continuaremos la introducción al género con algunos monstruos clásicos que se arrastran por ahí: espectros, alienígenas, fanáticos y demás calaña. ¡Empecemos!

Los espectros: Un amigo mío tiene una teoría sobre los monstruos que intentan asustar, resumible en que los monstruos que aterrorizan a una generación le dan risa a la siguiente. Sólo hay una excepción: los fantasmas. ¿Por qué? Porque nadie se toma en serio a los fantasmas, y con razón: ¿Qué demonios puede hacerte algo translúcido e inpalpable? ¿Qué poderes tienen: chillar mucho, contarte sus traumas y atravesar las paredes? ¿Cómo te matan, de miedo? ¡Venga ya! De hecho, creo que la única forma de joderte que tienen es dándote envidia, porque ellos no necesitan abrir puertas y tú sí.
Por estas razones, los fantasmas en los videojuegos casi siempre está en un segundo plano, como enemigos flojuchos o apariciones contándote sus estúpidas penas. Si de todas formas queréis jugar a un videojuego sobre fantasmas, creo que lo único decente que hay es la saga Project Zero, donde veréis muchas cosas translúcidas chillando y atravesando paredes sin parar. Hala, que os divirtáis.

Los alienígenas: Un clásico del cine de serie B muy mal aprovechado: bichos con exoesqueleto, que parasitan rápidamente a los humanos, que aparecen en un ambiente ideal para un juego (una nave espacial de la que no se puede escapar), y sobre todo, porque hay montones de películas de terror con las que se podrían hacer juegos soberbios de Survival Horror y que vendieran a porrones por la licencia. ¿Ejemplos? Un juego de Alien que no fuera un shooter, por ejemplo. O mejor aún: un juego de La Cosa para consolas de nueva generación (el de Xbox/PS2/PC no estaba mal del todo, pero no conseguió aprovechar bazas como el tener que ir comprobando si tus compañeros estaban infectados, algo que hubiera sido genial si realmente fuera más problemático que darse la vuelta e inflarlo a tiros). Es una pena que esos simpáticos visitantes del espacio exterior prefieran la compañía del Jefe Maestro y similares, pero ya está ahí Dead Space para ir abriendo boca.

Los zombies: Otro clásico del cine de serie B, y que últimamente se están poniendo muy de moda gracias a los libros de Max Brooks. No creo que haga falta una presentación de estos muchachotes no-muertos, ni tampoco empezar a distinguir entre los zombies “clásicos” (lentotes, que sólo mueren de un tiro a la cabeza) de Resident Evil y la nueva concepción de zombies que hace furor ahora (Rápidos y hechos de papel, a la Left 4 Dead). Simplemente recordaros que no ha habido otro monstruo que haya pasado tanto por tantas consolas. Os queremos, comecerebros.

Los locos: Posiblemente la única entrada en la lista que no desciende directamente del cine, los enfermos mentales son un gran añadido a los videojuegos, tanto para dar ambiente (hay mucha gente que cree que Bioshock es un Survival Horror por los comentarios de los splicers del principio), como para ser los enemigos principales, porque aunque pierdan el factor horripilante ganan el poder del habla, que asusta también lo suyo (Los enemigos en Forbidden Siren asustaban muchísimo cuando les veías buscandote y hablando consigo mismos, y estoy seguro de que RE 4 habría asustado lo suyo si los enemigos no llegan a tener ese extraño acento mexicano).

Las monstruosidades: Incluyo aquí cualquier bicho de Silent Hill, Alone in the Dark y cualquier cosa de Resident Evil que no sea un zombie. Bichos mutados, demonios, alucinaciones mentales… Dar rienda suelta a la imaginación da mucho de sí. Sólo una advertencia, por si algún diseñador de monstruos me está escuchando: a ser posible, dejad a los malditos perros mutados tranquilos, salen en todas partes y estamos hasta los cojones de ellos. Gracias.

Y hasta aquí la ración de hoy. La semana que viene, más y mejor.

Alone in the Dark by Eden Games/Atari is throttled by its own ambition. The game is part survival horror/puzzle solver, part platformer/action-adventure, and thoroughly painful. If you are a patient person and willing to put in the time, you may find pleasure in the varied gameplay, and slowly revealing the clichéd story. However, the gameplay will hurt you… a lot and often.

You play as Edward, an amnesiac who must “follow the path of light.” Telling you too much would spoil what little draw the game’s story has, since developers so ardently reveal only tidbits at a time. The foundation of this mystery surrounds the protagonist, Edward, an old man named Paddington, a stone amulet of power, and an evil force that cracks walls, turns people into zombies, and destroys plenty of Central Park. As Edward, you are also accompanied by an art dealer named Sarah. Why? Her reasons change. Maybe she just has a thing for amnesiacs on the path of light.

Survival horror games are notorious for burdening gamers with cumbersome gameplay. Put the gamer in a terrifying situation, and deliberately handicap their maneuverability to increase their terror. To this end, Alone in the Dark mistakenly uses the left analog for movement, and the right analog for vision. The result is a game feels akin to “rub your tummy, pat your head.” The reason the analog sticks are like this is so that when you pick up an item, you can move Edward with the left analog, and swing the object with the right analog. You can swing objects side to side, or up and down, but it ain’t easy. You have to push down to raise and object above your head, then up, to swing the object down. It’s not a shooter, there’s no gun, it’s a broom.

Don’t worry, only the first battles require using objects, then the game is all gun, which brings us to the duel perspectives. You can play Alone in the Dark from the third or first person point of view. In third person you can see your environment more clearly, but in first person you can navigate more easily, because Edwards turns so damn slow. Because of this, you will probably move around in third person, and fight in first person (since shooting is only from the first person). Rather than complain about switching, thank God shooting is first person; shooting in third would be a real bitch because of the horrible camera controls.

The other thing survivor horrors are known for is forcing gamers to dick around with their inventory. This is the inevitable result of developers struggling to find the balance between believability and fun. The moment you overstep the boundary of believability, your audience steps away from personal terror. Initially, Alone in the Dark’s inventory looks great. Press down, and your view pans down into a bird’s eye view of Edward’s jacket pockets. Hovering above this bird’s eye view of your inventory is a pair of hand icons. Equip the gun, and it appears in the hand. You can even make up to four hotkey combinations for equipped items: Gun and flashlight, flashlight and decoder. It all sounds great on paper, but practical inventories just aren’t fun.

That’s this game’s whole thing: Be realistic, be practical. Of course Edward can’t move fast, he’s kind of old. Obviously, if you have a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other, your hands are full. When your hands are full, you must put something down, if you want to hold something else. Naturally, if you want to shoot flaming bullets, you’re going to have to manually pour something flammable in the casing. And you’re going to have to do it in real time, as the monsters approach. The whole thing is exhausting.

The saddest part about this game is its false promise. Let the title screen sit long enough and you will be treated to a thrilling game trailer. It showcases everything good about the game: A grand orchestral score, impressive graphics (including some stunningly realistic fire), interesting puzzles, engaging controls, car chases, zombie fights, slow motion combat involving Edward hurling explosives shooting them in mid air, and a plethora of object interaction. But don’t be fooled.

The game likely suffers from mishmashed development. Initially this game was to coincide with the release of the film by Uwe Boll. Wisely, developers delayed the game, and started completely from scratch. Or did they? Think of how tempting it would be to use a few ideas from the initial game. No wonder this game plays like an abomination: Sure having two heads SOUNDS better than having one, how easy would it be to drive a car?

Did you ever play Dragon’s Lair? You’d remember; it is infamous for being one of the most unpleasant gaming experiences ever created. The game was an interactive animated story. Press the right button at the right time and you lived, if not, you died. No game should be that frustrating. And at its worst moments, Alone in the Dark feels like Dragon’s Lair. Why else would Alone in the Dark offer a rare feature to skip to any chapter of the game at any time? It’s like they gamers are going to get mad, and this feature is their apology. Developer Eden Games knows they did wrong. They threw a hissy fit when reviewers gave the game bad scores, claiming the unkind words and lackluster scores reflect incomplete versions of the game… sounds more as if we struck a nerve.

Bom galera o Halloween já passou, muita gente já curtiu festas sobre esse tema que nada  tem a ver com nossa cultura, mas que sempre acaba se fazendo presente nos finais de Outubro principalmente por motivos comerciais.

Escrever sobre games de terror em épocas perto da comemoração do Halloween ou em uma sexta-feira 13 é bastante oportuno ou clichê. Mas aproveitei o embalo e também o fato de ter terminado a pouco tempo o excelente Silent Hill 3, para escrever um pouco sobre os games de terror, o gênero chamado “Survival Horror” que é composto por games que tem a intenção de assustar o jogador, assim como filmes já fazem a muito tempo.

Muitos gamers mais novos podem achar que o gênero de games  Survival Horror surgiu com o lançamento de Resident Evil em 1996. De fato  Resident Evil  foi um game que marcou, teve grande popularidade ajudou a definir um gênero de jogos. Porém o mundo dos games começou a explorar o tema “terror” desde o começo da década de 1980, ainda no Atari 2600, ou apenas Atari  nós brazucas.

A idéia desse especial é mostrar vários games que surgiram em diversas épocas  com objetivo dar sustos  e ao mesmo tempo entreter os jogadores. Então é hora conferir a primeira parte desse especial e encarar uma viagem por cemitérios,criptas,mansões esquecidas, cidades abandonadas e se preparar para encarar zumbis, vampiros , demônios e mais um monte de criaturas das sombras.

Produção: Wizard Games

Lançamento: 1983

Plataforma: Atari 2600

Pois é , embora os games de terror só tenham recebido uma classificação própria na geração 32 Bits ,  fato é que desde o Atari 2600, os fabricantes aproveitam para lançar games explorando esse segmento. Na minha pesquisa para esse especial , descobri coisas que nem esperava e uma delas é o game Haloween, lançado em 1983 para o Atari 2600, o jogo é baseado no filme homônimo de 1978, que tinha como destaque o assassino Michael Myers. O jogo foi produzido  pela Wizard Games, uma divisão da Wizard vídeo, empresa que possuía os direitos de distribuição em VHS das séries Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Massacre da Serra Elétrica) e Halloween.

Claro que com o crescimento da indústria de games e o Atari 2600 em alta, os  nossos amigos da Wizard Videos não poderiam deixar de capitalizar em cima do público que assistia aos filmes e o logo criaram um divisão da empresa para produzir jogos baseados nos filmes. Sim !  Mais de 20 anos atrás empresas já tentavam lançar games baseados em filmes e o resultados em geral  são como os de hoje,  games de medianos a ruins.

No jogo  você assume o controle de uma garota que trabalha como babá  e terá que salvar crianças que estão espalhadas pelas salas de uma casa, antes que nosso amigo serial killer Michael Myers acabe com elas. O game segue desta forma até que jogador perca todas as suas vidas, pois como vários games do Atari, a dificuldade aumentava e o game seguia infinitamente, assim como o clássico enduro.

Quando o jogador era pego, a garota tinha sua cabeça cortada e ficava com o corpo correndo e jorrando sangue (Sim a violência está nos games desde os primórdios!).

Por aqui o jogo foi chamado de Sexta- Feita 13(????????).  Não entendi como  colocaram o título dos filmes de Jason no game de  Michael Myers. Mas enfim, devido aos “incríveis gráficos” do game, não faria diferença se fosse Michael Mayers, Jason Voorhees, um carregador de mudanças ou qualquer mané de vestindo um macacão cinza.

Engraçado que mesmo nos Estados Unidos o game foi lançado de forma bastante sem vergonha, pois nem ao menos uma ilustração do game havia no cartucho, apenas havia  um papel escrito “Halloween” em um pilot cor de abóbora.  Mas sério a embalagem do game tão era safada  que parecia até aqueles DVDs/CDs que todo mundo já comprou no camelo pela grande oferta de 3 por R$ 10,00.

Porém havia também uma  versão que possuía capa, embora depois de muito analisar não conseguir entender  do que se trata a imagem na capa do game, se alguém tiver uma idéia pode falar.

Mas brincadeiras a parte, o game até que funcionava bem para época que foi lançado, tinha a inconfundível trilha sonora do filme e também por ter uma das primeiras cenas de violência da história dos games e explorar o tema terror.

Review do Angry Video Game Nerd

Sweet Home

Produção: Capcom

Lançamento: 1989

Plataforma: NES

Agora vamos falar do game que segundo Shinji Mikami, foi a fonte de inspiração para o projeto  Resident Evil, no game o jogador assume o controle de 5 personagens vão até a mansão de um famoso pintor para fazer um documentário  sobre sua vida e  suas obras de arte que permanecem no local, mas acabam sendo pegos pelo espírito da esposa do pintor e aí que começam os problemas para os personagens.

O game apresenta uma visão aérea  é possível escolher  entre vários personagens, cada um com uma habilidade distinta que ajudará o jogador a encarar as dificuldades do game , como a enfermeira que carrega kits médicos que ajudam a curar o seu time ou ainda a menina carrega uma chave especial que pode abrir diversas portas especiais, os combates são feitos por no estilo RPG, por turnos com o jogador podendo selecionar opções como atacar , defender e fugir.

Interessante as semelhanças entre Resident Evil e Sweet Home, o fato de ambos passarem em uma mansão no meio da floresta, aqueles “loads safados” disfarçados de cenas de portas abrindo. E  claro zumbis também aparecem nos dois games, interessante  ver como  a Capcom quase 10 anos após o lançamento de Sweet Home usou muitas influências desse game antigo em Resident Evil , que foi o game qual definiu e popularizou o gênero Survival Horror.

Sweet Home nunca foi lançado fora do Japão, por isso quase ninguém conheceu o game, ainda mais aqui no Brasil. Mas se tem curiosidade vale a pena pegar um emulador de NES, pois hoje não é difícil encontrar uma ROM de Sweet Home traduzida para inglês.

Dê uma olhada em como é o game

Sexta- Feira 13

Produção: Galoob

Lançamento:1988

Plataforma: NES

Se games baseados em filmes de terror estavam ficando populares nosso amigo Jason, o apreciador de grandes facas afiadas não poderia ficar de fora disso. Pois se Michel Myers tinha um game, porque o assassino de Cristal Lake também não teria um? Toda a ação do game acontece no acampamento do Lago Cristal, morada de Jason, onde o jogador deverá andar por diversos caminhos do parque para salvar seus amigos do afiado facão de Jason.

O game tem uma jogabilidade 2D, dividida duas partes,em  uma delas em que o jogador anda  por várias trilhas do acampamento do Parque Cristal  procurando chalés onde possa resgatar seus amigos de Jason. Essa parte lembra um pouco o clássico Ghosts and Ghouls, porém com gráficos mais coloridos. Já a outra parte da jogabilidade acontece  dentro dos chalés onde a visão muda para as costas do personagem e o jogador resolve pequenos quebra cabeças antes de enfrentar Jason.  O jogo foi considerado por muita gente na época bem difícil, destaque para as aparições extremamente apelonas do Jason que muitas vezes surgia de repente e com uma velocidade 10 vezes maior que a de seu personagem.

Video

Nightmare on Elm Street

Produção: Rare

Lançamento:1990

Plataforma: NES

Nightmare on Elm Street é o título original de  “A Hora do Pesadelo”, série de filmes criada por Wes Craven, que tem como vilão e principal personagem o  vilão Freddy Krueger, imortalizado pelo ator Robert Englund.

Bom, se Michel Myers e Jason Voorhees tinham seus jogos,obviamente  Freddy Krueger como ícone de filmes de terror da década de 80 também deveria  também deveria ter o seu.

O game colocava o jogador na pele de um jovem que deve  encarar Freddy, para sair do pesadelo . O game tem a jogabilidade voltada para o gênero plataforma e ação porque é necessário ser bastante preciso nos pulos, principalmente para recolher os itens que muitas vezes ficam em lugares difíceis de alcançar e para terminar as fases era necessário coletar todos os ossos de Freddy espalhados pelo local. No início você conta apenas com socos para encarar  inimigos como aranhas gigantes, ratos, morcegos, esqueletos e zumbis , mas com o passar do game o jogador pode conseguir power ups que podem transformar seu personagem em feiticeiro ou ninja para tentar facilitar as coisas.

Nightmare on Elm Street mostrou alguns conceitos interessantes como em fases dentro das casas do rua Elm onde se sua energia , chegasse a zero o game iniciava o modo pesadelo, onde os inimigos mudavam e a fase ficava bem mais difícil, tudo bem que algo semelhante já havia sido feito em Castlevania II: Simons Crest, outra característica interessante era o fato de até 4 pessoas poderem participar das partidas.  O game tem alguns problemas principalmente ligados a falta de precisão nos saltos e poder muito ruin de encarar os inimigos sem os Power ups.  Mas caso tenha um emulador de NES no seu PC vale a pena dar uma conferida no game e encarar mais um pesadelo de Freddy.

Video

Alone in the Dark

Produção: Infogrames (Atualmente Atari)

Lançamento 1992

Plataformas: PC , MAC , 3DO

O primeiro game desta série é considerado o pioneiro do gênero survival horror por ter características como cenários pintados e personagens em gerados em 3D. Ok os personagens eram feios pra caramba, mas lembrem-se, estávamos em 1992 com PCs 386/486, então isso pode ser considerado um grande feito.

A história conta que Jeremy Hartwood cometeu suicídio na Mansão Decerto na Louisiana, você assume o controle de Edward Carnby, um detetive particular e Emily Hartwood , sobrinha de Jeremy , para tentar descobrir o que aconteceu  e desvendar os mistérios do local. Durante o game vários elementos  que se tornaram populares com Resident Evil e viraram padrão estão lá, como criaturas quebrando janelas, inimigos surgindo de repente, itens encontrados em um lugar e utilizados em outro lugar distante, câmeras colocadas em lugares estratégicos, além da parte sonora que funcionava muito bem, colocando músicas tensas nos momentos onde surgiam as criaturas.

Primeiro Alone in the Dark era baseado nos livros do escritor H.P Lovecraft e ainda teve duas continuações produzidas pela mesma equipe da Infogrames Alone in the Dark 2 que embora tivesse gráficos melhores,  não foi muito bem recebido pela crítica e por jogadores por causa de seus problemas de jogabilidade, principalmente com o sistemas de câmeras ruin.  Já Alone in the Dark 3 manteve os mesmo gráficos, porém com o game mais fluído e com mais velocidade, mas com poucas inovações apenas repetindo o que já havia sido feito nos episódios anteriores da série.

Alone in the Dark mais tarde ainda teve o episódio The New Nightmare lançado para PS1 e PS2 e uma nova versão chamada apenas Alone in the Dark, que foi lançada para PS3, X360 e PC, mas falarei dessas versões em outra oportunidade.

Vídeo

Isso aê , essa foi a primeira parte do especial galera, espero que tenham curtido e podem postar pra dizer o que acharam,  até a próxima.

     IGN recently published a reflective article on the history of survival horror for Halloween. This is a very sensitive subject to me, being a fan of the survival horror genre of video games. Truth be told, this storytelling medium for horror is a sad story at best. A point I would like to make is how survival horror has become something else entirely. Some call retro games such as Sweet Home or Zombies Ate My Neighbors the first survival horror games, but I’m not so quick to include them in this already limited subgenre of titles. Survival horror, as I see it, began with three prominent series of the 90’s. These were Alone in the Dark, Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Alone in the Dark came first, and opened the doors for japanese developer Capcom to create its zombie infested Resident Evil series. Next, came Silent Hill 1& 2– the latter of which introduced gamers to pyramid head– the most feared and recognizable villain in survival horror.

     What needs to be said is that each of these classic series is still living in one form or another today. Sadly, none are what they once were. Some, you could say, are zombies themselves. Neither living nor completely dead. One of them is Alone in the Dark. The last title attempted a reboot of the series, which had mixed reviews and less than pleasing sales. While it presented a number of innovative features such as inventory use and management and cinematic style, it fell on its face due to clumsy controls and a bland story. Resident Evil is kicking and has become a lucrative action series, but purists point out that it is no longer survival horror. While Resident Evil 4 and 5, the most recent flagship titles in the series have been of excellent quality, they have completely traded frights for thrills. Scares have been traded out in favor of explosions and ammo is plentiful. Silent Hill, which always prefered overwhelming dread, oppression, and psychological torment over jumps, has at least attempted to keep to its roots. Unfortunately, none in this series have been very good since the third game, and even it couldn’t hold a candle to its predecessor.

     So what is the point of this sob story? Well, I think it has a lot to say about western audiences. Most of the argument against pop culture revolves around it being a steady decline into entertaining the simplest facets of the human mind. It’s difficult to not see the possibility of truth in this. Of the three founding fathers of survival horror, two have attempted to stay on path, and have become less successful, both critically and with the masses. Resident Evil strayed far from the path into the realm of action and has become very successful. Sure, I will admit that the last two Resident Evil games have been great, number 4 was possibly one of the greatest games of all time, but at what cost?

    Does this show that we don’t care about atmosphere anymore? I would hate to think so. Even amongst these issues, hope remains. More recent games such as Dead Space and Siren: Blood Curse have offered satisfactory frights for gamers. Sadly, many survival horror enthusiasts, me included, believe that this genre is knocking on death’s door. Perhaps this genre will never truly return to its roots, but we still have hope that it will carry on in one form or another. And of course, we always have the memories…

IGN Presents the History of Survival Horror: http://retro.ign.com/articles/104/1040759p1.html

     For further reading, consult this list of some of my favorite horror games past to present:

Silent Hill 1-3, Resident Evil 1-3, Penumbra, F.E.A.R., Resident Evil 4 & 5*, Dead Space, Condemned 1& 2, Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, STALKER, Siren: Blood Curse, System Shock 1 & 2, and Left 4 Dead*

                                               * Not really survival horror, but great action horror games.

     My favorite of all time is Silent Hill 2. I could tell you why I think it’s great, but Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw is better with words. So if you’d like, watch his video review here:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/878-Silent-Hill-2

In honor of Halloween, the scariest games(s) that I have ever played. I by no means have played every survival horror game out there but I have played a few. I still haven’t put dead space in and that seems to be on a lot of peoples lists. Another next gen game that should probably be on here is FEAR. I watched by boyfriend play the whole thing, but I didn’t play it thus it’s not on this list.

#1. The Silent Hill series. I had Silent Hill for the original Playstation, and I was seriously scared to play it. I think the game was a little above my skill level so that didn’t make it any better. I would only try and play the game during the day, but since everything was dark in the game and the sun was blaring through the window, I couldn’t really see anything lol. I eventually gave it to one of my older cousins who played video games because I just couldn’t handle it!!! (I was like 11 BTW). Now I can appreciate the story and I love the whole concept behind the game. The movie wasn’t half bad either. I haven’t played the new one though.

#2. Alone In The Dark: The New Nightmare. I also had this game for the original Playstation. I don’t remember a whole lot about the game since I never got very far. I remember falling out a helicopter or something like that and landing near a mansion. A scary mansion of course. You have to find your way into the mansion, which is completely dark. The only light you have is flashlight or random areas in the mansion that are illuminated by candles or oil lamps. Needless to say I could never survive the pitch black areas with creatures attacking me. I also gave this game away.

#3. Condemned Criminal Origins. I played this game in 2006 during the period where I had no job and hadn’t started college yet. I played  a lot of video games during that summer. I finished the game, and I loved it. I just recently bought the second installment for PS3. I liked it because it wasn’t just a zombie horde or hack and slash game. The crazy drug induced reality flashes and flickering lights took it to a new level. There was a decent story. The scariest part of the game for me was the department store level. You have to walk through the store and to your surprise not all of the mannequins are actually mannequins. Some of them spring to life just a little too late for your to be prepared. It is awesome and probably one of the few time during my gaming career that my heart was really pumping.

Às vezes temos uma e nem notamos…

Aatos Beck © 21-10-2009

1.

2.

3.

There are many questions in life that you want to be heard.

1. If you are left in the dark while needing the sun so badly to grow.
2. Feels like life starts to seem like a bubble that could burst at any second.
3. The coffee that you consume starts to show hearts just to keep yourself awake.

4.

Or coming back to an older story “Alone in the Dark”

4. When you feel you are left Alone in the Dark, Alone to solve the problems.
(Soon I will make a Video-clip for whome concerned to watch)

Aatos Beck © 20-10-2009 & Alone in the Dark by Aatos Beck © 27-11-2008

Game: Alone in the Dark
Platform: Xbox 360
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Eden Studios
Genre: Horror/Action-Adventure
Release Date: June 23, 2008
Overall Score: 3 out of 5/OCD Factor Score: 2.5 out of 5

This isn’t your dad’s Alone in the Dark. The fifth game in the survival-horror series takes a decidedly more action oriented approach then has been seen before in the series, leaving behind spooky mansions and underworld lairs with puzzles around every corner for an open-world, ‘shoot it if it moves’, locale. Once again, players control Edward Carnby, the supernatural detective from the first three games, who somehow is still alive and well after 100 years. With no memory of who he is, players must determine his story as the game progresses. I’ve never seen a game with so many innovative ideas all in one package. This game has everything from a MacGyver-inspired inventory combination system to a DVD-inspired chapter selection option. Unfortunately, loading up on things which could potentially be awesome doesn’t make a game awesome. Alone in the Dark suffers because it tries to do too much and doesn’t really do anything well. At times I was equally floored by the amazing elements of this game, and by the frustration of struggling to reach my goals when the game seemed against me.

Story: First of all, kudos to the developers for making an attempt to connect Carnby to the previous games. If you are going to use the same protagonist as the earlier games, it is only right to assume at least some of your audience is going to realize this and to make an effort to logically unite the games *ehem New Nightmare ehem*. That’s not to say the story is the best thing in this game. It begins with Carnby waking up to men discussing his impending death, and no memory of who these people are or even who he is. While tackling epic elements like the return of Lucifer and the suicide of a friend, it adds elements seemingly written by a teenage boy. Carnby manages to fall for the girl he spends a few hours of his night with, all the while cursing like a sailor. And I thought I had a foul mouth. Every other word is fuck, and while it obviously didn’t offend me, it was overkill. The game has two different endings depending on a choice you make at the end of the game. Neither of these makes much sense except to set up the game for a sequel, explanations be damned. Still, not the worst aspect of the game.

Sound: I find spooky choral music is often underused in games, but Alone in the Dark is chock full of it and that is a good thing. Nothing enhances a creepy, return of Lucifer plot like a choir singing minor key tunes. This may read like sarcasm but its not. It really was one of my favorite soundtracks in a long time. I added it to my Amazon wish list, so someone please send me a gift; hint, hint. The rest of the sound is good too. The voice acting is high quality and the sound effects do their job nicely. Fire crackles and gears whine adding a nice ambiance to the game.

Graphics: The game certainly looks like it belongs on the current generation of consoles. Beautiful fire effects and a foggy Central Park are highlights of the great graphics this game possesses. Character models look great even if there are too few enemy designs resulting in some repetitive fights. The game goes for a cinematic feel with wide shots and stunning explosions. From the opening chapter with a building slowly collapsing around Carnby, its apparent how much work went into the graphics and into making the game look the best possible. Cars are shot into the air, helicopters crash, and subway cars plummet from great heights, all the while showcasing the power of this graphics engine. Even the health system takes advantage of the graphics. Every time Edward is injured this shows on your character; players must enter a healing mode to bandage and spray their wounds which heal up into scars. Central Park is recreated in stunning detail. Fountains, statues, and buildings all sparsely illuminated and wreathed in fog, are rendered in great detail, lending an authenticity to the action. Its an easy world to get immersed in. Fire, which plays an important part in the plot of this game, looks amazing. One of the best effects in the game, every Molotov cocktail exploded, door turned to ash, and path blocked by an inferno looks as good as the last. All the attention this game garnered because of its fire effects has been well deserved.

Controls and Gameplay: Arg! Glitchy, glitchy, glitchy! That about sums up the frustration and yells, minus the profanity I mixed in, which peppered my play through of the game. There is no excuse for having to pause and let a section of game load properly so as not to have to redo the first driving portion for the umpteenth time. This is just one example of the glitches I encountered. One whole wave of enemies, including a cut-scene, never loaded for me. I saw it in a recap section. Ignoring the glitches, the game had quite a few interesting ideas. A DVD-style menu allows players, once a set number of sections has been played, to skip forward or backward to other chapters and sections of the game. This was great for finishing up achievements or if a player did not have the patience to fight a glitchy section. Another one of my favorite ideas this game implemented was the recap. When a game is loaded the player is greeted by a narrator’s voice saying, “Previously on Alone in the Dark,” and then treated to a recap of the important story points up to where the player has progressed. I wish more games did this. I don’t always get the chance to play a game everyday, especially now that I’m a mother, so this really helped me keep track of what was going on and reminded me of plot points I had uncovered. The game also allows the player to switch between first and third person view whenever the player wants. In theory this is a good idea, in practice the third person controls are abysmal. It felt like I was controlling a poorly constructed marionette. I don’t care for first person views, they tend to make me nauseous on the current gen consoles, but I was forced to spend lots of time in it to have enough control to progress. I haven’t even covered the worst part of the game. In my opinion, that was the inventory system. Edward stores items in his jacket, limiting the number of things which can be carried, and accessing your inventory does not pause the game, meaning you can be pummeled as you clumsily try and highlight the item you need. Shortcuts can be made for up to four combinations of items and this is an absolute necessity. I am an inventory junky; I like to constantly check my supply of things and without the game pausing this was a highly dangerous activity. Also, I liked the idea of limited space, it was more realistic, until I realized stupid things like a lighter took up a space. Oh and my favorite, a box of freakin’ batteries. Your flashlight will run out of batteries, hope you kept one of the few spots available in your jacket filled with them. It became a constant headache trying to keep a good selection of items for use on my person. It completely defeated the great item combination system the game had as I found a few things which worked for my gameplay style and rarely experimented with other combinations because I simply did not have the space necessary to keep different items I was not positive would be 100 percent useful in taking out enemies.

OCD Factor: It seems rare for a horror title to offer much in the way of extra content, but Alone in the Dark does try. To progress in the game, players must burn a portion of roots found around Central Park in order to raise their spectral vision to a high enough level to continue. It only needs to be raised to a certain point but there are enough roots to max it out and it does give the player an advantage to have done so. Players can now see weak spots on enemies for a much longer time. Its not necessary to destroy all the roots to beat the game, but it is fun. Some roots have unique challenges involved in finding ways to destroy them and most are well protected. It was a nice diversion and gave the game an added bonus. This is the review of the Xbox 360 version so players get the added OCD fun of achievements. They are all pretty straight forward, but I still had to go back after finishing the game to get a few of them. Handyman Carnby in particular stumped me for a bit. This was actually my first 1000/1000 game. I love the fact achievements make me feel like I did something extra and got a bit more out of a game than I would have without them.

Score: Its painful to watch a game with so much potential fail in the execution. Poor control and glitchy AI made what could have been a great game only average. Alone in the Dark tried to do too much and didn’t do anything well. I’ll give it a 3 out of 5, and it barely got that. I like the concepts this game lays out more than the actual game. Still, I had fun figuring out some puzzles and felt a sense of accomplishment after burning all the roots and getting all the achievements, which is why for the OCD Factor it gets a 2.5 out of 5. There isn’t much here except the achievements and roots for collectors, but they were a nice addition.

Alone in the dark (original)(pc/Abandonware)

I’m not sure and i may be corrected on this later but i do believe Alone In the Dark was the first real survival horror game out there.

This game … gah. I love it. I have so many cherished memories of this title.

Back one i first saw it on a friends machine, him punching the execution text into dos and then it began.

Infograms it said. How i remember the company logo changing into 3d for the first time with the crack of lightning.

The problem with all this, even going back and playing that game less than a week ago. Is …

The graphics are REALLY bad. Almost so bad its hard to get over. Yet if you can get over it be prepared for one of the best Horror games i have the pleasure talking about.

I realised that during my short hand review of Silent hill 2. I don’t like reviewing horror games. I think this is because (i feel ) horror games are special and that if they are overly discussed or drawn out then you lose something, the player shouldn’t be given any hints about the story, or screen shots where you can see the bad guys because is think part of the brain remembers those little things and tries to protect you.

So that when you’re playing the game and suddenly walk down a corridor you’ve seen before you’ll also remember that in the screenshot you saw earlier there was also a monster here…so even now you are prepared although you’ve never played it.

So ok i know it’ll never happen because game sales are made up on marketing and good marketing is displaying ‘whats inside the tin’ with screen shots with dramatic emphasis or peril. Nobody really played Resident Evil the first time and thought i wonder what this game is about. No everyone had the gun prepare from the first time that zombie stood up (in the room next to the big dining room, which is left as you enter the mansion. Yes i remember alot of survival maps in my head).

So i know alot of people have heard about alone in the dark new nightmare, or of the ps3/pc/360  release that was recently released (and butchered and butchered…i hope the people that decided this game is ready to be released are hanged in a slow roasting fire) but forget them. In my opinion they may stil be perfecting the craft of making a new horror title (one that ALAN WAKE has managed to do on the first try it seems…whats you excuse ATARI…. huh …HUH!)

So take these piece of information three.

1)Play this game. there is loads of site to download it for free

2)Try to forget how really bad the graphics are

3) save often…

I mean number three alot. Alone in the dark was one of the first games i can recall to be very ruthless. If you try to be smart or obvious…the game is just going to kill you without thinking twice about it. This can happen as early as the first Three minutes of gameplay making for a very tense atmosphere.

Shorthand

Still one of the best H.P Lovecraft inspired Cthulhu-esc survival horrors out there.

Crap graphics, deadly gameplay…one of my own favourites

Recommendation for gameplay.

Surround sound headphones.

Game: Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
Platform: Dreamcast
Publisher: Infogrames
Developer: Darkworks
Genre: Horror/Action-Adventure
Release Date: September 24, 2001
Overall Score: 2 out of 5/OCD Factor Score: 1 out of 5

The fourth installment of the AITD series is a complete re-invention of the series. Basically disregarding the plots of the former games, this title places paranormal investigator  Edward Carnby firmly in the present day as a much younger and hipper character than the aging gentleman of the previous entries. For the first time the series finally gets graphics which match the caliber of the story. Players have two separate character campaigns to play through, and while their stories intersect and they interact with each other, their experiences are completely different. Besides controlling the new Edward Carnby, players can also choose to control Aline Cedrac, an anthropologist investigating more than she lets on. Combat is a much more important aspect of this game then it has been before in the series. This title, while heavy on the horror, feels more like a typical survival-horror clone than a part of the classic series. The game takes major strides in the right direction, but for every two steps forward in one area, its one step back in another.

Story: I’m torn on this aspect of the game. On the one hand, the plot is quite good. It incorporates two separate characters and their motivations nicely, it has all the creepiness one could expect in a horror title, and it does a decent job of explaining itself through out the game. The story surrounds the Morton family, a reclusive clan, who, having purchased a remote island from the government a few generations back,  have been conducting experiments in an attempt to harness the power of the world of darkness, found by an ancient Indian tribe thousands of years ago. Each generation of Mortons seems to dip deeper into insanity; hideous experiments are preformed in the hopes of fusing darkness creatures with humans, incredible weapons are invented to combat the darkness, and elaborate Indian rituals are undertaken. Edward is there to find his missing friend and ultimately to seal off the world of darkness, while Aline is present in order to translate the Indian tablets found on the island and also to discover if Obed Morton is her long lost father. On the other hand, I dislike that the developers made no attempt to tie this game to the rest of the series. Yes, it might be difficult to connect a modern Carnby with the Carnby from the twenties of the previous games, but it can be done (see AITD 5). Carnby’s back story is the weakest element of an otherwise good story. Raised in an orphanage for some nefarious purpose and part of a shadowy government agency for a time, none of these elements are explained well enough for one to get a good understanding of them. Not knowing doesn’t affect the game, so why mention them at all? Most of the information about the Mortons is passed along to the player through books and documents, while information about Aline and Edward is conveyed through cut-scenes and between walkie-talkie conversations the two of them have.

Sound: An exercise in average, the sound does its job by being unobtrusive and creating a spooky atmosphere, but nothing stands out as amazing. Its quality overall is good, however, nothing is going to stick in your head and have you humming it for days. One aspect I did enjoy was the sound effects. It adds to the creepiness of the game to be able to hear your character’s footsteps and not much else. Also, the monsters make distinctive sounds, making it easy to tell when you need to approach an area with caution. The voice acting was acceptable as well. I’ve heard better, but then again, I’ve heard much worse.

Graphics: After three games, the series finally gets the graphical treatment it deserves. Playing the Dreamcast version of the game, I got to experience the very best graphics this game had to offer. The pre-rendered backgrounds look amazing and the characters look good enough to fit right in. The only complaint I have about the background is that sometimes it can be difficult to find objects. This is combated by having items glow blue when your flashlight passes over them, but sometimes this did not work or even though you could see an object the background made it almost impossible to pick up. By far the best graphical attribute is the character models. Far too long this series had suffered with monsters who gave more giggles than scares. From weird, faceless hybrid-human experiment victims, all the way to scorpion-like Night Rippers, this game has a great selection of monsters, each with its own unique look. Through out the game, certain camera angles take full advantage of the graphics, giving even player controlled moments a cinematic cut-scene feel. The only complaint I had was the fact that sometimes it was just too dark. I understand it adds mood and the player has a flashlight, but sometimes it was overkill as I stumbled around taking the same path in a giant circle quite a few times. Of the images I have seen on the internet, this didn’t seem to be a problem. Because of this, I don’t blame the developers; it could easily be a consequence of playing my Dreamcast on an LCD TV with nothing better than A/V cables. Just be aware it can be an issue.

Controls and Gameplay: This game is hard. Limited ammo, limited saving, very sparse healing items, and monsters which re-spawn make this game an exercise in patience. While so much has been improved in the series, New Nightmare doggedly sticks with the same movement controls, making gameplay that much more challenging. There is a targeting system, which makes killing things much easier, but the re-spawn rate in some areas, coupled with the limited ammo, takes any advantage the targeting system gives the player away  from them. There was one point in the game where I had to kill two hounds of Tindalos blocking my exit, not a difficult task. They literally re-spawned as the bodies of the dead were disappearing. I ended up having to push my way past them and take the damage it caused me. This was probably a glitch and it wasn’t the only one I encountered. When I was playing as Edward I didn’t have a problem, but during my Aline play through the game froze, bugged out after a cut-scene, and I ended up walking through a few rocks. Maybe the developers thought Carnby’s campaign would be more popular. Even with a few bugs, it was nice to have two different, yet intertwined stories  to play through. I would suggest playing through Edward’s story first; it is a little longer and a little more combat based than puzzle oriented, however, ammo is much more plentiful, making things a little less stressful. Aline has more puzzles to solve, and even her boss fights require more than ‘aim and shoot with your most powerful gun’. Players can’t take many hits in this game and be warned; when your health bar turns red its going to take two of your limited first aid kits to heal you up. Saving in New Nightmare cannot be done without a specific item and there are no checkpoint saves. The charms of saving are not as rare later in the game as they are in the beginning. Still, don’t save until you find another one and don’t bother to save until you are entering a new room, otherwise, you wasted any work you did as the save file starts as if you just entered the room in which you saved.

OCD Factor: The addition of an entirely different story to play through is really the only thing this game has going for it in terms of extras. I’ve seen it argued this adds to the replayabilty of the game, but since the campaigns play differently and take different paths through to the end, it really just seems to be the other half of the game, not really a bonus. Aline’s story is much too short to be a stand alone game, and while Edward’s took me a while (about 15 hours) this probably wasn’t the norm. With limited resources I tend to be a bit paranoid, restarting areas just to use the bare minimum. There is quite a bit of reading in this game as, like the rest of the series, books and documents hold many keys to the plot. They also hold many keys to the puzzles, ensuring this also isn’t something optional. With no difficulty settings what you see is what you get. The OCD factor is non-existent.

Score: While it does look much better and has a good story, New Nightmare seems to forget it is the fourth game in a well-established series. I wanted growth; not a clone of the other horror titles out there. Difficulty is good; soul-crushing re-spawns and limited bullets is not, especially in a game requiring exploration. I wanted to like this game way more than I actually did, so I’m giving it a 2 out of 5. It has some awesome qualities, but too often I forced myself to sit down and play. As far as an OCD score goes I’ll give it a 1 out of 5 and that is generous. I suppose they didn’t have to give us Aline’s play through.

Que lejos queda aquel Alone in the Dark de 1992 y como hemos crecido la mayoría de nosotros ¿verdad?

Edward Carnby y Emily Hartwood eran los protagonistas del primer Alone in the Dark que iniciaba una saga tan longeva que hoy en día aun sigue dando beneficios.

Pero el motivo de esta entrada, y como ya habréis apreciado por el titulo, no es de analizar en profundidad esta saga sino ofreceros unos minutos musicales para vuestro goce y disfrute.

La canción que ocupa nuestra entrada de hoy es el tema de Edward Carnby de la BSO original de Alone in the Dark.

Empecemos con el tema original que pertenece a  Oliver DeRiviere

Pero la canción a destacar el remix que DJ Tiësto ha hecho del tema (aquí sale a la luz mi faceta oculta de DJ y si os gusta el post ya buscaré mas remixes de interés )

Espero que os haya alegrado los oidos aunque solo sea por un momento, si queréis mas, podemos convertir este post en una sección fija

Imagen: Gamespot

Vídeos: Youtube – Youtube

Game: Alone in the Dark 3
Platform: PC
Publisher: I Motion
Developer: Infogrames
Genre: Survival-Horror/Adventure
Release Date: March 16, 1995
Overall Score: 2 out of 5/OCD Factor Score: 1 out of 5

Edward Carnby is back again in this third entry of the Alone in the Dark series. Thrust  into the world of a wild-west movie set, Carnby must again fight off the forces of darkness. The game play hasn’t grown, the graphics haven’t improved, and the controls are still the same awful mess. To be fair, I had a ton of issues with control in this game, apparently due to some nasty bugs when playing it in Windows XP. For anyone looking to pick this game up and play it on a current PC, to run you must hold down the forward arrow, escape to the menu, let go of the button, then re-press it and escape back to the game. Poof! Now you are running. And oh yes, you have to run at a few points in the game. That was just one of the many tricks I employed to finish this game.

Story: Carnby is tasked with saving Emily Hartwood, the niece of Derceto’s owner from the first game, who has disappeared along with the rest of the cast of a movie she was working on in the desert. This places Carnby on a wild-west themed movie set, in a ghost town in the desert, which is being terrorized by Jed Stone, a supernatural cowboy of some sort, bent on using the mineral he mined from the town, which causes mutations, for some sort of weird world-domination plan. I think. The story is never fully explained. Its mostly passed along through songs, old documents, and old video. The cowboys you fight are zombies and when killed they turn into  black cats before dissipating. I was never able to discern why. Also, I’m not a fan of the Western setting. It seems silly, but not in an entertaining way, more of a ‘this seems vaguely trendy’ way. Along the way, Carnby ends up finding a treasure, blowing up a train station, dying, and being re-incarnated. None of it could be described as horror, unless not having a clue what is going on story-wise is terrifying.

Sound: Not much to say here. There was a slightly memorable theme which played as Carnby explored the town. It was one of the only decent pieces I can recall. The music on the player pianos, which told story elements, was annoying. Once again I couldn’t tell you if there was any voice work or sound effects, as I could not get the computer to turn on any sound except the music.

Graphics: The graphics seem to not have improved at all since the first game. The  backgrounds are passable while the character models still look like a tower of polygons. It blows my mind that nothing would have been done by the third game to try and improve the look of the characters. Carnby still has his weird triangle shaped hands and square upper body, while the pre-rendered backgrounds look lovely. Its a shame to have one part of the graphics be so terrible. I’m a big believer in graphics not making a game, but by the third installment in a successful series, some amount of improvement is to be expected. It doesn’t have to be earth-shattering, but try and give the man some discernable fingers.

Controls and Gameplay: Yet again the developers defy any expectation of innovation and stick to the same menu based action and inventory system along with the Resident Evil style control scheme (side note: I realize these games came first meaning RE got the controls from them, but this set up is commonly referred to as RE style of control due to the fact it is a more well known series). One thing which seems to be fixed is the level of difficulty in combat. That’s not to say combat is easy. Shooting is still difficult, and sometimes monsters are able to ignore your melee hits. One of the worst fights in the game is with Li Tung near the end. He is able to continue to leap as he is shot, making it nearly impossible on the harder difficulty settings to kill him before he kills you. The AI felt very hit or miss, sometimes, standing still and letting you beat them to a pulp and sometimes magically dodging every blow. You can, however, tell that an effort has been made to make the combat less daunting. The puzzles in this game are similar to the ones in the previous games; use a found item in a certain place. A few stand out as innovative, but most are obvious. One of the more annoying aspects of the game is the section in which Carnby is a cougar. This timed section feels out of place in a game in which exploration and puzzle solving plays such a big role. There are puzzles to figure out in this form, but do it quick; on the hardest difficulty setting you barely have time to do the correct actions much less figure them out. I don’t want to complain too much about the control since I realize many of the issues I had are due to playing the game on a system it was never intended to be played on, but it obviously had issues beyond that.

OCD Factor: By this point in the series I have come to realize these are not the type of games which are going to bring the OCD person a lot of extra joy. Once again the story is primarily told through documents, books, and, new to the series, song. It is substantially less significant in this game though. Maybe less to pick up and read means more of the audience will actually pick up and read what the developers wanted them to in the first place, but probably not. It just leaves those of us who do take the time and effort to read things like this with less extras and less of a plot. The game does have three difficulty settings: easy, normal, and hard. I played through each one and yet  again all this changes is Carnby’s starting health and the health of the enemies. Oh, and it reduces the timer to a ridiculously low number during the cougar transformation. By the hardest difficulty play through I knew right where to go and what to do and I still had to give it quite a few tries as I was seconds away from completing it on time. The first play through took me between 7 and 10 hours to complete. The second two probably less than 5 hours. I find it amusing the back of the box boasts of over 70 hours of gameplay. I suppose if I left the game running and went to bed only to finish it the next morning on each play through I might come close to 70 hours. I take that back, I still wouldn’t.

Score: My least favorite in the entire series, I would give it a 2 out of 5. This game lacks a coherent plot and even though it is the third in a series it shows no innovation what so ever. This wouldn’t be a bad thing if the game hadn’t had such obvious areas of needed improvement like controls and graphics. Its still mildly enjoyable, but only mildly. I wouldn’t recommend this game unless you are a true fan of the series, or, like me you simply must play through the entire series if you are going to play even one of its games. And if you are OCD like me be prepared; less books to read then the rest of the series and three difficulty levels make this a 1 out 5 on the OCD factor scale for me.

Game: Alone in the Dark: One-Eyed Jack’s Revenge
Platform: Playstation
Publisher: THQ
Developer: I Motion
Genre: Survival-Horror/Adventure
Release Date: August 1996
Overall Score: 3 out of 5/OCD Factor Score: 1.5 out of 5

This sequel to the PC game, Alone in the Dark, places players back in control of Edward Carnby as he attempts to rescue a missing little girl, Grace Saunders. In fact, players will even get a chance to control her in this quirky title. From what I have read, this game  seems to be universally viewed as the worst in the AITD series. Interestingly enough, I found it to be one of my favorites, and perhaps my top pick of the older titles in the series. It isn’t an easy game, the controls are horrible, and the graphics still aren’t anything great, but it does have its good points. This game has two of my favorite things: pirates and Tommy guns. It has zombie pirates shooting Tommy guns. Oh, and the puzzles are great in this one too. But did I mention the pirates shooting Tommy guns?!

Story: A bit of a convoluted mess, the story has Edward searching for his friend, Ted Striker, who was in turn searching for a missing child, Grace Saunders. A letter from Ted points him to Hell’s Kitchen in California a hillside mansion inhabited by pirates,  who now live as 1920’s bootleggers, that have apparently kidnapped Grace in order to complete a voodoo ceremony allowing them to keep the immortality they achieved a few hundred years ago. Like the first game, most of the story is pieced together from letters and books found through out the mansion and the surrounding areas.

Sound: There isn’t anything especially mind blowing in the soundtrack, except for the music which plays when the player controls Grace. This theme was stuck in my head for days, but in a good way. Upbeat and catchy, it seems to meld perfectly with the character’s tiny skips she uses to move. This version has voice-over work for all of the materials found and the cut scenes. Oh the hilarity. I truly hope the voice actors were going for the over-the-top approach because this is what they achieved. Jack in particular had me laughing out loud at the screen. While it could have distracted from the game, I found it added to my experience. The comical sound complemented the nonsensical story.

Graphics: While improved over the last game, these still aren’t jaw-droppingly gorgeous or anything. I will give credit though, the backgrounds look great for a playstation game. The character models, eh, not so much. I know some folks expect their games to be pristine things of beauty but, personally, it doesn’t bother me too much, except when I am trying to aim a weapon and I can’t really tell exactly where my arm is pointing. Most importantly to me, the developer did away with the weird color scheme of the previous game. One thing that surprised me was the fact thar the graphical quality of the cut scenes wasn’t really any better than the rest of the game.

Controls and Gameplay: When I first began playing this game there was quite a bit of cursing at the television and for a minute I almost forgot I was too old to throw a  controller in frustration. This was on easy mode. The Resident Evil control scheme the game utilizes makes aiming with a firearm almost impossible. The game has no targeting system and if you are even a millimeter off bullets sail by their intended targets. I swear bullets were grazing ears. Fortunately the game seems to get the difficult part out of the way quickly, because after you switch to controlling Grace you have no combat, it must be avoided. I actually wished her part was longer. Some of the puzzles with her were amazing. Toy cannons filled with pepper, ice on the floor to trip up guards, ingenious! That’s not to say the puzzles encountered with Edward weren’t amazing as well. They were thought provoking too, just not as whimsical (with the notable exception being the Santa suit. Very whimsical indeed!). Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) the game is supposed to be a survival-horror adventure title. I think some one forgot to code the horror part. While it takes you through a spooky mansion, its outlying areas, and an ancient pirate ship, nothing is even remotely scary. The voodoo priestess is the closest thing to evil in the game and she ends up scared of a chicken bone. The whole game comes across as campy and fun, not quite the heart pounding reaction I think the developers wanted. The game does stay true to the original in the fact it uses the same ridiculous menu interface to swap between actions. I might tolerate this on the PC, but not on a console with a controller full of unutilized buttons. As with the previous entry, save often, sketchy controls will be the death of you more often then an actual mistake on your part.

OCD Factor: This game also utilizes the book and document method of passing along the story and giving pertinent clues to solving some of the puzzles and how to defeat certain enemies. These materials are optional reading, but finding them doesn’t really seem to be, as they are not exactly hidden, most often they are laying in plain sight. I read through them all and they did add a lot to the game, but it isn’t necessary to complete the game. Unlike the first game, this one did include three difficulty settings: easy, normal, and hard. I played through each one and besides the enemies taking more hits to kill and your character starting off with a little less life, I could tell no difference. Easy was the hardest mode for me. I played through the game on this setting first and the controls and aiming were extremely hard to master. After managing that, even hard was a breeze. The first run through of the game took me between 10-15 hours to complete. Many times I had to redo sections because of forgetting to save then being cornered by an enemy and unable aim at him properly. The next 2 play-throughs were both well under 10 hours.

Score: As unpopular as this game was, I would still give it a 3 out 5. Yes its the same score I gave its predecessor and, yes, I like this one better, but they excel at different things. This is a quirky, fun puzzler which suffers from poor controls, yet not so much as to make the game unenjoyable; you can learn them. I think this was a bad move for the series if it wanted to be seen as a survival-horror series, but judging the game on its own merits and not as a sequel, I liked it, maybe not enough to play through it again (3 times is enough) but enough to recommend it if someone found it for cheap in a bargain bin. Be warned: its like a bad B movie, at some points its good because it is sooo bad. As far as OCD factors go, it did give multiple books to read and 3 different difficulty settings to try your hand at, but the books aren’t a lot and the difficulty settings don’t change much. I’d give it 1.5 out of 5. Look to other games if you want to collect things or explore things beyond the main campaign.

This is freaking HILARIOUS!

]]> http://ocdgamer.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/alone-in-the-dark-pc/ Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:32:15 +0000 androidcookie http://ocdgamer.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/alone-in-the-dark-pc/

Game: Alone in the Dark
Platform: PC
Publisher: Interplay
Developer: Infogrames
Genre: Survival-Horror/Adventure
Release Date: 1992
Overall Score: 3 out 5/OCD Factor Score: 1 out of 5

Published in 1992, this pioneer of the survival-horror genre fuses thought provoking puzzles with deadly fights against creatures from an H. P. Lovecraft inspired world. Set in 1921, the story centers around the mysterious suicide of Jeremy Hartwood, owner of the mysterious Louisiana mansion Derceto. Players choose to step into the shoes of either private detective Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood, the niece of Jeremy. Neither campaign is any different, it just depends which character one would rather see for the remainder of the game. However, the graphics are so poor you really won’t be able to tell much difference.

Story: This is one of the best parts of the game. Told through a series of books and letters scattered about the mansion, players are slowly introduced to the evil which lurks in and below the house. Dealing with the Cthulthu mythology and centering on an evil pirate, Captain Pregzt, and his deal for immortality, the game gives players willing to invest the time in reading the numerous documents found a great story.

Sound: I don’t think computer games from the early nineties are especially well-known for their music. That being said, the game did have some memorable themes. We aren’t talking great orchestral works here, but catchy nonetheless.The music inside the mansion and the music before an enemy encounter stick out in my memory as particularly great. I can’t comment on sound effects or even if there was any voice work at all. Windows XP was unable to play them. I was just happy I was able to get my computer to load the game at all.

Graphics: Oh my, this is one area the game falls very short in. I’m not really a PC gamer, so for the time maybe this was better then I think, but luckily, I don’t need a game to look great to enjoy it. Supposedly taking advantage of new 3-D polygon technology, the game really just looks like a box of shapes vomited on the screen. I realize this game is 17 years old but this was the year of Mortal Kombat and Mario Kart, both of which look way better than this game. I understand the desire to use new technology but if it isn’t capable of improving anything don’t use it. Plus, there is something about the color scheme chosen which strikes me as wrong. The predominant colors are purple and green. Big purple monsters don’t really strike fear in my heart, they just remind me of Muppets.

Controls and Gameplay: The game uses a menu screen to interact with your inventory and to select what activity to assign the action button . I really wanted separate buttons to jump, fight, search, etc. This seemed clunky to me at first, but I soon got used to it. Fighting was amusing. The game provides you with weapons but for about 95 percent of the fights I engaged in my fists and feet worked must more effectively. The guns are difficult to aim and moving itself has the Resident Evil style controls of turning with the left and right arrow keys and moving with only the forward and back arrow keys. Running was also nearly impossible for me but I think this was an issue to do with playing the game in XP. The puzzles mostly consisted of finding things to do with the items you picked up, but every now and then one would trip me up for a bit.  Right off the bat you encounter two demons who can not be killed and will kill you in one hit. I quickly learned to inspect things in my inventory and to pay attention to things I had read. The game is billed as a survival-horror title, but most of the horror comes from accidentally bumping into something which kills you immediately or missing an enemy with your attacks only to quickly die.  Of course, time has played a part in diminishing any scares that the game might have contained. The worm tunnel did surprise me a bit as I was not expecting the encounter. Save often, otherwise you must start the adventure all over again.

OCD Factor: Like most survival-horror games, there isn’t much beyond the main campaign. The game did not contain varying difficulty levels or anything to collect. It did have two characters to choose from and I played through the game as both, but the game did not change based on the characters. Basically its the option to play as a man or a woman. Reading all of the books and documents found is really the only thing optional in this game. I did read them all, and it added quite a lot to the story, but not a lot to the play time. Overall I think the game took me less than 5 hours to complete.

Score: For what the game is and the time it was made I would give it a 3 out of 5. Its not going to meet today’s gaming standards but it was an enjoyable look at where the survival-horror genre came from. It was quite interesting to see what was still in use today, what aspects hung around too long (I’m looking at you movement controls), and what has changed. For collection minded OCD folks like myself I’d give that aspect a 1 out of 5. You can find some books to read, but other than that there isn’t anything to make this game special to people who look for extras in their games.

Jesus Christ monkey balls! What’s this? A film based on the old Nintendo game? No.  A film about one man going on a killing spree, one man with tons of weapons and dressed in body armour going postal on a whole town? Yes.

Sounds great doesnt it? But wait, hold fire, it’s actually quite shocking. The trailer is pretty graphic and violent, watching the opening sequence what springs to mind is that this kind of thing has happened across America already, and that a film that seems to follow a storyline similar to the tragedies at Columbine or Virginia Tec is disturbing.

Thing is, however disturbing it is, it looks like an interesting film, thought provoking and if the trailer is anything to go by, there should hopefully be some kind or morality to the story that we’re being told. Or if you’re just in for mindless violence, seeing innocent people being mamed, loads of explosions,car crashes, guns, helicopters and shit, you are a winner. My main concern is the director, Uwe Boll. You may of heard of him? He beat the shit out of some bloggers and reviewers who slagged off his films, he did it in the ring.

So that’s Uwe Boll beating up some people, but if you want to know what the people he’d beaten up had reviewed, check out the trailer for his film ‘Postal’, it looks awful,

but “alone in the dark” looks terrible in a great way, especially for showcasing actors who have so spectacularly fallen from grace. See

Tara Reid

Stephen Dorf

Christian Slater!

Allenkeif

Im Weltall nicht Neues.

Lange Zeit machte man sich in Hollywood ausführlich über diejenigen Kapitalzuschüsse lustig, die ein findiger Spaßvogel dereinst auf den wenig rühmlichen Namen „Stupid German Money“ taufte. Dahinter verbargen sich Gelder aus zahlreichen seidenen bis halbseidenen Medienfonds, mit denen sich trefflich Steuern sparen ließ – bis der Gesetzgeber sich hierzulande als Spielverderber erwies und dem Fiskus mit der Abschaffung des Modells ein paar müde Euro rettete. Vorbei war es mit den schnell zusammengezimmerten Abfallprodukten, die produziert werden mussten, um den Investoren einen Beleg für ihre Zahlungen zu liefern. Uwe Boll etwa gehörte jahrelang zu den fleißigsten Profiteuren der Fondsfinanzierung und bereicherte die Filmgeschichte mit ihrer Hilfe um Titel wie „Bloodrayne“, „House of the Dead“ oder „Alone in the Dark“ (einer der seltenen Fällen, in denen Tara Reid ausnahmsweise nicht das schlimmste Element war). Nun muss man Boll immerhin zugute halten, dass er die Finanzierung jederzeit mit seinen eigenen Kommanditgesellschaften gesichert hat, und sich damit merklich von all denen unterscheidet, die lediglich die Hand aufhielten, wenn irgendwo Fondsgelder zu verteilen waren. Das Modell ist mittlerweile in gewissem Sinne verstaatlicht und heißt nun DFFF. Und während man sich auf Initiatorenseite zufrieden auf die Schulter klopft ob der großen Erfolge und ausländischen Produktionen (etwa „Antichrist“ oder „Inglourious Basterds“), die das neue Modell seit Einführung ins Land geholt hat (und denen man dankbar mehrstellige Millionensummen hinterherschmiss) beweisen die Amerikaner, dass sie es nicht verlernt haben, sich auch ihre ABM-Projekte vom deutschen Steuerzahler mitfinanzieren zu lassen. Früher indirekt durch die Medienfonds, jetzt direkt mithilfe des DFFF und anderer Förderinstanzen. Ein schulbuchmäßiges Beispiel dafür ist „Pandorum“ – ein millionenschwerer B-Film, der seinen eigenen Dilettantismus so uneingeschränkt zur Schau stellt, dass selbst Uwe Boll neidisch werden müsste.

Eine Zukunftsvision vom Reißbrett: Die Ressourcenknappheit auf der Erde zwingt die Menschheit, das Sonnensystem nach geeigneten Umsiedlungsmöglichkeiten abzusuchen. Auf einer solchen Erkundungsmission befindet sich die Elysium, ein riesiger Raumgleiter, auf dem offenbar einiges schiefgelaufen ist. Zwei Besatzungsmitglieder erwachen ziemlich unsanft aus dem Hyperschlaf, ohne sich zunächst an Details ihrer Reise erinnern zu können. Schnell wird ersichtlich, dass die Situation an Bord ganz gehörig aus dem Ruder gelaufen ist. Die Lage spitzt sich zu, als sich herausstellt, dass die versorgenden Energiesysteme in Kürze versagen werden. Um das zu verhindern und den verursachenden Fehler zu beheben, muss einer der beiden über ein enges Netz aus Luftschächten und labyrinthartigen Tunnelsystemen zum Antriebsreaktor vordringen. Doch was ihn unterwegs erwartet, lässt seine schlimmsten Alpträume wahr werden. Grausam zugerichtete Leichen, feindlich gesinnte Überlebende und eine Horde blutrünstiger Kreaturen (Aliens?) auf Menschenjagd machen die Tour zum Himmelfahrtskommando.

Welche einschlägigen Genre-Vorbilder hier am Werk waren, braucht man kaum explizit aufzulisten. Vom Set-Design bis zur Motivation einzelner Kerncharaktere steht dieser Film unübersehbar in der Tradition der vergleichsweise großen Anzahl von „Alien“- Plagiaten. Ein bisschen „Predator“ hier, ein bisschen „Resident Evil“ da, und insgesamt jede Menge „Event Horizon“ – das muss niemanden wundern, denn zu den Produzenten von „Pandorum“ gehört mit Paul W. S. Anderson eben jener Initiator der beiden letztgenannten Filme, der bislang zweiteiligen „Alien vs Predator“-Reihe, sowie anderer artverwandter Beiträge (etwa das Kurt-Russell-Vehikel „Soldier“). Anderson hat seine Nische als moderner Roger Corman (mit größeren Budgets) gefunden, und er bedient sie verlässlich.

Dagegen ist nun zunächst einmal nichts einzuwenden. Was Anderson produziert, ist weder sonderlich originell, noch gar in irgendeiner Weise anspruchsvoll, bietet aber handwerklich solides Genre-Kino, das die Wartezeit bis zum Start des nächsten echten Großereignisses (etwa James Camerons ungeduldig herbeigesehnter „Avatar“) leichter ertragen hilft. Warum genau das bei „Pandorum“ wenn überhaupt, dann nur äußerst eingeschränkt funktioniert, lässt sich an wenigen Punkten ziemlich exakt festmachen. In erster Linie aber hätte diesem Film vor allem ein Funken Selbstironie gut getan, denn während die Charaktere an manchen Stellen unfassbar dummes Zeug von sich geben, nimmt sich das teils arg abstruse Handlungsgefüge so bierernst, dass einem selbst der Spaß an den durchweg gut gelungenen Effekten und leidlich ansehnlichen Interieurs vergehen kann.

Zu Beginn ist die ganze Sache äußerst vielversprechend. Die ersten Einstellungen wecken Hoffnungen, die der Film unmöglich erfüllen kann. Außenaufnahmen des Raumgleiters, die so plastisch wirken, dass man meinen könnte, hier sei ursprünglich eine 3D-Version in Planung gewesen (das holt die eingespielte Produktionstruppe Anderson / Constantin dafür demnächst mit „Resident Evil: Afterlife“ nach), Traumvisionen in gleißend weißem Licht, und schließlich eine bemerkenswert überzeugende Variante des allzu oft gesehenen Hyperschlaf-Prinzips: Wenn die beiden Astronauten vom Bordcomputer ins Leben zurückgerufen werden, dann ist das kein sanftes Erwachen, wie man es sonst zu sehen bekommt. Schmerzen, tiefsitzende Übelkeit, Gedächtinisverlust – die Figuren winden sich heftig, bis sie wieder einigermaßen zu sich kommen. Damit ist der Realismus dieses Films aber dann auch bereits erledigt. Wie überraschend der Auftakt gerät, so sehr verliert sich der Rest in gähnend langweilige bis enervierend ärgerliche Klischees.

„Pandorum“ weist alle Symptome von Produktionsbedingungen auf, bei denen mit spitzem Bleistift kalkuliert wurde. Gedreht in den Babelsberger Studios, hat man offenbar frühzeitig dafür gesorgt, dass der einzige Name mit international leidlich verwertbarer Reputation, Dennis Quaid also (nach „G.I. Joe – Geheimauftrag Cobra“ noch eine Chargenleistung), möglichst wenig Drehtage bekommt, damit bezahlbar bleibt und trotzdem präsent genug ist, um noch mit einigem Goodwill als Hauptdarsteller durchgehen zu können (auch wenn das der unbekanntere und deshalb wesentlich budgetfreundlichere Ben Foster ist). Seine Figur bleibt im Wesentlichen auf ein einziges Set beschränkt, die Kommandozentrale des Raumgleiters. Von dort aus wird er zwar immer mal wieder zwischenmontiert, seine Funktion beschränkt sich aber lange Zeit fast ausschließlich darauf, mit dem zweiten Protagonisten in Funkkontakt zu bleiben (und als dieser abbricht, muss er trotzdem permanent nachfragen, ob sein Astronautenkollege ihn noch hört). Erst im letzten Drittel ändert sich die Lage, und Quaids Figur bekommt noch einen zweiten, ebenso haarsträubenden wie leicht durchschaubaren Handlungsstrang ins Nest gelegt.

Set-Design, Look und Kreaturen (aus den Stan-Winston-Studios – kriegt man in Deutschland also anscheinend nicht hin) können sich sehen lassen, doch das hilft wenig bei einem Drehbuch, das aus der vielversprechenden Grundidee mit einer Ausgangslage, die bereits in Produktionen mit weitaus geringerem Budget Überraschendes zutage förderte („Cube“ oder „Saw“ etwa nutzen das Potential des Amnesie-Motivs wirksam aus), nicht besonders viel anzufangen weiss. Die Charaktere sind allesamt eher eindimensional gestrickt. Psychologische Tiefe wird ihnen lediglich unterstellt, den Beweis bleiben Buch, Darsteller und Regie jedoch schuldig. Für echte Identifikation reicht das kaum, und so kann einem auch ziemlich egal sein, was mit den einzelnen Figuren passiert.

Ob Regisseur Christian Alvart zudem mit der Inszenierung von Actionsequenzen entweder sichtbar überfordert war oder dem Rohmaterial erst am Schneidetisch der Todesstoß versetzt wurde, lässt sich zwar nicht endgültig entscheiden, das Ergebnis fällt aber in jedem Fall katastrophal aus. Wer bisher geglaubt hat, man könne Zweikämpfe und Verfolgungsjagden nicht unübersichtlicher inszenieren als Michael Bay, darf sich hier gerne eines Besseren belehren lassen. Über weite Strecken wird es unmöglich, dem wie mit Willkür montierten Geschehen auf der Leinwand zu folgen. Wer wen gerade angreift, niederstreckt oder attackiert, lässt sich vielfach auch beim besten Willen nicht sagen. Das ist vor allem deshalb bedauerlich, weil es auf diese Weise fast unmöglich wird, einen genaueren Blick auf die Kreaturen zu werfen, die zumindest vom Schauwert her einiges zu bieten haben (und ganz offensichtlich im engeren Verwandtschaftsverhältnis zu den Humanoiden aus „The Descent“ stehen).

„Pandorum“ ist der archetypische Fall eines Films, der unter anderen Bedingungen direkt auf DVD gelandet wäre und dort im Grunde auch hingehört. Und das ist noch nicht einmal negativ gemeint. Das Kinoformat an sich setzt nun einmal per se höhere Erwartungen frei als eine Produktion wie diese sie erfüllen kann. Man darf mit einiger Sicherheit davon ausgehen, dass die Zweitverwertung per Silberscheibe gut funktioniert, an den US-Kinokassen spielte das Genre-Vehikel jedoch bei geschätzten 40 Millionen Dollar Produktionskosten lediglich laue 4,4 Millionen um. Geplant ist laut Alvart eine Trilogie. Ob es dazu tatsächlich kommt, steht derzeit jedoch eher in den Sternen. Und dass dort nicht alles zum Besten bestellt ist, genau das belegt der (vermeintlich?) erste Teil immerhin perfekt.

Artikel © 2009 Thomas Lenz. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
Filmplakat / Fotos: Constantin Film Verleih GmbH

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Over the past few months I have been using my free time to play through the Alone in the Dark series. I had decided to play the Xbox 360 game only to learn it was the 5th game in a series. I follow video games pretty closely, but apparently this series had completely escaped my notice until now.  Yes, it was the first survival-horror game, a classic franchise, blah, blah, blah. What can I say? I missed it. Survival-horror is really not my go to genre for games. I enjoy Resident Evil enough, and I own some fairly obscure titles, which have never made it to a play through, but really, give me an rpg or an adventure title any day. Still, I owned the 5th game so track down the rest of the series I must. After a little time on Ebay and Amazon, I am now the proud owner of all 5 of the games. I’m just about finished with the last game; I have one more chapter to complete.While I’m glad to be able to say I’ve played them all now, I have to say the series was not that amazing. It had some bright spots, but overall, there are better entries in the survival-horror genre in my opinion.Reviews of each of the games in the series will be up shortly, but for now its back to burning roots in 5!

… I felt like updating early? :’D

This game has so many things you can take the piss out of, it’s crazy! XD

Yeah I know, this game’s “Improvise-a-Weapon” mechanic is incredibly ridiculous (doublesided tape + gas-filled bottle with a bandage shoved into it as a wick = STICKY BOMBS HOO BOY)

But man, have you even tried throwing one of those at a Humanz head, hoping it sticks? YOU CAN’T.

I wish i could, though :’D