Classic review: Alone in the Dark (3DO)

This review was first published in E13, September 1994.

After sampling the enjoyable but derivative Doctor Hauzer from Japanese software house Riverhill Soft, 3DO owners have been eagerly awaiting a conversion of the game that inspired it, Adeline Software’s Alone In The Dark. Now the seminal polygon adventure which created such an impact when it first appeared on the PC has finally arrived on the 32bit system.

Superficially, both Doctor Hauzer and 3DO Alone In The Dark are remarkably similar, but there are a number of significant differences between the two. In terms of graphics it has to be said that Doctor Hauzer is far more ambitious than Alone In The Dark; its textured polygon rooms and variety of viewpoints make it a visually more exciting product. For the most part, 3DO Alone In The Dark looks identical to the PC version – and includes some unnecessarily large borders around the screen. But despite this, Alone In The Dark still manages to impress in the most important area: gameplay.

Although both games are based on puzzle solving, the brain-teasers on offer differ greatly in style. The puzzles in Riverhill’s game involve performing essentially simple actions, such as putting flowers in a vase; the trick lies in working out that the flowers need to be put in the vase in the first place. In Alone In The dark it’s more obvious what you have to do, but the puzzles themselves are far more rewarding to solve.

A choice of characters starts your quest.

But what really makes Alone In The Dark stand out is its inclusion of combat. Contrary to many people’s assumptions, Virtua Fighter didn’t pioneer realistic polygon-based fighting action; Alone In The Dark contains some horrifyingly authentic combat scenes, which add immeasurably to the game’s atmosphere. Your character only has basic punch and kick moves, but the manner in which he executes them – and the way the monsters reel backwards after being hit – is disturbingly lifelike. The hand-to-hand conflict can get repetitive after a while, but, thanks to the relatively naturalistic animation (the main character in Doctor Hauzer flops around like a soggy cardboard cut-out in comparison) and the wide variety of enemies, it gives the game a great deal more punch.

Thankfully, you don’t just have to rely on your fists to fight your way through the house; there’s also an assortment of weapons lying scattered around with which you can defend yourself. Some of these are extremely satisfying to use – especially the double-barrelled shotgun – and make a significant contribution to your enjoyment of the game.

The house at the centre of the Alone In The Dark mystery contains roughly the same number of rooms as the mansion in Dr Hauzer, which means that, like Riverhill’s title, the game is too small. Although your journey does last slightly longer, you’ll still find yourself meeting the end of the adventure rather too abruptly. Movement around the mansion is also hampered by the fiddly controls – the PC version plays brilliantly with the cursor keys (although it’s ironic that owners of £1,000 machines have to use the bloody cursor keys) while the 3DO joypad makes playing Alone In The Dark a frequently irksome experience.

This review was first published in E13, September 1994.

Another problem is that animation that was perfectly smooth on a 486/33 PC seems to chug slightly on the 3DO. And that slow CD access problem rears its head again. One scene takes almost five seconds to load, which may sound insignificant, but it makes the game noticeably more ponderous than the free-flowing PC version.

Of course, despite these flaws 3DO Alone In The Dark is a great game – even a group of particularly stupid monkeys would have had a job mucking up this conversion. It looks good, the gameplay is engrossing, and the soundtrack is atmospheric. And it’s worth noting that this two-year-old title is more playable than much modern 3DO software.

However, although revolutionary in its time, AITD is hardly the kind of game you can use today to show off what your machine can do. There are far more suitable candidates to fill the role of ambassador for 3DO performance – the sequel will probably be one of them when it is completed next year.

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