The original survival horror game returns, thanks to Alone in the Dark: THQ Nordic

It’s amazing how quickly intellectual traits of extraordinary importance can die or be reborn in the magical world of video games. A good game was enough to rekindle the entire Resident Evil franchise after some major missteps in Capcom’s dark decade. At the same time, Square Enix’s few bad moves (and a truly forgettable online competitive game) have caused legendary names like Deus Ex and Legacy of Kain to disappear from the discussion. Let’s not even talk about Konami IPs then, because if you consider the enormous potential that has not been expressed in years, there is a good risk of depression.

In short, a prestigious name is not enough to guarantee success in the market: it takes foresight and solid projects to support the brand. This THQ Scandinavian He seems to know this well, given that lately the house has been hunting for notable IPs with a crystal clear intent to exploit them all. We saw one of them come back in the last showcase, “cut” to the press, and focused on just four new productions.

The first of these was none other than the rumored return of Alone in the Dark: the ancestor of the survival horror genre and the iconic series…at least until its gruesome qualitative collapse and total disappearance from the spotlight.

Considering the flashback of 2008 and the ugliness of the Enlightenment, it was legitimate to tremble before a possible new “modern” reboot, far from the glory of the past. That said, cunning is not lacking at THQ, and after listening to the wishes of the fan base, the choice was a comeback option strongly tied to the roots of the saga and reinforced by the presence of an outstanding director. Let’s find out in this Alone preview on The DarkThe return of the original survival horror.

Welcome back to Villa Derceto

Wanting to stay true to the spirit of the original, this new game also two heroes The history to choose from and the one fans remember is the same: Emily Hartwood and Edward Carnby. After discovering that her uncle has disappeared from Villa Derceto, a splendid resting place for wealthy people with serious psychological problems, Emily hires Edward (who is actually a private detective) to investigate and escorts him directly to the crime scene.

While clearly waiting for them, not simple riches drugged with medicinal cocktails, nightmares forming take them to hellish worlds and the usual evil beings pulling the strings in the shadows. Ordinary for a detective with a mustache (mustache not yet confirmed as Edward is only seen from behind).

As you can see from the predecessor, complo it is not exactly the same as the original, but the similarities are many, and the desire to rework is obvious, so as not to betray the spirit of a much-loved base. The developers also revealed to us that the demo available at Gamescom in Cologne will even let you play as little Grace of Alone in the Dark 2 (more of a playable teaser than a real test, but so be it), so we suspect. that none of the classic quotes will be missing during the campaign.

It’s hard to judge the narrative at the moment, we’ve seen very little, but the desire to respect the brand is evident, and the project has its reins as previously mentioned. Michael Hedberg, author of SOMA and Amnesia. So aside from a world disturbing enough to increase their impact on the player, there are excellent reasons to expect sad and potentially distorted events.

patina blood

Less convincing in reality,graphic effect The currently unseen game does not have the production values ​​necessary to deal with other “glorious payoffs”. Caution, there’s obviously still a lot to do (development begins in 2019, but there’s no expected release date), but while the engine is the usual Unreal Engine 4 and the project in general looks solid, the character models and settings suffer a bit from the glossy look of some of the builds that use them.

how little has been seen Villa Derceto If nothing else, it looked well detailed, and some scenes confirm the development team’s intention to use a “two settings” in this case, too, beyond Silent Hill, with an alternation between normal locations and hideous landscapes filled with horrific organic matter.

Some care has been taken in its design. monstersIt looks like a mix of undead and insectoids, to say the least obnoxious. However, only a few core enemies were presented, perhaps to avoid revealing too many cards before a more important trailer. It seemed fine to us – although it’s impossible to assess its actual validity at the moment – gun response during action. The approach chosen by Pieces Interactive looks close to that of the Resident Evil remakes: slow motion, rear camera, but fairly close, and claustrophobic settings that often leave little room for maneuver to avoid danger. Still, unlike Capcom’s notable recent study where the base pistol has the power of a pea shooter and requires a significant expenditure of energy to knock out even a single zombie, the guns here seem to have significant strength. The service pistol, in fact, looked to us like it could knock out enemies with a few shots, and the shotgun really showed off the muscle in the observed few seconds. We saw a subtle difference in resistance between the two different beasts in the video, and it wouldn’t surprise us that this sense of security is only associated with the first trailer, and far worse threats await to be discovered. In all honesty? We also appreciate a rush through the action stages, as long as these are handled properly and require minimal movement and tactical thought to eliminate monsters.