US Alone in the Dark showing brings Phil Harrison, previews, videos, music, end of days
May 23rd, 2008 @ 07:49
A mass of media released overnight from a showing of Alone in the Dark in San Francisco on Monday.
The event was led by Phil Harrison himself, who gave video interviews to IGN and GameVideos (links below) and presented a lengthy showing of the game, as you can see in the movies after the break.
There’s a wealth of stuff there for you, and from what we’ve seen this morning the game’s looking genuinely hot.
As Harrison put it, “Technically and creatively they’re hitting a lot of high points. They’re putting the game into a very contemporary setting, but delivering that fantasy horror in a reall effective way, and I think as you saw in the presentation, there are a few moments that are absolute classic videogame moments. Being blown out of the side of a building and seeing the expanse of Central Park laid out in front of you, or driving the 59th Street level when the whole world is collapsing around you: it’s a real outstanding videogame moment.”
Fill your boots. Alone in the Dark’s out for PC and 360 on June 20 in Europe.
Hmm… I’m still not really convinced. Some bits of it look quite good, other bits look a bit bobbins. The continual switching from first to third person looks particularly grating. The environments are quite nice but look pretty empty. Nothing appears to have any ‘weight’ to it again - when he hits the zombie guy with the metal pipe, there doesn’t seem to be any ‘meat’ to his swing or any connection in the end, and then the zombie sort of falls of the building in a comedy manner. I also worry that the episodic thing will just break the flow of the game up too much - I’m not quite sure why they’re pandering to the more casual crowd anyway given that there’s approximately zero chance that they’ll ever pick it up in the first place.
Wait and see, I think. On current evidence it’s looking more 6/10 than triple-A.
I think the most worrying thing for a horror game is that there appears to be little ‘atmosphere’. It doesn’t look even remotely scary or claustrophobic or anything. It’s not even very dark!
Seems little point in bringing back the AOTD name if it’s not going to be remotely like the originals, which went totally the other way - little action, plenty of horror. I suppose it’s a recognisable brand, and a publisher will use any trick they can to gain a few extra sales.
Looks decent but not amazingly so. Will probably get 7s and 8s in general.
I found Resi 4 scary in a different way - it’s a very primal kind of fear, a kind of frantic get-the-fuck-away-from-me type horror.
I did find the Regenerator section incredibly creepy though - that was more of a return to old-school Resi, where their appearance is foreshadowed (the room with all the bodies) and then they suddenly come to life and lumber towards you. And that horrible, scratchy, asthmatic noise they make…brrrr.
This is still in “wait for the reviews” territory for me, but I agree it does look very promising. I can see myself being torn between the PC and the Wii versions (if they’re both good) too…
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:25 am
Somewhat ironic that Phil did the business when the PS3 version’s the only one not appearing.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:28 am
Have a watch of the IGN movies. I reckon it looks really good.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:35 am
I’ll watch them if I can find them anywhere other than IGN with their stupidly slow download speed and irritating “adverts before you can watch”.
Edit: Ah - GameTrailers has them all.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:38 am
There’s a big interview with Phil on GameVideos as well. Just added the link. Lots of in-game stuff in there.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
It’s very sweary, isn’t it?
Graphically it looks rather nice, although there’s some pretty nasty tearing in there. Peej will be pleased.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:49 am
It seems a bit… slow.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:08 am
Hmm… I’m still not really convinced. Some bits of it look quite good, other bits look a bit bobbins. The continual switching from first to third person looks particularly grating. The environments are quite nice but look pretty empty. Nothing appears to have any ‘weight’ to it again - when he hits the zombie guy with the metal pipe, there doesn’t seem to be any ‘meat’ to his swing or any connection in the end, and then the zombie sort of falls of the building in a comedy manner. I also worry that the episodic thing will just break the flow of the game up too much - I’m not quite sure why they’re pandering to the more casual crowd anyway given that there’s approximately zero chance that they’ll ever pick it up in the first place.
Wait and see, I think. On current evidence it’s looking more 6/10 than triple-A.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 am
I like some of the action scenes but the driving sections seemed pretty woeful. Still, flamey is good.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:15 am
I pulled a bit of a face when he kicked a spider thing and it went “eek”. I hope that doesn’t sum it up.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:22 am
I think the most worrying thing for a horror game is that there appears to be little ‘atmosphere’. It doesn’t look even remotely scary or claustrophobic or anything. It’s not even very dark!
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:28 am
More “action” than horror, innit. With puzzles. And episodes.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:38 am
Hmm. Resi 4 was more ‘actiony’ and also wasn’t very scary, but it had atmosphere in buckets.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:39 am
Seems little point in bringing back the AOTD name if it’s not going to be remotely like the originals, which went totally the other way - little action, plenty of horror. I suppose it’s a recognisable brand, and a publisher will use any trick they can to gain a few extra sales.
Looks decent but not amazingly so. Will probably get 7s and 8s in general.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:42 am
I found Resi 4 scary in a different way - it’s a very primal kind of fear, a kind of frantic get-the-fuck-away-from-me type horror.
I did find the Regenerator section incredibly creepy though - that was more of a return to old-school Resi, where their appearance is foreshadowed (the room with all the bodies) and then they suddenly come to life and lumber towards you. And that horrible, scratchy, asthmatic noise they make…brrrr.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:09 am
This is still in “wait for the reviews” territory for me, but I agree it does look very promising. I can see myself being torn between the PC and the Wii versions (if they’re both good) too…