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Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare (alternatively and internally known as Alone in the Dark 4) is the fourth installment and the first reboot of the Alone in the Dark series, developed by Darkworks and published by Infogrames Entertainment, SA. The game was released in 2001 on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Dreamcast, and an alternate version for the Game Boy Color. A PlayStation 2 version of the game was also released in Europe. The prequel comic Alone in the Dark: Life is a Hideous Thing was published in France by Semic Comics in 2001 and was released in English in September 2002.

Plot[]

Set on October 31, 2001, Edward Carnby's best friend and partner, Charles Fiske, has been found dead off the coast of Shadow Island, a mysterious island near the coast of Massachusetts. Carnby's investigation quickly leads him to Frederick Johnson, who informs him of Fiske's search for three ancient tablets with the ability to unlock an incredible and dangerous power. Johnson pleads with Carnby to take the place of Fiske and reopen the investigation in order to recover the tablets. Carnby accepts and makes it his mission to find Fiske's killer. Aline Cedrac, an intelligent, young university professor, joins Carnby to recover the missing tablets. While flying over the coast of Shadow Island, their plane comes under attack by an unknown creature. Carnby and Aline jump out of the plane and parachute to the ground, but are separated immediately. Carnby lands in s dense forest near the coast, while Aline lands on the roof of a manor.

Gameplay[]

The player is given the option of choosing which of the two protagonists they play as. Carnby's side of the plot is based mainly on fighting the monsters by physical means, particularly with his trusty double barreled revolver; while Aline's is more centered on puzzles. The two occasionally meet up, and the main areas of plot intersect.

The player soon comes under attack from Creatures of Darkness that appear out of nowhere and seem to be living shadows. These Creatures of Darkness are eventually revealed to be reptilian, silicon-based life forms from the center of the Earth, an enormous world of dark caverns known as the World of Darkness. Shadow Island apparently contains one of the many portals to this underground world. True to their name, the game's enemies are averse to light (which apparently turns them into ash), and this figures heavily in gameplay. Players can use their flashlight to repel certain creatures, and killing them is accomplished with such light-producing ammunition as "magnesium bullets" and "phosphorus shells."

Light plays a significant role in this game. One of the game's main features is the flashlight that can be used to light up the game's darkened scenes, revealing hidden details and uncovering items. To this end, the developers crafted an unusual graphics engine which allowed the 3D player character's flashlight to properly illuminate and cast shadows on the 2D, pre-rendered backdrops. This was accomplished by rendering the backdrops at various levels of illumination and including information on the distribution of objects in the scene. The graphics engine could then properly use brighter versions of the backdrop where the flashlight was expected to be casting light, and leave shadowed areas dark.

Reception[]

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare was well received. The PlayStation and Dreamcast versions received "generally favorable reviews", while the PC version received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. GamesMaster gave the Game Boy Color version 90%, and The Sunday Times gave it the award of Game of the Week. According to Darkworks, The New Nightmare sold almost 1.4 million units by 2005.

AllGame gave the GBC version 3/5 stars rating, saying, "Despite the frightening battle system and confusing play, the game is ultimately redeeming. It is definitely worth seeing; the eerie graphics can really pull a player into its spooky environment. But customers should think carefully before purchasing it, and not jump into things as fast as Edward Carnby did. Those who are patient and dedicated will probably find Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare very rewarding, while everyone else might consider this game a bit too difficult and trying". The website also gave the PlayStation version 3/5 stars, saying, "This game should have been in development longer and more polished (there are numerous graphical glitches and clipping that occurs). A good game, but it could've been great. As with all survival horror games, play this game in the dark, and only at night. It's vital that you do, and it accents the game". Edge gave the same console version 7/10. X-Play gave the Dreamcast version 3/5 stars and said that "it isn't really bad. However, it also isn't really new. It's just a shambling clone in step with the rest of the survival horror games. Perhaps its creators would have been better off evoking an old nightmare instead". Carla Harker of Next Generation said of the PC version in its October 2001 issue, "Despite its faults, very few PC games provide these kinds of Lovecraftian thrills and chills. The New Nightmare suffices". Jeff Lundrigan of the same magazine later said of the Dreamcast version in its final issue, "If you haven't tried any other version, Dreamcast is definitely the way to go with this one."

Computer Games Magazine nominated The New Nightmare as the best adventure game of 2001, but ultimately gave the award to Myst III: Exile.

Film adaptation[]

In 2005, a film adaptation was released named Alone in the Dark, loosely based on the game. It was directed by Uwe Boll and was a box office flop costing $20,000,000, which was not recovered, and universally panned by critics, although it made a profit on the DVD market. Guinness World Records named the film the "Lowest-Grossing Game Based Movie" in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008 edition. An Unrated Director's Cut was released in Germany, France and Australia and was #1 on the German DVD market for three weeks. It is widely considered one of the worst video game tie-in movies ever made, but also one of the worst movies of all time.

Saving[]

Saving in the game revolves around the use of Charms of Saving, a small pendant which appears to be Abkanni in origin.

Characters[]

Creatures of Darkness[]

Weapons[]

Location[]

Shadow Island

World of Darkness

  • From Wikipedia


Trivia[]

  • The Developers have stated that the atmosphere he wanted to be a meeting between X-Files and the writings of Lovecraft [1] . Visually, the game has been very influenced by the Alien movie saga.
  • The New Nightmare was to be the first chapter of a trilogy was never completed [2] .

External links[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier, Matt Haley, Aleksi Briclot - Life is a hideous thing - Alone in the Dark: La lavorazione
  2. Gamer Interview with Antonie Villette
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
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