Janky. That’s the word that springs to mind when I think back to the games I used to play – Alone in the Dark among them – as a kid. Along with the fixed camera angles and tank controls were the bugs and the glitches and all that lovely jank, as much a part of survival horror’s storied beginnings as Resident Evil’s “itchy tasty” memo.
Pisces Interactive’s reimagining of 1992’s Alone in the Dark adopts its inspiration’s dark story and even fixed cameras at times, but it also preserves – unintentionally, I suspect – the jank. In fact, there’s no part of this modern Alone in the Dark remake that’s jank-free – combat, puzzles, sound, script; you name it. For some, it’ll feel like an integral part of Alone in the Dark’s experience that’ll only add to its appeal. For others, it’ll be an instant turn-off. For me? For me, it’s somewhere in the middle, straddling a forgettable no-man’s-land of mediocrity that’s only saved, in part, by the reimagined storytelling.
Alone in the Dark’s story deviates a little from the 1992 original, but certainly not to its detriment. Just like the OG, you can choose to play as either PI Edward Carnby, voiced here by the magnificent David Harbour, or Emily Hartwood, who’s been brought to life by the equally magnificent Jodie Comer. However, the script is so stilted it’s hard for either performance to be memorable, let alone magnificent, and the performers are peculiarly… well, reserved. I know; I’m surprised, too, not least because both Harbour and Comer are fine actors who typically emit the kind of satisfying, larger-than-life energy that could’ve – should’ve – translated gloriously to a schlocky horror like Alone in the Dark.
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