Alone in the Dark’s name is synonymous with the survival horror genre. The original Alone in the Dark, which was released back in 1992, has been considered one of the originators of survival horror; it was one of the first fully-3D games to incorporate adventure game-style puzzles, difficult combat against enemies that could also be avoided or escaped from, and keys that needed to be found in order to progress to new areas.
It’s fair to say that Alone in the Dark is one of the progenitors of modern horror gaming as we know it, so when a new game in the series was announced last year, fans of the genre got excited. We haven’t heard much from Alone in the Dark since it was revealed in August 2022, but the game looks like it’ll continue the series’ legacy of tense, tricky survival horror gameplay (and hopefully not whatever Alone in the Dark 2008 was). Here’s our rundown of everything we currently know about Alone in the Dark.
Alone in the Dark release date – when is the game coming out?
Unfortunately, we don’t currently have a release date for Alone in the Dark. The game was only revealed around six months ago, so it’s likely that developer Pieces Interactive is hard at work on making the game right now. On Steam, the Alone in the Dark release date is merely listed as “coming soon”, so it might be a while until we get more concrete information about when we can expect this one to arrive. Hopefully, it won’t languish in development hell, because there’s a real survival horror revival underway right now, and Alone in the Dark would be foolish to miss it.
Alone in the Dark platforms – where can you play the game?
When we do eventually get an Alone in the Dark release date, you will, as you might expect, be able to play it on modern platforms. It’s coming to next-gen consoles – i.e. PS5 and Xbox Series X/S – and PC. Unfortunately, right now, we don’t know if the game is going to arrive on Xbox One and PS4. By the look of the visuals, which are pretty impressive, it’s entirely possible the game will skip last-gen consoles entirely, which would be a shame but wouldn’t be unexpected. We’ll have to wait and see what else the devs and publisher announce in the coming months.
Alone in the Dark features – what kind of game will it be?
As the progenitor of survival horror (or one of them, at least), it won’t shock you to learn that Alone in the Dark will be a classic-style survival horror experience. Expect tense and frenetic combat, as well as scarce resources, plenty of backtracking, and lots of obscure puzzling. Hey, that’s what we love about the genre, right? Here are just some of the features you can expect from Alone in the Dark.
- A reimagined version of a 90s classic. Pieces Interactive is calling this version of Alone in the Dark a reimagining rather than a reboot, so you can expect a return to the basic plot outline of the original game. It’ll also be a “love letter” to the original, although we’re betting that this game will likely supplant the original in many people’s minds, especially given how the original Alone in the Dark has aged.
- A psychological horror trip. Alone in the Dark isn’t just the progenitor of survival horror; it’s also arguably one of the founding fathers of psychological horror, which can be seen today in games like Silent Hill and The Medium. As such, you can expect Alone in the Dark to straddle the divide between classic monster-oriented survival horror and more trippy psychological horror.
- A “doom jazz” soundtrack. If you’re not familiar with doom jazz, it’s a genre that mixes the dark ambience of noir film scores with the freeform interpretative qualities of jazz. The work of Angelo Badalamenti, who scored David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, is hugely important to this genre, so if you know his work, then you’ve already got a feel for how the Alone in the Dark soundtrack will sound.
- Tense combat and resource management. As a classic survival horror game, Alone in the Dark will emphasise tension and fear over action-packed thrills. That means ammunition will be difficult to come by and enemies will be plentiful, so you’ll have to find ways to avoid combat or sneak by enemies if you want to survive.
- Two different perspectives. You’ll be able to choose between series protagonist Edward Carnby or his companion, Emily Hartwood, as you explore Alone in the Dark’s mansion setting. That’s another trope that is shot through survival horror; you’ll likely remember that the original Resident Evil also offered a choice between two different perspectives.
- Writing from the mind behind Amnesia and SOMA. If you like the works of Frictional Games, then you’ll be happy to know writer Mikael Hedberg is working on Alone in the Dark. Hedberg has worked on the Amnesia franchise, as well as sci-fi tale SOMA, so he knows what he’s doing in terms of horror. Since bringing in an external writer worked so well for Resident Evil 7, we can but hope that this classic survival horror franchise benefits from Hedberg’s expertise and his knowledge when it comes to telling scary stories. There’s a lot riding on this, Alone in the Dark!
