User Rating: 7.2 | Alone in the Dark 3 PC
Alone in the Dark is the series that has stablished the concept of survival horror games on the market. It all started when the detective Edward Carnby is called to investigate a supposed suicide of Jeremy Hartwood. Rumors that the mansion is haunted and that Hartwood´s death was related to demonic causes are part of the game´s story. Alone in the dark is a game full of puzzles, riddles, action and suspense, and the way all of these elements are presented to you in the game makes it a classic. In this game Edward is called to unfold the disappearance of a whole movie work team that was working in a Old West haunted city called Slaughter Gulch, located at Mojave, CA. When the first Alone in the Dark game came out it was a big change in terms of graphics. The 3D-rendered backgrounds with 3D polygonal characters were really impressive. Even with an imprecise movement animation of the characters, creatures and ghosts the game could still scare you with its creepy rooms and areas. After the firts two versions of the game some elements have not been improved as expected. The character models still have a low number of polygons and the creatures as well, this gives me the sensation of playing na outdated game, however, the backgrounds that are well rendered and detailed. It´s good to remember that this is a DOS based game and amazing graphics cannot be expected. The fact that Alone in the Dark 3 still uses the same 3D engine from previous versions and that in 1995 a lot of games looked better has killed the sales for this game. The camera system keeps the previous versions scheme giving you different perspectives in every area or room. You take control of your character in a third person view. During the game you face lots of enemies that require different weapons to be easily killed, I mean, some weapons kill specific enemies easier than others. Some gameplay improvements are noticeable such as the option of choosing the difficulty level (easy, normal and hard) and a map helps to stay situated in your progress. Nice sound effects and the feel of suspense during the entire game make this edition worth for fan of the series.
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