In 1992, a horror game called Alone in the Dark was released. It was notable for the fact that it was basically doing a lot of what would later make Resident Evil so popular—the fixed camera angles, the deliberate gunplay—only it had a lot more purple in it.
It was a very good game, and did well enough that two sequels were released through the 1990s. In 2001, though, what was originally planned as a fourth game ended up becoming a reboot. Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare came full circle by copying a lot of Resident Evil’s visual trappings and setting the game in the present day. It sucked.
Seven years later, in 2008, the series was rebooted again on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, and once again, it sucked. And in 2015 the Alone in the Dark franchise had reached a new low with a four-player online shooter that was even worse.
That could have been more than enough to kill off the brand, but no, here are new owners THQ Nordic announcing another reboot, this time bringing the game back to its original setting, in its original timeframe, and starring its two original characters.
Simply called Alone in the Dark—now the third game to have the same name—this one is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S:
Here’s the official pitch, complete with the line that it’s “a love letter to the 90’s cult classic horror game”:
Return to Derceto Manor in this reimagination of Alone in the Dark, a love letter to the 90’s cult classic horror game.
Deep in the 1920’s south, Emily Hartwood’s uncle has gone missing. Together with private investigator Edward Carnby, she embarks on a journey to Derceto Manor to uncover the secrets of this mysterious place and the circumstances of her relative’s vanishing.
Encounter strange residents, nightmarish realms, dangerous monsters and ultimately unveil a plot of rising evil. At the intersection of reality, mystery, and insanity, an adventure waits that will challenge your core beliefs. Who can you trust, what will you believe, and what will you do next?
It’s nice that this has so much more in common with the original than any other attempt at a relaunch or reboot. But still…so much of the appeal of the original was its unique and gorgeous sense of style, and I find it incredible that we’re two decades into this series being rebooted, and nobody actually making the games has worked that out!
