Retro game of the week: Alone In the Dark (PC)

Alone In the Dark is simply one of the best horror games ever released. Much responsible for paving the way for other "survival horror" games such as Resident Evil, Alone In the Dark used multiple fixed camera angles and low-resolution polygon zombies years before that. Developed by Infogrames (now Atari) and released in 1992, it might seem that I'm romanticising the early and mid 1990's, but as I recall it, a lot of good games were published back then. And a lot of awful games, too.

However, Alone in the Dark is clearly a innovative and artistic game. Players are given the option of choosing between a male or female character (Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood, respectively) and then tasked with investigating the suicide of a friend at the mansion of Derceto, which is the setting of the game. The unfolding of the story is revealed when exploring the mansion, looking for clues in books and notes scattered throughout the game. The storyline clearly draws much of its inspiration from the works of the late H.P. Lovecraft. For example, the occult tomes found in the mansion's library include the Necronomicon and De Vermis Mysteriis, both taken from the Cthulhu Mythos.

Gameplay involves inventory/environmental puzzles and some pretty confusing shooting/fighting elements, later copied, refined and more successfully implemented by the Resident Evil series. If you're into scary games, don't miss out on this one.

Click here to download Alone In the Dark (5 MB).