Alone in the Dark review – Jodie Comer and David Harbour can’t save this soporific horror
It’s fitting that this latest Alone in the Dark game should choose a generational curse for its premise, as the series that pioneered the survival horror genre hasn’t been good in about 30 years. Its various misadventures include the disastrous 2008 game of the same name, which among many strange design decisions included a button dedicated to blinking. Yet at least it was terrible in an interesting way, which is more than can be said for this dull and derivative reimagining of the game that started it all.
Set in Louisiana in the early 20th century, Alone in the Dark sees Emily Hartwood (Jodie Comer) visiting her uncle Jeremy at the Derceto Manor convalescence home for mentally ill people after receiving a worrying letter from him. So worrying, in fact, that not only has she hired private detective Edward Carnby (David Harbour) to accompany her, but one of the first questions she asks Carnby is whether he’s brought a gun, as she expects he might have to “wave it around a bit” in order to see her uncle.
As it happens, you can choose either Carnby or Hartwood to do the gun waving, a decision that leads to a slightly different perspective on the same story. Although the reimagining retains the broad premise of the 1992 original, its presentation and mechanics borrow heavily from Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 2. You explore the Derceto mansion with limited freedom, solving simple puzzles to unlock its various rooms. This is interspersed with more action-oriented segments where you enter Uncle Jeremy’s dreams, fighting monsters in places inspired by the stories of HP Lovecraft.
The southern gothic manor house is pleasant enough to explore, and the puzzles it contains can be mildly diverting. But for the most part, Alone in