Alone in the Dark [X360]

Behind closed doors at their recent Pre-E3 event held in San Francisco, Atari showed a very early version of Alone in the Dark off to groups of those in attendance. Though the game is very early on, we were given a glimpse at some early artwork, a trailer, and a live demonstration of dynamic lighting. The game takes place in and under present day Central Park in New York City, which developer Eden is using to push a plausible yet horrific angle. Whereas previous Alone in the Dark titles were more about exploration, this one as being described as much more action oriented.

Playing as Edward Carnby from the first Alone in the Dark, you'll infiltrate Central Park's dark depths through an episodic level design. Each level will be approximately 30 - 40 minutes long and will end with a cliffhanger, comparable to an episodic television series. Similarly, if you reload a saved game, you'll be treated to a recap of what transpired right before the point at which you'll continue.

Though gameplay details are still sparse at this point, it was said that players will be able to interact with every object in the environment. Ideally, this would lead to some unique game moments, allowing players to clear the same area in a number of different ways. The game itself looks dark and moody, just as players might expect. The trailer, which is posted below, shows footage which is allegedly real-time. When it was asked if the video shown was truly real-time, we were shown a gameplay session with a monster in front of a spinning fan, backlit by a white light. Things were tossed around the stage and the light reacted accordingly, as did the character model, giving a strong indication that the footage was indeed real-time. We'll see more of the game at E3, but as of now it seems as though the existing footage is what players can expect of the final product.

Alone in the Dark is scheduled to ship in the first half of 2006. Expect more updates over the next week, and plenty more in the future. In the meantime, check out the media below.

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