Alone in the Dark: the grand return of a legendary survival-horror IP
, by Quentin
Today, March 20, 2024, Alone in the Dark makes its grand return after years of silence and, for this new game, lots of delays. Indeed, THQ Nordic newest game has kept us waiting for many months before coming out. However, we thought it was also the perfect opportunity to take a look back at this absolutely mythical video game saga.
1992: Frédérick Raynal and Infogrames unknowingly make their mark on the industry
The 90s saw video games evolve at breakneck speed, thanks in particular to a major innovation: the arrival of 3D, a new technology that fascinated developers.
It was a new world, unexplored at the time, and required additional learning to master brilliantly. One team, Infogrames and one of its programmers, Frédérick Raynal, were 100% convinced of the benefits of 3D. He set off on an adventure, working on a game engine capable of technical prowess, particularly in terms of shadow and light effects and three-dimensional character movement.
He brought along graphic designer Didier Chanfray and composer Philippe Vachey. This fine team will embark on a game drawing its inspiration from the world of Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe.
It's 1992, and Alone in the Dark hits the stores. It's a real success, both with gamers and critics. We embarked on a gripping survival-horror for its time, inspiring even the greatest, but more on that later.
You had the choice of playing either Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood, two characters who had come to investigate a notorious mansion allegedly haunted by an evil power. Once there, you'll find yourself locked in, with the sole aim of surviving and escaping.
Resident Evil: when a cult series builds itself at the shoulders of the French at Infogrames
Some may not have expected it, but yes, Resident Evil was indeed inspired by the cult work of the French team at Infogrames. For many years, Capcom didn't accept this fact, sometimes saying they didn't know it, sometimes saying they weren't inspired by it at all.
But there was one person who did not fail to point out the similarities between the two games... The father of the IP himslef! Frédérick Raynal had this to say to the press:
"I had already left Infogrames and was working on my game Little Big Adventure when Resident Evil came out. I thought "wow, this is really the same as Alone in the Dark!" In my game, a zombie chicken pops out of the window at one point; here, it was a zombie dog; there was the puzzle where you had to push a clock to find an object hidden behind it; even the camera angles were similar...".
And yet, for many years, Shinji Mikami claimed never to have seen footage of the game, which sure must have exasperated the French creator. But there was no lack of evidence, as the game had been shown to Capcom and even Nintendo and Sega before it was finished. The latter expressed their interest in the game and their desire to publish it in Japan.
It wasn't until 18 years later that Shinji Mikami came clean and revealed the following about his many technical difficulties in developing the first Resident Evil:
"It was then that I played Alone in the Dark, which consisted of fixed sets. It was very interesting, because it was more expressive. The next step was to adapt Resident Evil to this model".
Better late than never, I suppose.
Infogrames and Frédérick Raynal reach the point of no return
The success of such a project prompted a sequel a year later, in 1993. Unfortunately, it was to be without his father, Frédérick Raynal. He and Infogrames fell out, forcing the creator to leave the company.
There were many suspicions surrounding his departure, including a question of money, as he was paid very little for the work he had done and the game he had created for the company. But his departure did nothing to dissuade Infogrames from making a new entry: Alone in the Dark 2.
Once again, it's a success. It has to be said that the universe is already in place, and the on-board technology is also ready. What's more, it was created by a number of talented personalities, including Jean-Marie Nazaret, Frédérique Nantermet, Jean-Christophe Blanc and Sylvie Silvy. These names may not ring a bell, but it turns out that it was they who went on to create the Étranges Libellules studio, behind games such as Astérix et Obélix XXL and La Spyro.
Infogrames was now looking to turn this into a trilogy. This was achieved in 1994 with Alone in the Dark 3. Even if the innovations are no longer there, the atmosphere is still convincing and the publisher delivers a title that is as honest as it feels great to play. Admittedly, the era of technical and artistic revolution is over, but the company comes through with flying colors.
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, when the license returns after a few years in the shadows
After the famous trilogy published in just three years, Alone in the Dark was running out of steam. Such a frenetic pace made it impossible to innovate and for the license to reinvent itself. Infogrames therefore decided to put it on hold for a few years, to give it a chance to breathe.
A few years later, Alone in the Dark finally returns to the fore. This time, Darkworks was at the helm, and Infogrames was content to publish the game. The new teams had virtually carte blanche over the project, and ended up reworking the franchise as they saw fit.
Where the first episodes were set in the 1920s, this one takes place in 2001, the same year as its European release. In Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, we meet up with Edward Carnby and Aline Cedrac. Once again, you could choose between the two characters.
You landed on a mysterious island called Shadow Island, with a terrifying mansion at its heart. The two characters progresed in parallel on different parts of the island, so you had two adventures in one. It was a great approach at the time. You still had to investigate this new horrific location, once again in a heavy, frightening universe, as was the case in the first games. This return was quite successful, if the reception from players and critics is anything to go by.
Unfortunately, it wasn't this fourth episode that would allow the series to be reborn and regain its former glory. We had to wait another seven years, until 2008, to see it try again.
2008 - 2015 : The franchise's fall from grace
Up until now, the intrinsic quality of Alone in the Dark was apparent in every entry. But in 2008, gamers the world over were to be disappointed when they tried the new game.
Now developed by Eden Studios and published by Atari Inc, this game, soberly named Alone in the Dark, turned out to be a huge disappointment. It was a title with a meaningless scenario, a short length and uninspired graphics. The magic no longer works, even when we meet up with our famous hero, Edward Carnby.
Alone in the Dark ended up getting relatively average marks, and a similarly mixed reception from fans. This was also reflected in the game's sales, which struggled to take off.
Following this, yet another game saw the light of day in 2015: Alone in the Dark: Illumination. The title is an absolute flop, published and developed by Atari.
The game wasn't even tested by the major specialist sites, and some weren't even aware of its existence, illustrating the lack of marketing about it. Unsurprisingly, it was an extremely bad entry in every respect, which pushed it further into oblivion.
2024: a half-assed renaissance
Alone in the Dark is making its comeback on March 20, 2024, and after long years of waiting, this new game proves to be rather mediocre. THQ Nordic failed to take a hold of the universe's full potential, and it's all the sadder to learn that Frédérick Raynal had been in talks with the studio to bring legitimacy to the project. Alas, the title fails to live up to the qualities of the original franchise.
Unfortunately, as it stands, it's just a game with outdated mechanics, old-fashioned gameplay and controls. We hope that one day, Alone in the Dark will finally regain its former splendor, the one it deserves.
Source: lemonde.fr