Unlike the Resident Evil series, which scatters storage chests around the game for quick access to your stockpiled items, Alone in the Dark restricts you to only a few slots in your jacket. And each side can only hold a certain category of items. Manipulating items in videogames can be cumbersome enough without having to delve into a jacket and poke around while monsters attack you in real-time. Combining items to make new ones, a central part of the game, is also frustrating. Want to combine a wick with a bottle? You can't select the bottle first – it has to be the wick. Good luck sorting out inconsistencies like these when "Ratz" and "Batz" are nipping at your heels. What was intended to add tension and challenge instead creates a situation in which you must constantly wander around the game combing glove compartments and trash cans for disposable weapons. And once in your arsenal, they're deployed inconsistently at best, both against enemies and the environment.

This game could've been great. It has some great ideas, such as the usage of fire, or the minigames where you have to hotwire the car and such. Also it has an interesting tv series like structure, the game consists of 8 chapters, each ending with a cliffhanger and starting with a "previously on alone in the dark" video. It also has an interestin setting (central park), too bad that we have to spend most of the playtime in boring, grey hotels/underground tunnels/museums etc. . But the real problem is the gameplay itself. The controls are terrible. If it weren't for the first person view, i'd say this game is unplayeble. The camera is awkward and the whole thing just don't seem right. The inventory does not help one bit, the items are stored in you jacket, and you have to go through them while the enemies are trying to kill you, extremely annoying. What's more, you can't kill any of your enemies with regular weapons, only with fire. If you shoot an enemy like 10 to 15 times, it will be knocked out for a few minutes, but to kill him you have to find a firesource and ignite him. The combat sequences become chores pretty fast. There are driving sequences and i have to say driving thru the central park can be really fun, but the physics are terrible, you'll often get stuck in trees or invisible objects and the controls feel too....arcady.

I dunno what more can i say, this game could've been great, even a classic, but it's flawed (and terribly bugged!) and for me those things totally ruined the gameplay. Maybe if you're really patient give it a try, otherwise just play the Silent Hill series, you'll be better off.

The gameplay in Alone in the Dark differs greatly from other games in the series. It is set out through DVD-style "episodes", where the player can choose to start the game from the beginning, or choose to skip to a section if they get stuck. If they choose to do so, the past events are recollected in a "Previously on Alone in the Dark..." cutscene at the start of the episode.

Alone in the Dark has an interchangeable first and third person camera, and puzzle solving style gameplay. The environment plays a big part of core gameplay, as the player can pick up any object (such as pipes, wood, etc.) and use it as a melee weapon. It can also be used to smash in doors, and knock objects over. Fire is generated in real-time, as objects can be set alight by holding it over the fire, and it can be extinguished. If the fire isn't extinguished fast enough, the flames will continue to regenerate. The player can pick up objects, and combine to make different styles of weapons, however, only some objects can be combined with others. Any object which is shot at or thrown will be destroyed instantly.

If the player takes damage, open wounds appear on Edward's outfit. The player must use a medical spray, or if the wounds are too deep, use bandages to heal themselves. If Edward takes too much damage, the screen will flash red, and a heartbeat sound will be heard indicating that he is bleeding out.

Alone in the Dark is a series that has his fans but every game in the series had its flaws. This one isn't the exception as its gameplay can be frustrating by moments (rigid maniability, bad difficulty balance which needs us to replay the same sequence a bunch of times before completing it succesfully...).

Fortunately these shortcomings are hidden by a great story and direction. This is truly a great game for Alone in the Dark fans and for those interested in survival horror games (as Resident Evil is more action-focused now, there are not a lot of games in this category).

I have to be honest: I avoided this game for a very long time due to bad reviews I'd read concerning bugs, poor performance and terrible graphics. Well, after the giving Alone In The Dark a very thorough play-though, I can now say that those reviewers must have been playing a different game.

Alone In The Dark isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. The controls seem a bit clumsy and take some getting used to at first, but since keybindings are fully remappable that's mostly a non-issue. Reports of bugs seem to be greatly exaggerated as well - I explored every nook and cranny of the game and never once encountered any game-stopping bugs or glitches. The only issues I noticed were the occasional oddity related to the game's physics engine, but that's something you'll see now and then in *any* game with a complex physics engine. Lastly, I was very pleased to find that the game performed extremely well on my system at full settings. I should also note that the game still looks GREAT. I was surprised by the high quality of the game's art design and visual effects, especially given some of the reviews I'd seen.

As for gameplay, Alone In The Dark delivered exactly what I was looking for: action-based survival horror PLUS good puzzles. In addition to that, once Central Park is reached, AITD allows the player to freely roam around and complete objectives. Definitely my kind of game! Now, if you are the kind of player who prefers straight-forward, linear action games without a lot of thinking involved, then this game may not be for you. In fact, that may actually explain some of the negative reviews out there - reviewers were expecting a typical survival horror game similar to the later Resident Evil sequels and Alone In The Dark is something entirely different indeed!

Again, Alone In The Dark is not perfect, but it's Really Good if you're looking for what it offers: a mix of action and puzzle-based gameplay in highly atmospheric - not to mention creepy - environments which include both linear AND open-world areas. As I mentioned earlier the controls feel a bit clumsy at times and, being a PC gamer, I prefer quick saves over console-like checkpoints. But these are my only complaints about an otherwise excellent survival horror adventure. Four stars!

This Game has exceptional graphics and an excellent storyboard. Even in today's gaming technology will you have trouble finding graphics as good as these. That combined with realistic physics makes the game very realistic. I would probably buy this game for $40 if that was the advertized price. The thing I like about this storyboard is that it's more realistically plotted and makes you want to know what happens next. To back it all up, the gameplay is very well set up. If you want a game with more shooting and combat, this is probably not the best game for you. Though there is a fair amount of human vs. zombie combat, a lot of it is figuring out ways to get around obstacles. For instance, you are in the sewers and there's a loose wire that is touching the water. You'll end up having to find a way to either turn off the wire or get around it without being electricuted. It's a great game, and if you like quality graphics and challenging gameplay, I strongly recommend it.