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Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare key art: Edward Carnby with a revolver beside Aline Cedrac holding a flashlight in green-tinted darkness

Survival horrorCosmic and Lovecraftian horrorPS1 horror

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

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Take a flashlight into the dark of Shadow Island, where the creatures wait in every shadow.

Platforms
PC
Stores
Steam, GOG
Price
Paid
Rated
Mostly Positive on Steam (71% of 710 reviews)
Players
1
Controls
Keyboard or controller.
Made by
Darkworks; published by THQ Nordic (originally Infogrames)
Released
2001
Get it on Steam GOG

What frightens Edward Carnby and Aline Cedrac land on Shadow Island off the coast of Maine to find three ancient tablets, and creatures of the dark come at them from every shadow. Through pre-rendered rooms of a dark mansion and forest, the flashlight is both your way to see and a weapon against things that hate the light, with a pistol and whatever items you can find.

Content: violence, jumpscares.

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare is a 2001 survival horror game by Darkworks, the fourth in the series and its first reboot. Edward Carnby and Aline Cedrac search Shadow Island for three ancient tablets, armed with a pistol and a flashlight that also drives back the creatures of the dark.

About Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare was developed by Darkworks and first released by Infogrames in 2001 on Windows, PlayStation, Dreamcast and Game Boy Color. It is the fourth game in the series that began survival horror, and its first reboot. Today it is sold on PC through Steam and GOG, published by THQ Nordic.

Supernatural detective Edward Carnby comes to Shadow Island, off the coast of Maine, after his best friend Charles Fiske is found dead there. Fiske had been searching for three ancient tablets that unlock a dangerous power. Carnby arrives with Aline Cedrac, a professor, and the two are separated on landing: you choose one of them, and each has a different adventure on the island.

You explore a forest and a dark mansion through pre-rendered rooms under fixed camera angles, finding items and clues and fighting what you must. Light is the centre of the game: the store calls the flashlight a weapon against the creatures of the dark, and much of the fear comes from what waits just past its beam. The store also names H.P. Lovecraft as an influence.

It suits players who like the early 2000s survival horror of Resident Evil and Silent Hill and want the series that came before both, in its best regarded later entry.

How to play Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

  1. Buy it on Steam or GOG and start a new game.
  2. Choose Edward Carnby or Aline Cedrac; each plays a different adventure on Shadow Island.
  3. Explore each room under the fixed camera and use your flashlight to see what the dark hides.
  4. Pick up items, documents and ammunition, and use them where the way is blocked.
  5. Turn your light and your pistol on the creatures when they come, or get away from them.

Screenshots

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare screenshot: Carnby shines a flashlight in an old mansion bedroom with a skull on the dresser
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare screenshot: Carnby stands with a pistol in the rain on a path through a dead forest
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare screenshot: a figure walks a stone passage between barred cells lit by pale tubes

Tips

  • Point the flashlight around each room; items and dangers sit in the shadows.
  • Ammunition is not endless; fight only what blocks your way.
  • Read the notes you find, since they point to the tablets and the island's history.
  • Play both characters to see the whole story.

Questions

Is Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare a remake?

No. It is the fourth game in the series and a reboot, with a new story on Shadow Island for Edward Carnby and a new character, Aline Cedrac.

Do Carnby and Aline play differently?

Yes. The store says the game holds two different adventures, one for each of them.

Where can I buy it?

On PC through Steam and GOG.

When did it come out?

In 2001, on Windows, PlayStation, Dreamcast and Game Boy Color; the Steam release followed in 2013.

  • third person
  • fixed camera
  • pre-rendered backgrounds
  • flashlight
  • island
  • mansion
  • monsters
  • two campaigns
  • classic
  • reboot

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Guides with Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare is played on store.steampowered.com and its makers' stores; this page links to them and is not part of it. Pictures are from the game's own pages and remain its owner's. Terms and pictures.

Sources: store.steampowered.com, gog.com, en.wikipedia.org