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Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare key art: Edward Carnby scowling with a raised revolver, Aline Cedrac behind him with a flashlight glow, in dark green light

Survival horrorCosmic and Lovecraftian horrorPS1 horrorFixed camera 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 576 reviews); 3.6 of 5 on GOG (119 reviews); Metacritic 66 for the PC version
Length
about 7 hours
Players
1
Controls
Keyboard or controller.
Made by
Darkworks, with the PC port by Spiral House; published by THQ Nordic (originally Infogrames)
Released
2001
Get it on Steam GOG

What frightens Edward Carnby and Aline Cedrac parachute onto Shadow Island to find three ancient tablets, and creatures of the dark come at them out of every shadow. In the pre-rendered rooms of a manor and the forest around it, your flashlight is how you see, how you find items and how you drive back things that hate the light.

Content: violence, blood and gore, 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. As Edward Carnby or Aline Cedrac you search Shadow Island for three ancient tablets through fixed-camera rooms, with a pistol and a flashlight that also holds 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 came before the survival horror genre took its name, and its first reboot. Spiral House made the PC version from the Dreamcast one. Today it is sold for Windows on Steam, where it arrived in October 2013, and on GOG, published by THQ Nordic.

On the night of October 31, 2001, supernatural detective Edward Carnby flies to Shadow Island, off the New England coast, after his partner Charles Fiske is found dead there. Fiske had been searching for three ancient tablets that unlock a dangerous power. Carnby travels with Aline Cedrac, a young university professor, and when their plane is attacked the two parachute out and are separated: Carnby comes down in the forest outside a manor, Aline on its roof. You choose one of them, and each plays a different adventure that crosses the other's now and then. Carnby's side leans on fighting, Aline's more on puzzles.

You explore through pre-rendered rooms under fixed camera angles, finding items, documents and clues. Light is the centre of the game. The Creatures of Darkness are living shadows that hate light: your flashlight brightens the dark backdrops to show hidden details and items and drives some of the creatures back, and it takes light-producing ammunition such as magnesium bullets to kill them. Much of the fear comes from what waits just past the beam and the edge of the shot.

The store names H.P. Lovecraft as an influence, and the island hides a world of caverns beneath it. Critics at the time were mixed to warm: Metacritic lists the PC version at 66 and the PlayStation and Dreamcast versions in the mid seventies.

It suits players who like the fixed-camera survival horror of early Resident Evil and want the series those games grew out of, in a story built around light and darkness.

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, whose side leans on fighting, or Aline Cedrac, whose side leans on puzzles; each plays a different adventure on Shadow Island.
  3. Explore each room under the fixed camera and sweep your flashlight over it 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 on the creatures to drive them back, and use your light-based rounds to finish the ones that keep coming.

Screenshots

Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare screenshot: a man with a flashlight stands in a dim wooden bedroom with a blood-stained bed and a bookcase with a skull
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare screenshot: a man stands in a dim wooden room as two spindly, spiked creatures crawl across the floor toward the camera
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare screenshot: Carnby stands with a pistol on a muddy path in a rainy, dark forest at night, beside a wooden fence and bare trees
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare screenshot: a man in a brown jacket holds a pistol in a dim, cobwebbed wooden corridor beside a closed door and a lit lamp
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare screenshot: a hooded figure walks a cracked stone dungeon passage between barred cells lit by glowing cyan tubes

Tips

  • Point the flashlight around each room; the beam brings out items and details the dark backdrop hides.
  • The creatures die to light-producing rounds such as magnesium bullets; keep those for the ones your flashlight does not drive off.
  • Read the notes you find, since they point to the tablets and the island's history.
  • Play both characters to see the whole story; their paths cross, but each sees parts the other does not.

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. Carnby's side leans on fighting with his revolver, Aline's more on puzzles.

How long is Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare?

About 7 hours for the main story, by the HowLongToBeat figure GOG shows, and about 13 and a half hours to see everything. Playing both characters adds to that.

Is it set on Halloween?

Yes, the story takes place on October 31, 2001, though Halloween itself plays no part in the game.

Will it run on a modern Windows PC?

GOG lists Windows XP, Vista and 7 and says the game is not compatible with Windows 8 and newer. Steam lists Windows 98 to XP. Check the store's notes before you buy.

Where can I buy it?

For Windows on Steam and GOG. The GOG version also has Spanish and French voices and text, along with a manual, artwork and the soundtrack.

When did it come out?

In 2001, on Windows, PlayStation, Dreamcast and Game Boy Color; the Steam release followed on October 29, 2013.

  • third person
  • fixed camera
  • pre-rendered backgrounds
  • flashlight
  • island
  • mansion
  • monsters
  • two campaigns
  • lovecraftian
  • 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, store.steampowered.com, gog.com, en.wikipedia.org