What are you thinking? General Gaming Edition!

[Gun Powder B]

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New Alone in the Dark incoming? I've been a fan for a loooong time and even played One Eyed Jack's Revenge before I played Resident Evil (Though once I played Resident Evil I quickly thought RE trumped AitD).

Interesting if true, and am wondering what THQ Nordic can do with the franchise.

 

[Gun Powder B]

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Confirmed! It's a reboot of the original trilogy but with 3rd person over the shoulder camera.

Someone at THQ Nordic has been doing their homework on what survival horror fans want in 2022.

Hell yeah I can't wait to try this out, will be following.

 

[Turo602]

As cool as another announcement of a third-person survival horror game is, I don't know how I really feel about this one. Alone in the Dark is a series that only ever reached its height before Resident Evil and has struggled to establish a proper identity for itself since.

While I'd like to hold out hope that this could be yet another cool addition to this new wave/resurgence of third-person survival horror games, THQ Nordic doesn't inspire the most confidence in me as their track record is all over the place and the game itself is being developed by some obscure studio I've never heard of before, so I'm not really expecting some meaningful take on the franchise with this.

Of all the over the shoulder survival horror games coming between now through next year, this is the only one I can kinda see being the mediocre to average of the bunch, if not, just downright awful. That may be harsh after only a few screenshots, but I can just feel it.

Not for nothing though, such low expectations does leave room to be pleasantly surprised. So there's that to look forward to hopefully. Apparently there's a trailer coming later today, so we'll see.

 

[Turo602]

Trailer looks okay.

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An in-depth look at the game from GameSpot.

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[Gun Powder B]

As cool as another announcement of a third-person survival horror game is, I don't know how I really feel about this one. Alone in the Dark is a series that only ever reached its height before Resident Evil and has struggled to establish a proper identity for itself since.

Caution is warranted of course and I haven't even seriously played an Alone in the Dark game since Alone in the Dark 3 way back in the late 1990's, where I bought a CD ROM copy they had laying around in the bargain bin at Wal Mart.

However the pendulum appears to be swinging back towards survival horror games in general after a roughly decade-and-a-half to two decade hiatus and I've been kinda nostalgic for classic Alone in the Dark lately (something I have never been until now) so if the reviews hold up reasonably well I'll be excited to give this a shot.

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Edward Carnby is a badass, I still think this one of the best intro's in survival horror.

 

[Turo602]

Alone in the Dark was before my time and I have never played a single game in the series. Honestly, this is probably the first time I've ever done a deep dive on the series just to know what it's all about. I've seen footage of the original game here and there before and everytime I see it, I can't help but laugh at how bad it looks. Didn't realize until today that Alone in the Dark was from 1992, which I guess for the time was pretty impressive.

But I can definitely see why the series was never able to keep up in a post Resident Evil world. My first exposure to the series was the 2008 game, so I was definitely bewildered by the stark contrast in atmosphere and tone the game had compared to its original which doesn't exactly seem fitting of the title "Alone in the Dark" and looks more like a game of Clue than a horror experience.

That's something I think this series has probably struggled with. It doesn't seem to have any kind of identity nor one that has stuck into the public consciousness the way Resident Evil and even the long dormant Silent Hill has. They did a whole trilogy set in the 1920s all with a similar style, but everything after that has been these completely different things starring a guy named Edward Carnby as either an alias or an immortal just to keep the story in the present. Yet they all seem like such drastic departures that don't quite understand what "Alone in the Dark" really means, and to be honest, I don't either. I think the last one was even a 4-player shooter or something.

I can see why they'd want to distance themselves from the original games, but they haven't successfully transitioned the series into something new while simultaneously staying faithful to the original idea of the series. This new game seems to be doing that far better than any of the others, but is lacking modern horror sensibilities and the polish and graphical detail of the other third-person survival horror games we've seen so far. I don't really see this being a hit or reviewing too spectacularly, but I'm definitely intrigued by its historical importance to the genre.

Apparently there was a cancelled remake of the first game around 2003 I think that was inspired by Resident Evil REmake. I thought it looked really good and I love the ways in which it utilizes the fixed camera perspective to create interesting scenarios to scare the player with.

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Honestly, the creativity and abundance of ways to create tension and horror through fixed perspectives is what I really miss about classic survival horror games because they can only really be achieved with fixed cameras as opposed to staring at the character's back or viewing what's in front of you in first-person.

It's a shame the game didn't see the light of day as it was probably the most solid direction they ever had. However, combat did seem to be done entirely through quick time events which is a little strange, but also kind of gives the game a much more cinematic feel like those Quantic Dream games or those recent Dark Pictures Anthology games, which honestly seems like quite a clever evolution of the series.

As for this survival horror renaissance, as much as I'm excited to see what Capcom is gonna do with Resident Evil 4, and as cool as the Callisto Protocol and Dead Space look, I think the game I'm most excited for is Alan Wake II. Remedy just never misses. I was a big fan of the first one and it's been like 12 years since it came out and after how impressive Control was, I can't wait to see what they have in store for their first survival horror game. Survival horror fans have long talked about their enjoyment of Alan Wake despite being more of a psychological thriller than a survival horror game, so for Remedy to embrace survival horror is really cool and shows that they know their audience.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Yeah the only one I played was I think the 2008 one. It had some good use of lighting in some ways, but the movement and aiming animations weren't so good, and the driving you had to do was even worse. I really didn't care much for the gameplay either, which involved some weird platforming at times and evading these black spikes that came up out of the ground everywhere. The 2008 one was an Atari game though, and it looks like THQ Nordic want to honor the originals with better graphics and controls. I also like the look of the trailer, the game shows promise.

That said, the more I see of The Calisto Protocol tells me THAT is the Survival Horror game I want to play the most.

Have you guys seen the latest footage of it? This is what I call hardcore horror!

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[SaddlerFan]

Yeah the only one I played was I think the 2008 one. It had some good use of lighting in some ways, but the movement and aiming animations weren't so good, and the driving you had to do was even worse. I really didn't care much for the gameplay either, which involved some weird platforming at times and evading these black spikes that came up out of the ground everywhere. The 2008 one was an Atari game though, and it looks like THQ Nordic want to honor the originals with better graphics and controls. I also like the look of the trailer, the game shows promise.

That said, the more I see of The Calisto Protocol tells me THAT is the Survival Horror game I want to play the most.

Have you guys seen the latest footage of it? This is what I call hardcore horror!

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Oh wow, this looks EXTREMELY impressive! I'm gonna put this one on my list of "might buy" games!

 

[Gun Powder B]

@Turo602 Absolutely agree about 'Control', it was a game that just 'worked' without seeming to try too hard, the gameplay elements just came together perfectly. I did not particularly care for the story though, the in game dialogue was way too nuanced and kinda bored me but that in fact may work better for a survival horror game.

@Frag Maniac yeah that looks pretty great but I may be put off by it seeming to be too high tech and futuristic. STALKER, in my opinion, is the perfect type of game that blends modern and futuristic tech perfectly. A modern setting that gravitates or "leans" towards the future works for me but too futuristic usually turns me off.

 

[Frag Maniac]

@Frag Maniac yeah that looks pretty great but I may be put off by it seeming to be too high tech and futuristic. STALKER, in my opinion, is the perfect type of game that blends modern and futuristic tech perfectly. A modern setting that gravitates or "leans" towards the future works for me but too futuristic usually turns me off.

I'm a bit more setting flexible than that. I'm OK with a rustic or steampunk style, but too many clean lines on ship interiors ala Star Trek kind of put me off (though no one I've seen makes that mistake in this genre). I feel The Calisto Protocol is capturing the feel Dead Space had in it's own way, that was my take on it.

 

[Turo602]

@Turo602 Absolutely agree about 'Control', it was a game that just 'worked' without seeming to try too hard, the gameplay elements just came together perfectly. I did not particularly care for the story though, the in game dialogue was way too nuanced and kinda bored me but that in fact may work better for a survival horror game.

Yeah, the story in Control didn't really grab me as much as its connections to Alan Wake did. It takes what happened in Alan Wake and zooms out to establish a world around it, which just makes me more excited for the sequel now that there's all these other elements at play and so much crossover potential.

That's not to take anything away from Control either, because like you said, the game just works, and it does so in large part due to its incredible gameplay mechanics that flow together so effortlessly along with its shifting office building setting and otherworldly atmosphere that pushes you through its complicated yet very well defined world.

One gripe I will mention however is the overuse of documents to explain concepts to the player. I don't usually mind reading files in games, this is a Resident Evil forum after all, but I think Remedy has a tendency to go overboard with it that if you actually stopped to read them all, the flow of gameplay would come to a drastic halt.

I had this problem with Quantum Break and didn't bother with most of the files in Control except for the ones related to Alan Wake. Hell, they were the main collectible of Alan Wake too, but at least in that game they were narrated for you and actually played into the story. It's nice that Remedy is able to flesh out their worlds so well, but it is definitely overkill.

Regardless, I think Control is one of the best games in recent memory and it's a damn shame it doesn't get enough appreciation. Remedy is no stranger to the creepy, dark, and mysterious, so I definitely can't wait to see their take on survival horror. Especially in that amazing Northlight Engine of theirs.

 

[Jonipoon]

I guess I'm in the minority here then for not liking Control. I found the story to be very unfocused and even random at times, and the characters were extremely boring and lifeless (especially the protagonist). Getting superpowers was fun I guess but I got the same enjoyment from getting superpowers in Saints Row IV or playing around with objects in Portal. There's nothing wrong with utilizing non-linear storytelling to tell your story if you do it the right way, but Remedy should stick to more traditional storytelling techniques which they did so well in Alan Wake.

 

[Gun Powder B]

Well yeah if characters are your primary concern and number one motive for playing games, you probably wouldn't like Control. I had tons of fun with the gameplay and graphics though, as playing it with DLSS and Ray Tracing at 100+ fps felt like a unique experience, as well as being able to upgrade your weapons and your preferred loadout. Was an absolute wrecker with 'Grip' and 'Pierce' but unfortunately I'm not in my teens and 20's anymore so age is starting to dilute my reflexes a little bit, and may try a '****ter' and 'Charge' loadout sometime in the future.

'Levitate' as well 'Shield' and 'Barrage' were absolute gifts and had a blast with them. It just felt like really nice toolbox of skills you could play with and while the gameworld is fairly constrained and localized, the freedom you had to mix and match weapons and powers was fairly surreal. The game was like "Here's a situation, have fun and do you" with minimal hand holding on implementing combat strategies.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I guess I'm in the minority here then for not liking Control. I found the story to be very unfocused and even random at times, and the characters were extremely boring and lifeless (especially the protagonist). Getting superpowers was fun I guess but I got the same enjoyment from getting superpowers in Saints Row IV or playing around with objects in Portal. There's nothing wrong with utilizing non-linear storytelling to tell your story if you do it the right way, but Remedy should stick to more traditional storytelling techniques which they did so well in Alan Wake.

I'm probably even more in the minority for avoiding it altogether because the setting and gameplay looked far too repetitive and boring to me. It takes more than just super powers and upgrades to keep me interested in a game, especially if the combat and levels start feeling like a continuously repeating loop.

 

[Turo602]

Well yeah if characters are your primary concern and number one motive for playing games, you probably wouldn't like Control. I had tons of fun with the gameplay and graphics though, as playing it with DLSS and Ray Tracing at 100+ fps felt like a unique experience, as well as being able to upgrade your weapons and your preferred loadout. Was an absolute wrecker with 'Grip' and 'Pierce' but unfortunately I'm not in my teens and 20's anymore so age is starting to dilute my reflexes a little bit, and may try a '****ter' and 'Charge' loadout sometime in the future.

'Levitate' as well 'Shield' and 'Barrage' were absolute gifts and had a blast with them. It just felt like really nice toolbox of skills you could play with and while the gameworld is fairly constrained and localized, the freedom you had to mix and match weapons and powers was fairly surreal. The game was like "Here's a situation, have fun and do you" with minimal hand holding on implementing combat strategies.

Yeah, the key to a great Metroidvania is in the player's moveset and Jesse's paranatural powers are just simply some of the most fun and fluid I've ever experienced in a video game.

I played Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order earlier this year and was a little let down by the lack of environmental interactivity when throwing objects around which was just far more superior in Control and an incredible spectacle. The gameplay progression, much like Fallen Order and other Metroidvanias is quite satisfying too in that you start weak and end the game powerful, making you constantly change your strategy with each new power, weapon, and upgrade, until you become a force to be reckoned with.

Its design, like you mentioned, allows for a ton of freedom in how you play the game, so I definitely don't see where repetition becomes a problem and it's one of the reasons why the Metroidvania structure has always been one of my favorites in gaming as it blends linear game design with the freedom and exploration of an open-world. I also think its brutalist architecture looks stunning, especially when contrasted with the game's supernatural elements and eerie tone.

The game apparently takes a lot of inspiration from the SCP Universe and the book House of Leaves which is known for its unconventional and meta storytelling, something Remedy is no stranger to and as a fan of their work and general style, I absolutely loved how weird Control was, but I can definitely see why it wouldn't be for everyone and honestly, that's fine. I'm glad Remedy makes games the way they want to, even if not everyone quite gets it.

I've loved Sam Lake's writing since Max Payne and his penchant for the dark, weird, and mysterious and Control has it all despite a weak story and flat characters which for me personally, is propped up by its richly detailed world and moment to moment gameplay that throws you into the strangest scenarios like chasing around a possessed rubber duck and going through a trippy shifting maze with metal blasting in the background.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I played Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order earlier this year and was a little let down by the lack of environmental interactivity when throwing objects around which was just far more superior in Control and an incredible spectacle.

I have a feeling that may have been more to keep within the style of combat seen in the original movies. Star Wars fights have never really been about tossing things at enemies, more like Force Pushing them off cliffs, in a large, daunting, Imperial-like setting. It also keeps the player honest by forcing you to use just your Jedi powers, vs tossing any random object like a housewife who's fighting with her husband. Transpose house to office, and that's what Control is to me, a mad chick tossing furniture around as if she's enraged that she isn't getting equal pay or suffering harassment, and that style literally continues through the WHOLE game!

 

[Turo602]

I have a feeling that may have been more to keep within the style of combat seen in the movies. Star Wars fights have never really been about tossing things at enemies, more like Force Pushing them off cliffs, in a large, daunting, Imperial-like setting. It also keeps the player honest by forcing you to use just your Jedi powers, vs tossing any random object like a housewife who's fighting with her husband. Transpose house to office, and that's what Control is to me, a mad chick tossing furniture around as if she's enraged that she isn't getting equal pay or suffering harassment, and that style literally continues through the WHOLE game!

I don't really get how using Jedi powers is "honest." It's the same exact power and the movies have always been limited and inconsistent in how and when they use it. Regardless, we've just recently seen Obi-Wan hurl a bunch of rocks at Darth Vader and you'd think a video game would be the perfect outlet to let one have fun with that sort of stuff like with The Force Unleashed. Not saying it shouldn't be more grounded than The Force Unleashed, but they could definitely do more. Also don't get what all that strange projection about women has to do with Control.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I don't really get how using Jedi powers is "honest." It's the same exact power and the movies have always been limited and inconsistent in how and when they use it. Regardless, we've just recently seen Obi-Wan hurl a bunch of rocks at Darth Vader and you'd think a video game would be the perfect outlet to let one have fun with that sort of stuff like with The Force Unleashed. Not saying it shouldn't be more grounded than The Force Unleashed, but they could definitely do more. Also don't get what all that strange projection about women has to do with Control.

Maybe we're mixing SW movies here, I edited my reply to "original" movies just for clarity. I don't consider Disney has really genuinely followed the excellent canon left behind by Lucas. I mean just the fact that nit wits like Kathleen Kennedy are OK with changing Lando Calrissian from a ladies man into a perv with a fetish for robots is a prime example. I also don't consider Disney's Obi Wan-Kenobi to be a movie at all. It was barely good enough to be a mediocre TV mini series.

Suffice it to say there's been a TON of bad changes since Disney took over SW, and none of them are good, including and especially the lightsaber fight choreography, or as Disney calls them, "laser swords".

At any rate, I stand behind what I said, no self respecting fan of the original canon is happy tossing anything handy at enemies. That's not true to the original Jedi canon. Thank God Respawn have the balls to do it the right way, though I have to wonder how long that will last if Disney gets their dirty mitts on the games.

 

[Gun Powder B]

Transpose house to office, and that's what Control is to me, a mad chick tossing furniture around as if she's enraged that she isn't getting equal pay or suffering harassment, and that style literally continues through the WHOLE game!

You're letting prejudice cloud your judgement here, the game has literally nothing to do with political issues regarding women's rights, the entire story is about her trying to free her brother from the clutches of the Hiss. That is literally it, the characters could have been reversed as in "brother trying to save sister" and I still would have felt identical about 'Control'.

Oftimes I wish more games gave a choice between choosing male or female protagonists just to avoid these kinds of headache gender biases that pop up. It looks like 'Alone in the Dark' is doing just that just like in "A New Nightmare". Perhaps more devs should take note of that.

 

[Frag Maniac]

You're letting prejudice cloud your judgement here, the game has literally nothing to do with political issues regarding women's rights, the entire story is about her trying to free her brother from the clutches of the Hiss. That is literally it, the characters could have been reversed as in "brother trying to save sister" and I still would have felt identical about 'Control'.

Oftimes I wish more games gave a choice between choosing male or female protagonists just to avoid these kinds of headache gender biases that pop up. It looks like 'Alone in the Dark' is doing just that just like in "A New Nightmare". Perhaps more devs should take note of that.

LOL, you're reading FAR too much into my example. I was thinking more in socio economic terms, but mainly just a preference in combat. At least in Star Wars games you generally have a good variety of settings and ways to fight. Control is so repetitive in both. Even a lot of the people that love it I've talked to know and admit that.