ALONE IN THE DARK 2 by Infogrames

Reviewed V 1.0 on 486/25, 4 MB Ram, Sound Blaster

Just as in films, there are several routes a sequel can take-- and usually, the route chosen dictates a lot about its success or failure as a follow-up to the original. One route (as exhibited in The Godfather Part II) is to expand upon the story, richly illustrate more about the characters, and take the movie in a new and meaningful direction. This takes a lot of creativity. Another route (as seen in Die Hard II) glosses over any apparent weaknesses with lots o' special effects and stunts. This takes a lot of money. Still another route (see Home Alone 2) repackages the original movie, the original characters (with no elaboration), the original plot, and tacks a "Part II" on the end of the original title. This takes no creativity and no money.

Well, Infogrames must have made a few bucks with the original Alone in the Dark, because the sequel definitely takes the Die Hard route-- and die hard it does. How can you technically improve upon a game that was technically so strong, as the first Alone in the Dark was? You can't. And any attempts simply illustrate that you lucked out with the first one. Alone 2 (not to be confused with Home Alone 2) is filled with technical problems. Well, okay, maybe in that regard it has something in common with the movie of the similar name, after all. Alone 1 was virtually bug free, but bugs roam free on the set of Alone 2: Floating pixels, walking through walls, missing MASK11.PAK files, etc. "No problem, just blame it on the gaffer or the key grip (what do those guys do, anyway?). After all, we're making a sequel here."

Ultimately, the blame must fall on the director, and the direction of Alone in the Dark 2 needs some work. Once again, you play the role of Edward Carnby (no choice at the beginning to play a woman, sorry). And like Robert De Niro did for his roles in Raging Bull and The Untouchables, Mr. Carnby has beefed up for this sequel, thanks to improved polygon characterization. His face, body, and movement are all slightly more realistic than in the original. Maybe he's just shooting for an Oscar. Regardless of the improvements, the polygons are practically the same as the original-- they stick out like a sore thumb against the beautiful bitmap backgrounds. But you can move Carnby any ol' way you feel like it, so it's a toss up.

This time around, Carnby is tackling the case of a missing girl named Grace Saunders, who has apparently been kidnapped by a pirate named One-Eyed Jack. What does this have to do with being alone, and in the dark, you ask? Very good question. Absolutely nothing. Maybe this sequel took the Home Alone 2 route after all, a movie in which the main character is neither home nor alone. Well, Carnby is rarely alone in Alone 2, either. From the first moments of the game, Carnby is on his heels, fighting thugs that come around every corner of a hedge maze (think The Shining). And from that first moment, one distinction between the original and the sequel becomes painfully obvious: Alone 2 is much more of an action game than its predecessor.

From the hedge maze, it's on to another mansion (called, appropriately enough, Hell's Kitchen), where more puzzles and more fighting await. Carnby even gets to dress up as Santa Clause (think The French Connection), and out-gun between fifteen and twenty more thugs. If you're looking for interesting and various monsters like you found in Alone 1, look elsewhere. Alone 2 is, for the most part, filled with nothing but humans... another shortcoming. After all, isn't this game supposed to be scary? Alone 1 was effectively chilling, particularly with the music and sound effects, which were certainly some of the best in any game. By comparison, the music and effects in Alone 2 are adequate at best, and annoying the rest of the time. There are no screeching violins (think Psycho), nor even chaotic bursts of music like in Alone 1. Nope, no thrills or chills here; just kills, and lots of 'em.

After the body count racks up in the mansion, Carnby gets captured and taken to a pirate ship, and a major plot twist occurs. Grace Saunders, the kidnapped girl, steps into the picture, and you step into the role of Grace. Unfortunately for Mr. Carnby, Grace's performance as the mischievous little girl upstages the returning star (think Paper Moon and The Piano). It's a lot of fun playing the game as Grace, but, unfortunately, it doesn't last too long.

You can see where this plot is going, right? Hi-jinx ensue, Carnby escapes, seeks revenge on the pirate ship Revenge (think The Princess Bride), and rescues Grace (who rescued him more than a few times herself). It's the old story of pirate-meets-girl, pirate-kidnaps-girl, detective-kills-thugs, detective-gets-captured, girl-rescues-detective, detective-rescues-girl. If you've seen it once, you've seen it a million times. If nothing else were at stake, the plot would hold it's own for any action/adventure game. But, unfortunately, a story being told in this way, with polygon characters maneuvering around bitmaps while the point-of-view cuts to a different perspective every few seconds, has some responsibility. It has to try to be scary and Alone in the Dark 2 is about as scary as a puppy caught in the rain. Additionally, since it's played and viewed like a movie (with edits), and in order for it to fare as well as the original, it should hold its own against film criticism, as Alone 1 did. Alone 2 stands up about as well as Die Hard II and Home Alone 2. In other words, it doesn't.

Here are some examples. In film theory, a high angle shot demonstrates prominence over the situation, and omnipotent power over the events of the film (er, game). In Alone in the Dark 1, high angle shots were used to foreshadow certain events. For example, the hallway between the kitchen and the dining room (where several zombies wait to feed upon Carnby) was viwed from an extreme high angle, bird's-eye view. High angle shots seem to be thrown into Alone 2 simply because "it looks cool from up here."

In film theory, low angle shots are immediately claustrophobic, and incite power to the subject. In Alone 1, when Carnby stepped into the kitchen closet, we viewed the action from an extreme low angle as if trapped in the corner. Again, there is no rhyme or reason for the placement of low angle shots in Alone 2. In fact, in the whole game there may not be _any_ shots as striking as those two examples found in Alone in the Dark 1.

Extreme long shots alienate the viewer (player) from the subject, creating independence for the subject, but also a sense of loss. Alone in the Dark 1 used this shot effectively while Carnby was navigating the pillars and the bridge maze under the house. Alone in the Dark 2 uses an extreme long shot only once, and for no apparent reason.

Simply put, most of the shot selections (given the usual exceptions) occur from the most boring perspective in film: between five and six feet off the ground, medium shot. It is the perspective we live with every day, why should we be limited to it in a game, especially when the game is supposed to treat us to so much more? Then again, Die Hard II did farely well at the box office, and contrary to the popular saying, everybody ISN'T a critic.

Out of a possible 10, Alone in the Dark 2 deserves a 7, well, maybe a 6-- no, a 7. The MASK11.PAK FILE NOT FOUND bug is simply inexcusable, but the game is still remarkable, simply for changing the way (literally) we view computer games. If the shot selection contained more intense shots as in Alone 1... If the game was scary enough to justify being called Alone in the Anything... If the music and sound were half as good as Alone 1... If.. .. If... If I finish this review fast enough, I'll have some time to play Alone in the Dark 1... again.