Carnby returns
There was lot’s of stuff shown at E3 2006 that was just either a rolling movie touted as a ‘gameplay movie’ and other stuff that was literally just a tech demo of a proposed game. Happily, Alone In The Dark, from Atari, falls into neither of those categories and we were treated to running Xbox 360 code. I know for sure this is the real deal because halfway through the controller got yanked out and the whole thing froze, waiting for the controller to be plugged back in… so much for wireless, eh?
Click for larger imageAnyway, in case you’ve never heard of it, check out this First Look we posted way back in October last year, which should fill you in on everything about the game’s history. Now let’s bring ourselves bang up to date with a good look at what the new Alone In The Dark has in store for us.
Click for larger imageSo let’s kick off by having a look at the Alone In The Dark World. First off, Alone In The Dark has been brought out of the claustrophobic interiors that helped define a whole generation of survival horror games. Pretty much the entire game is set in modern day Central Park, New York and as such, it’s all big open environments… sort of. In true Alone In The Dark stylee, you still have a fixed camera showing you the area as a whole as you move from section to section.
Click for larger imageBut Alone In The Dark then hits a third person or first person perspective for the action sequences and areas where a closer view is needed. As cumbersome as this might sound, it actually works very well and the guy demo-ing the game to us didn’t seem to have much trouble.
Click for larger imageThe game world itself has been designed to behave as you’d expect the real world to behave. Now I know we’re having realism and physics rammed down our throats with every new game out there but Alone In The Dark takes an approach more akin to Half Life 2… ie. there’s stuff you have to do that can easily be achieved if you think about things logically. One good example of this happens when you’re driving along and the ground subsides suddenly beneath you. Using a bit of logic, you can make your escape from the hole you’re in by elevating a breakdown truck’s ramp, clearing off the car on there and jumping your car out of the hole. Ok, in real life we’d more than likely leg it from the collapsing ground and call the AA whilst thinking about how we’d fill out the insurance claim form, but this is a game, right?
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Click for larger imageOther touches show how developers, Eden, are trying to put some real world common sense into the game. We were shown a sequence in an underground car park where your character, Edward Carnby, opens up the door of car and then climbs in. He can look around inside, tune the radio, move seats operate the wiper and light controls. But to start the car you’ll need the keys… either that or hot wire the ignition. After being shown how to hotwire the car, using the thumbsticks to move the wires together (and after accidentally setting of the horn a couple of times) Carnby got the car started and off we went.
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