A Dark Past: An Alone in the Dark Retrospective

by Randy Nelson { Jun 24th 2008 at 12:30PM }

Before the "survival horror" of Resident Evil and the foggy streets of Silent Hill, there was the original Alone in the Dark – the granddaddy of the game that hits Xbox 360, Wii, and PC today. It set the course for horror games to come and spawned three sequels that have all led up to Atari's latest stab at creating a next-gen blockbuster.

Summon up your courage and join us for a terrifying look back at the series' evolution from perilously pointy polygons to an ominous Old West set and beyond. Don't be afraid – let's get started!

Tags: alone-in-the-dark, joystiqfeatures, retrospective

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Kristof @ Jun 24th 2008 1:00PM

I loved this game when it came out on the PC. I'd play it all night at my friend's. I'd always get stuck on the this one part where this monster thing would chase me through the whole house and eventually kill me. So I'd just start over again because I enjoyed it so much. The sounds made it really creepy.

Fernando Rocker @ Jun 24th 2008 1:01PM

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2008/20080623.jpg

Nesagwa @ Jun 24th 2008 1:05PM

The VB screenshot is a joke right?

Worsel @ Jun 24th 2008 1:58PM

Was playing the original last night and my 12 yr old bro came over and said "Damn, someone is ripping off Resident Evil and not doing a good job at it..."

*hand to face*

Zootittles @ Jun 24th 2008 2:43PM

The adage "History is written by the victors" springs to mind...

j.howlett @ Jun 24th 2008 4:34PM

that reminds me of the time my old roommate was showing me his D&D books and tried to tell me the things Tolkien got wrong

guidedbyvoip @ Jun 24th 2008 3:10PM

"anything they can lay their hands on to stay alive, and ultimately, solve puzzles and get past obstacles."

T,FTFY.

I never played any of these titles, because, well...lets just say I sleep in plastic sheets and have a 640 candela nightlight.

Gimbal @ Jun 24th 2008 3:23PM

The first one made we worry about reading strange books. I kept doing it though, because the sound effects that occur after you read it were awesome. You know the one I'm talking about.

Biz @ Jun 25th 2008 1:21AM

Seriously. I had a saved game I used just to hear that effect after reading the book.

PojoMofo @ Jun 24th 2008 3:28PM

I always thought AITD was complete shit when I saw it in the arcade, then I played the home version and realized that its not complete shit, just mostly shit. I have no reason to believe the new one will be any better, especailly after reading some reviews.

RIP Atari

Nesagwa @ Jun 24th 2008 4:08PM

Arcade?

scoob @ Jun 24th 2008 5:15PM

Would that be the non-existent arcade version then?

Courtney @ Jun 24th 2008 5:29PM

You've got to be talking about The House of the Dead, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_the_Dead_(arcade_game)

AoE @ Jun 24th 2008 8:25PM

no guys, you're all wrong. he meant the arcade in his MIND; where all the old infogrames hits were not pc titles, but rocking arcade games... except for alone in the dark, that one blew goats (but not horses, as he was expecting)

Courtney @ Jun 24th 2008 5:31PM

Hopefully this isn't a double post, comment system seemed to bork out on me.

You're talking about The House of the Dead, aren't you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_the_Dead_(arcade_game)

vern @ Jun 25th 2008 12:22AM

Alone in the Dark: 1992
Resident Evil: 1996

It's actually Resident Evil that is getting inspired from it. I met the creator of the game (Raynal) in 1992.

That game was so awesome for that time.
And it was also very slow lol ;)

Loved the music of the introduction!