Joystiq

Alone in the Dark (PC, Mac, 3DO)

It's hard to imagine it when looking at these primitive polygonal graphics, but for its time the original Alone in the Dark was downright chilling. It was developed and published by Infogrames (which would later assume the Atari brand) in 1992 for MS-DOS based PCs, later appearing on Mac and the ill-fated 3DO.

Alone in the Dark was a horror game that combined puzzle solving and combat against monsters that roamed the corridors of a Louisiana mansion. It was the first game of its ilk to combine polygonal characters and pre-rendered backgrounds, with action viewed from set camera angles.

Players controlled either private detective Edward Carnby or a female character, Emily Hartwood, as they worked to unravel the source of the sinister happenings in the house while fending off aggressive creatures. The game made waves due to its spine-tingling atmosphere, but also offered a higher degree of non-linear gameplay than had previously been found in horror titles.

Fun Fact: The game drew inspiration from the horror novels of H.P. Lovecraft, and contained many references to the author's Cthulhu mythology.

24/06/08