Alone in the Dark

Overview

Alone in the Dark is a 2008 survival horror game, the fifth in the Alone in the Dark series. Eden Games developed the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions on its Twilight 2 engine, and Hydravision Entertainment made the Wii and PlayStation 2 versions. Atari published it. The Xbox 360 and Windows versions came out in June 2008.

You play Edward Carnby, a paranormal investigator with amnesia who escapes a collapsing building in New York City with the art dealer Sarah Flores. They meet the occultist Theophile Paddington, and the story turns on the Philosopher's Stone, a plan to unleash its power and an attempt by Lucifer to return to a body. At the end you choose whether to kill Sarah and take the demon into yourself, or let her become the Devil's vessel.

Four tech demos were shown between February and June 2008, and the working title was Alone in the Dark: Near Death Investigation. Olivier Deriviere wrote the score using virtual instruments and samplers rather than a live orchestra, with the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir singing on it. A PlayStation 3 version, Alone in the Dark: Inferno, followed with a full 360 degree camera, a simpler inventory and an extra sequence in Episode 6.

Reviews were mixed. The Xbox 360 version holds 58 out of 100 on Metacritic, with scores ranging from 3.5 out of 10 to 7 out of 10 across the major outlets. Atari threatened legal action against several European sites over low scores, arguing the reviews were based on early builds, but most refused to take them down and Atari did not go ahead. The game had sold 1.2 million copies by 31 July 2008.

Official trailer

Alone in the dark : Action gameplay Trailer, atarivideogames. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

Alone In The Dark (2008) | Full Game | No Commentary | Xbox 360 | 4K, ComkriTV. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Survival horror

Developer

Eden Games

Publisher

Atari

Series

Alone in the Dark (fifth game)

Engine

Twilight 2

Composers

Olivier Deriviere

Designers

Herve Sliwa

Writers

Herve Sliwa, Sebastien Renard, Mathieu Kendrick

Producers

Nour Polloni

Directors

David Nadal

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

No

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Achievements

Achievements49 (1,000G)

1000G possibleYes

Total

49

Gamerscore

1000

100% time

10 to 15 hours

Difficulty

5 out of 10

Playthroughs for 100%

1

1000G without online

Yes

Online trophies

0

Online note

The game has no online play.

DLC has trophies

No

1000G includes DLC

No

100% includes DLC

No

DLC note

There is no downloadable content.

Missable trophies

4

Chapter select fixes a miss

Yes

Separate trophy lists by region

Yes

Only in a language other than English

No

Languages

English, Japanese

Region note

The Japanese release has its own achievement list.

Online-only version

No

Digital-only

No

Disc-only

No

Trophy list shared with other versions

No

Other versions

The PS3 version, Alone in the Dark: Inferno, has its own trophy list.

Players with 1000G

15.17%

Gamerscore, base game

1000

Gamerscore with DLC

1000

Missable trophies

• Fisherman's Foe
• Handyman Carnby
• Blazing Roots
• One of the two ending achievements

• BLACKOUT Finish the episode without skipping any sequence. 30G 95.35% of players
• QUESTIONS Finish the episode without skipping any sequence. 30G 62.17% of players
• PAINFUL ANSWERS Finish the episode without skipping any sequence. 30G 51.44% of players
• FIGHT BACK AND LOSS Finish the episode without skipping any sequence. 30G 45.39% of players
• NOT ALONE ANYMORE Finish the episode without skipping any sequence. 30G 39.52% of players
• THE TRUTH Finish the episode without skipping any sequence. 30G 38.71% of players
• THE PATH OF LIGHT Finish the episode without skipping any sequence. 30G 31.05% of players
• THE LIGHT BRINGER Finish the episode without skipping any sequence. 30G 27.44% of players
• A Day in Central Park Complete the game. 150G 26.66% of players
• Cockpit Addict Drive all the way down 59th street in Cockpit view. 20G 27.41% of players
• The Blind Man Finish the 'Wake Up' sequence without blinking. 10G 35.76% of players
• Countdown to Death Stop your wound from bleeding. 10G 66.16% of players
• Purification by Fire Destroy the Vampirz' nest. 10G 48.71% of players
• Meet Again Meet Theophile in room 943. 10G 41.76% of players
• Revive Revive Sarah. 10G 48.05% of players
• Stuntman Jump across the gap using the tow truck. 10G 49.05% of players
• Hidden Cave Discover the secret of Central Park. 10G 28.69% of players
• The Path of Light Don't kill Sarah. 15G 28.34% of players
• The Path of Darkness Kill Sarah. 15G 27.92% of players
• Burning Root Burn a root of evil. 10G 42.21% of players
• Flaming Roots Burn half of the roots of evil. 25G 30.39% of players
• Blazing Roots Burn all roots of evil. 50G 23.34% of players
• Basic Combination Tape up a bottle. 5G 62.34% of players
• Nuke Kill 3 Humanz at once. 25G 37.86% of players
• The Smart Fighter Kill any Humanz with the 'spray + lighter' combination. 5G 48.38% of players
• The Molotov Cocktail Insert a wick into a bottle with flammable content. 5G 62.78% of players
• Cocoon Burn a cocoon. 20G 62.23% of players
• The Air Bomb Throw a bottle filled with flammable liquid and shoot it mid-air. 5G 63.52% of players
• The Sticky Bomb Take a bottle filled with flammable content or a spray and combine it with an adhesive. 5G 64.66% of players
• Fire Bullets Make a fire bullet by pouring flammable liquid on it. 5G 64.2% of players
• The Glowstick Bomb Combine a taped bottle filled with flammable content or a spray with a glowstick. 5G 44.18% of players
• Useless! Combine an empty taped bottle with a wick and an emergency flare. 10G 25% of players
• Handyman Carnby Make all possible combinations in the inventory. 30G 16.53% of players
• The Sharpshooter Finish off a Humanz by shooting fire bullets at it's fissure. 20G 53.82% of players
• Demolition Expert Build the most destructive weapon. 20G 40.53% of players
• Fissure Burn a fissure. 20G 54.29% of players
• The Biggest of All Beat the Museum Monster. 25G 41.34% of players
• Goal! Kick 10 Ratz. 20G 34.85% of players
• Toasted Eggs Burn a Ratz nest. 20G 58.95% of players
• Vampirz Burn one of the Vampirz. 20G 52.6% of players
• Fisherman's Foe Shoot a goldfish. 10G 30.48% of players
• Unlimited Offer Call all contacts in your address book. 10G 35.26% of players
• Wired Hotwire a car. 10G 74.16% of players
• Car Thievery Unlock a car door after breaking the window. 10G 81.38% of players
• Free Gasoline Pierce a car gas tank and fill a bottle with the fuel. 10G 29.15% of players
• Never Leave a Key Here Find a car key in the sun visor. 10G 44.99% of players
• The 10 Mile Race Drive at least 10 miles with a vehicle. 20G 63.51% of players
• Eradication Kill 100 Humanz. 50G 28.44% of players
• Bloody Mary Bandage 5 deep bleeding wounds. 10G 41.15% of players

Space and patches

Space needed6.5 GB

DLC

Alone in the Dark had no downloadable content on Xbox 360.

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

Single-player only, with no online features.

Online

Plays offlineYes

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	Xbox 360	58	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
Destructoid	3.5	10
Edge	7	10
Eurogamer	7	10
Game Informer	6.5	10
GamePro	2.5	5
GameSpot	6.5	10
GameSpy	2	5
GameTrailers	7.3	10
IGN	3.5	10
Official Xbox Magazine (US)	5.5	10
Famitsu	24	40

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Director	David Nadal
Producer	Nour Polloni
Designer	Herve Sliwa
Artist	Jean-Christophe Blanc
Artist	Gilles Benois
Writer	Herve Sliwa
Writer	Sebastien Renard
Writer	Mathieu Kendrick
Composer	Olivier Deriviere

Notes for collectors

• Eight of the 49 achievements are for finishing an episode, and all eight share the same description text. They are worth 30 gamerscore each.
• Finishing the game is worth 150 gamerscore in one achievement, the biggest on the list. The full list adds up to 1,000.
• The PlayStation 3 version was reworked as Alone in the Dark: Inferno, with a full 360 degree camera and a new sequence in Episode 6. The Xbox 360 disc has the original game.
• The European Limited Edition included a 15 cm Edward Carnby figurine, an art book, a Making Of DVD and a soundtrack CD.
• In the UK the Limited Edition was only sold through Game stores.
• Atari threatened lawsuits against several European sites over low review scores, saying they were based on pre-release code. Most sites refused to remove their reviews and no lawsuits followed.

Credits

Publisher

Atari

Developer

Eden Games

Director

David Nadal

Released

2008-06-23

Age rating

M (Mature)

Region

US

Time to beat

about 9 hours

Copies in the shop

• Alone in the Dark (XBOX 360) CA$14.99