Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare

by Dreamcast

Product Features

• Survival horror
• Dreamcast
• Sega
• Sequel

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004WFZQ
• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 25, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,275 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: Sega Dreamcast

Amazon.com Review

The fourth installment in the series that created the survival-horror genre, Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare doesn't quite live up to its legacy, as it more often than not resembles a shoddy knockoff of the franchise that has since defined the genre, Resident Evil.

You can play The New Nightmare as either Edward Carnby, a paranormal private investigator and poster boy for the series, or Aline Cedrac, a college professor and requisite video game babe. As in Resident Evil 2, the protagonists cross paths but have separate adventures within the main story, which, in this case, involves evil supernatural forces at work on the appropriately (but unimaginatively) named Shadow Island.

Although The New Nightmare uses the genre-standard, third-person, fixed-camera viewpoint, it adds a twist by bathing most of its detailed, predrawn 3-D backgrounds in darkness, and then equipping the player with a controllable flashlight. Not only does this create some rather impressive lighting effects, but it also heightens the sense of fear that is further fueled by the game's ominous music and sounds.

Unfortunately, the rest of The New Nightmare isn't very inspired. Its underdeveloped controls are on par with the first Resident Evil, which might not be so bad if not for that fact that this combat-light game has you tediously running around looking for keys to match its many nondescript locked doors, as well as trying to find solutions to vague puzzles that all too often leave you in the dark. --Joe Hon --The text of this review refers to the PlayStation version of the game.

Pros:

• Play as either of two protagonists, each in a separate adventure
• Impressive lighting effects
• Effectively ominous music and sounds

Cons:

• Awkward viewpoints
• Clumsy, underdeveloped controls
• Gameplay is more often tedious than challenging

Amazon.com Product Description

Edward Carnby, detective of the supernatural, returns to investigate the death of his best friend, Charles Fiske, whose body was found in the waters of amysterious island off the coast of Maine. Carnby's investigation quicklyleads him to his friend's search for three ancient tablets, which, whenplaced in a specific location, will unlock an incredible and dangerouspower. Armed with a flashlight and a pistol, Carnby must find the necessaryitems to survive as well as the clues that will help him escape hisultimate nightmare.

Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare carries on the survival-horror series tradition of intense action and suspensefuladventure. Within its dark and strange atmosphere, conventional rules donot apply. The player must overcome his natural fear of the dark unknownand control Edward Carnby through the game's deep storyline.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Winning Mix of RE and Silent Hill, October 2, 2001

By 

flaviolius (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare (Video Game)

Although the Alone in the Dark series gets credit for being the originator of survival horror, Capcom's Resident Evil franchise took it to the mainstream. Now, with the release of The New Nightmare, Infogrames and Darkworks tip their hat to RE, as well as Komani's Silent Hill, and the result is a game thick with atmosphere containing all the good and bad points of typical survival horror.

AITD looks fantastic. The backgrounds are prerendered, but your character (you get a choice of two, each with separate yet overlapping adventures) wields a flashlight a la Silent Hill, but everything in the game is capable of being illuminated in real-time light and shadow. The effect is astonishing, and contributes masterfully to the ambience. Some creatures fear the light while others are drawn to it, making combat more strategical than merely blasting everything that moves. Add that the flashlight is movable via the analog stick while walking, and you have a wonderful graphical achievement.

Edward Carnby returns to investigate a friend's death on Shadow Island, and he's suitably equipped with all kinds of delicious weaponry (a triple-barreled shotgun??? Yes please!). The other selectable character, Aline Cedrac, isn't so heavily armed, and her adventure relies more on puzzle-solving. Some of the puzzles are needlessly vague, but in the end more realistic than Resident Evil (no helpfully labelled keys this time) and fit better into the overall game structure. Control is clunky, voice acting is grin-inducingly cheesy, and the menu interface is a bit complicated, although helpful on-screen icons indicate ammo count and remaining life during battle - a welcome change.

Not since Silent Hill has a game sounded so eerie. Faraway shrieks, nearby rustlings, a minimalist soundtrack all create a murky experience that is truly unsettling. Sometimes sounds will fade noticeably (the rainfall disappears during thunderclaps, for example), but Darkworks knows how to creep you out, sonically and visually.

Amazingly, the DC version of New Nightmare is cheaper than the PlayStation version, yet is a far better game, due mostly to the improved visuals. Save for the light/shadow meshing technique, it does nothing revolutionary, but delivers an engrossing plot and fantastically creepy atmosphere. As the Dreamcast fades into the gaming sunset, gamers are lucky to have bargains like this. AITD is a marvelous creation of fear on two discs - far scarier and darker than Code Veronica - and any survival horror fan would be nuts to pass this deal up.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Makes "Code Veronica" look like a game by Disney, October 11, 2001

By 

N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare (Video Game)

"Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare" pushes the graphic power of the Dreamcast to it's limits with the best graphics I've ever seen on any system. The control interface can be confusing but you get used to it quickly, and the lighting effects are simply amazing. When lightning strikes you feel your hair stand on the back of your neck, and the sound quality is very excellent, you can hear screams and footsteps from a few yards away, that alone is proof that Darkworks made this game as a labor of love. The only drawback is, and it is a big drawback, are the puzzles. The puzzles are incredibly confusing at times and do seem more tedious than challenging. That one flaw stops "Alone in the Dark" from being a Dreamcast classic. But at this price this is a must have for any fan of survival horror or any Dreamcast owner.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Weaker Resident Evil Clone, February 11, 2007

By 

Nicerobot (Burlingame, California United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Alone in the Dark 4: The New Nightmare (Video Game)

I must admit I am a diehard fan of the survival horror genre and as such, titles such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill and others will always be at the top of my list. I feel Alone in the Dark 4 aspires to be in the same league of these other games, but falls a bit short with a overly complicated plot, weak character development, and ridiculous monsters. One bright star in this title however is the wonderfully atmospheric backgrounds that do an excellent job of creating an authentic survival horror type environment...

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