System Requirements: IBM PC AT & compatibles (386, 486 - 25 Mhz mini); Sound Blaster, Adlib, The Sound Source and compatibles; Mouse with corresponding driver; DOS 3.0 to 6.0; hard drive with 14MB free; VGA 256 colors; @MB RAM-560 HB for executable program; 256 HB EMS.
Alone in the Dark 2 is the second installment in a series of games chronicling the adventures of private detective Edward Carnby. The story is simple enough. An adorable little girl has been kidnapped by One Eyed Jack and his band of pirates, gangsters, monsters, and witches. Carnby must break into Hell's Kitchen, the pirates' lair, and save the girl.
The problem is that there are bad guys everywhere. Just getting to the hedge maze that surrounds the house can cost Carnby his life. Once in the maze, Carnby runs into murderous, but polite, gangsters patrolling every corner. These mobsters usually say "good day, sir," as they open fire with Tommy-guns.
Like the first Alone in the Dark game, this game takes place in an immense estate. To win you have to do more than slaughter villains, you have to solve puzzles too. Some doors won't open unless nearby cards are aligned properly. Others are hidden entirely. In fact, One Eyed Jack's house, with its booby traps, hidden doors, and green skinned occupants, is enough to drive anyone mad.
As a stand-alone game, Alone in the Dark 2 is fairly strong. It's beautifully illustrated with crisp graphics drawn with artistic abandon. The animators of this game had an eye for detail so that there are almost as many things to watch as there are to kill. Like the original Alone in the Dark, this game is shown from cinematic angles which enhance the drama. The camera angle in the Alone in the Dark games changes as Carnby moves around each room.
Another carry-over from the original game is the control interface. American programmers are hooked on mice and joysticks. The French programmers behind Alone in the Dark 2 have created the most easy-to-use interface on the market using the arrow keys, the space bar, and the return key. Carnby moves fluidly, turns, walks and runs with natural motions, and fights like a real sissy. Alone in the Dark 2 is worth looking at just to watch Carnby move.
Unfortunately the creators of Alone in the Dark 2 misunderstood the success of their first game. The first game was based upon the works of H.P. Lovecraft, the turn-of-the-century horror writer who inspired Stephen King.
The Lovecraft style was the star, not Edward Carnby. The charm of the first game was an eerie house hypnotically haunted by macabre creatures and the gothic letters that spelled out the history of the house. The ghost of Lovecraft himself seemed hidden just off screen inspecting every room.
Edward Carnby was really just along for the ride. One Eyed Jack and his band of slightly immortal marauders couldn't possibly compete with so venerable a ghost as H.P. Lovecraft.
Alone in the Dark 2 is also much harder to solve than the first game. Hard-core gamers may find this game too easy, but some of the challenges are pretty stiff. Good as this game's interface is, aiming Carnby's gun is nearly impossible. You end up shooting more walls than bad guys, and you don't have any bullets to spare. It's even more frustrating to try and beat machine gun toting bad guys with your bare hands. It's too easy for them to shoot you before you get off a punch.
Gamers who enjoyed Alone in the Dark will probably like this game too, though not as much. Even without the ghost of H.P. Lovecraft, Alone in the Dark 2 is one of the most spirited games on the market.--Steven L. Kent
