Game news 30 years later, why did this horrific trilogy mark the history of video games?

Game news 30 years later, why did this horrific trilogy mark the history of video games?

Maybe you’ve been a fan of Alone in the Dark for thirty years or so. Or maybe you’re waiting for the episode edited by THQ Nordic scheduled for March 20, 2024 to play Edward Carnby for the very first time. Whether you want to recall good memories or learn everything you absolutely need to know to embark on the epic journey to come, here is an article that summarizes what you need to know about the first three Alone in the Dark.

Alone in the Dark: the origins of evil

In recent weeks, we have published two articles looking back at the design of the very first Alone in the Dark designed by Frédérick Raynal and his team in 1992. The first focused on the game design ideas that made Alone a special software , while the second looked back on the eventful genesis of the creation of Infogrames. What we must remember is that what we consider to be the first Survival Horror 3D in history was born from a misunderstanding (between Raynal and Bonnell, the big boss), and that the passion as well as the genius of a small group of artists/developers (Frédérick Raynal, Yaël Barroz, Didier Chanfray, Hubert Chardot, etc.) generated the biggest success of Infogrames of the time. The blow was so powerful that in a short time, he convinced a certain Shinji Mikami, working more than 9,000 km away, to use the same formula for the horror game he was developing: Resident Evil.

The story of Alone in the Dark takes place within the walls of Derceto, Louisiana, a home where Evil seems to lurk in every corner. In any case, this is what its owner, the painter Jeremy Hartwood, says, lamenting a demonic presence lurking in the shadows.. He allegedly killed himself in the attic to end his torment. In any case, this is the official version. The player chooses to lead Emily Hartwood, Jeremy’s niece, who makes it her mission to find out what really happened to her uncle, or Edward Carnby, a detective whose mission is to find an old piano placed inside of the manor, at the request of one of his clients. It doesn’t matter who the player leads: all they find in the building are monsters! The goal is to find a way to escape the house, but to do so, you must face Ezechiel Pregzt, a warlike pirate who exerts his demonic hold on Derceto. At the end of the adventure, and despite a final twist that is more amusing than frightening, the selected protagonist escapes unscathed.

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Alone in the Dark II: risky mission for Carnby, but not for Infogrames

After the success of Alone in the Dark in 1992, the managers of Infogrames put pressure so that a sequel based on everything that had already been put in place would see the light of day quickly, even if it meant ignoring Frédérick’s ambitions. Raynal. Not seeing a possible future with Bruno Bonnell, Raynal left the company. He takes with him three other employees of the group: Yael Barroz, Didier Chanfray and Laurent Salmeron. Although the publisher regrets these departures, he now has no resistance to impose the release of an Alone in the Dark II at Christmas 1993. This sequel, made under tight deadlines, is based on everything which was technically done with the first episode. Even if it doesn’t really bring anything new, the press of the time praises a better lifespan and a not unpleasant “action” turn, even if certain labyrinths and a few puzzles caused a stir.

Alone in the Dark II takes place a few months after the events of Derceto. No more pianos to find, Carnby now has a much more delicate mission, that of finding the trace of little Grace Saunders, who is said to be held captive in a large house called Hell’s Kitchen. This information was sent by Ted Stryker, a detective hired by the child’s father. Unfortunately, he is killed before he can free Grace. Arriving there, Carnby discovers gangster pirates who no longer have anything human in them. During the adventure, we learn that the young girl is at the center of a voodoo curse. Fortunately, the strange investigator manages to defeat the supernatural forces lurking and escapes with Grace by boat. This opus includes a passage that has attracted a lot of attention: at one point, Carnby wears the costume of Santa Claus to fool his adversaries…

Alone in the Dark III: The Star’s Curse

After two episodes which filled Infogrames’ coffers like never before, the French publisher intends to continue to take advantage of its golden goose. As the Alone 2 team proved, it’s possible to create Carnby adventures in a short year that pay off big. While the team would like to bring big innovations for this third part, such as a camera that truly moves in the 3D universe (5 years before Silent Hill!), Bruno Bonnell turns his back on all these laudable intentions. Certainly, the prototypes show things ahead of their time, but Infogrames does not want to take unnecessary risks. The public was present with Alone 2 even if it does not reinvent the wheel? So he will still be present for Alone 3! The team is therefore making a third episode very close to the two previous parts. When it was released in December 1994, the press once again gave good reviews, but it began to grind its teeth: Alone 3 felt too reheated, despite its qualities.

This time, the strange investigator goes to Slaughter Gulch, a ghost town east of Los Angeles. Greg Saunders asks Carnby to figure out what’s going on in the Mojave Desert so that filming on his film can resume. Indeed, his team disappeared following the manifestation of supernatural entities. The problem is that Emily Hartwood, who has become a production assistant, is one of the people who is missing. For the detective, this time, it’s personal! The same goes for the main antagonist of this epic. By fending off armies of ghostly cowboys and solving the mysteries of the curse that haunts Slaughter Gulch, the hero will succeed in freeing Emily and escaping this haunted place. This episode marks players with a sequence which, as in Alone 2, is out of the ordinary. Killed during a negotiation that goes wrong, Carnby is reincarnated… as a puma!

Other Alone in the Dark games would be released in 2001, 2008 and 2015, but their connections to the original trilogy are almost non-existent. Which will not be the case with the upcoming software soon to be developed by Pieces Interactive. The elements recalled in this article should be sufficient for you to get started with the title without stumbling over the references made to the original trilogy. As a reminder, Alone in the Dark will be released on March 20, 2024 on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5.