Alone in the Dark hands-on

Friday 12 May 2006
"Only Resident Evil 4 has driven survival-horror forwards." So says Eden, the developer of Alone in the Dark for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. As arguably the great granddaddy of the entire survival-horror genre, Alone in the Dark hasn't really fulfilled its horrifying potential until now, but this next-gen regeneration of the classic series is already impressive enough to make us forget that Resi 5 hasn't even turned up to E3 2006.

The game takes place in New York, where a terrifying force has erupted from underneath Central Park and torn through the city. Alone in the Dark is massively ambitious - the game takes place in the whole of Central Park, as a free-roaming open environment, as you search for the paranormal power hidden somewhere under the park.

Above: The game takes place in Central Park where a paranormal power is hidden somewhere under the park

We were treated to a collection of real-time demos, showing off both the gameplay dynamics and the new technological wonders behind the scenes. The watchword for this dose of scare-tastic action is immersion, something we saw immediately as Alone in the Dark's hero, Edward Carnaby, woke up blindfolded in the first demo.

Like Half-Life, the game keeps you involved even during cutscenes, and we watched as the blindfold was removed and Atari's guide used the analogue sticks to blink and clear the character's vision.