Monday, March 31, 2008

Alone in the Dark



Set during 2008, the story continues with Edward Carnby, the main protagonist from the original game, looking for answers to strange supernatural and bizarre occurrences while battling his way through the opposition in New York City's Central Park.
The game story centers around myths, allegations, and suspicions of clandestine activity in tunnels found below the park. Upon current speculation, a secret society may have an at least minor degree of involvement with the activities of the game's plot. This shadowy society, or organization, is hinted at in the synopsis found in the official game website, and is said to have protected startling secrets from the public, like possible sinister activities in the park, for years. At the time of the game story, it is assumed that this society's effort to keep its secrets from leaking to the public has failed, where the synopsis states, "...the truth can no longer be contained."
When browsing the official website, there are sections of the site dedicated solely to the mysteries of Central Park. Subjects of investigation include possibly mutated trees, unusual aviary migration behavior in the park, astounding insect invasion problems, as well as the park's value in real-estate; which is stated in the website to be in excess of $528,783,552,000, a finding produced in 2007. In addition, the park's value is compared to the national defense budget, with the park being 26% higher in value than the defense budget in 2007. Also, to further support rumored reports of tunnels found below the park, it is said that the atom bomb was invented by instigation of the Manhattan Project (Curiously enough, Central Park is located in Manhattan). Conclusively, at the time of writing, there is a historical reference to a treaty between The Dutch and The English in 1667, in which The Dutch gained the island of Run (island) in exchange for the Manhattan Islands. Ironically enough, Run suffers from poverty, whilst Manhattan remains one of the most valuable islands in the world.
Alone in the Dark will develop ties between these mysterious aspects of the park, while dealing with supernatural elements as well.



The game is constructed around a unique episodic format. Each episode will conclude with a cliffhanger ending and, once the player leaves the game, a teaser of the next episode will appear. Every episode will also have video summaries which retell the player about the previous episode when a saved game is loaded, allowing them to quickly remember what objectives they have to complete.
The game has been hailed by the producers and developers to be open-ended and expansive. One such feature is the hot-wiring mini game. In one dire moment, the character may need to commandeer a car by hot-wiring. This will initiate a mini game, where Edward will rip the wires out of the car and try to start the engine. He could either succeed and be able to drive the car, or blare the car horn loudly, alerting enemies to his presence.
The player is also allowed to choose how they want to play the game. For example, instead of using a flashlight in dark areas, items can be lit with fire to traverse through the dark.




A tech demo was released on February 16, 2008 showing the inventory system and how items and environmental objects can be manipulated, as well as how items may be used together. For example, adhesive tape can be used to attach a glow stick to a wall, creating a source of light. Another example is the player using a knife to puncture a blood pack, then throwing the blood pack creating a blood trail to lure enemies from one spot to another. A second tech demo was released on February 26, 2008 showing the realistic use of fire with various objects in the game. It also shows how objects are affected when shot. The player is seen shooting a table and subsequently one of the tables legs break off, and shatters. The player then picks this up, and lights it in a fire for a spontaneous torch.


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