‘Alone In The Dark’ review: more trouble than terror in this disappointing reboot

Derceto Manor, the haunted setting of survival horror Alone In The Dark, is falling apart. Once a creative retreat for artists, it’s now a psychiatric hospital for high society in 1920’s Louisiana. Though it looks striking from a distance, no amount of southern gothic charm can cover up the mansion’s flaws – from peeling paint and rotting wood, to missing residents and supernatural goings-on.

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Like Derceto Manor, Alone In The Dark – a reimagining of the 1992 horror game that inspired Resident Evil – puts on a pretty face. The game’s joint protagonists are played by serious talent: David Harbour (Stranger Things) stars as grizzled private investigator Edward Carnby, while Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) plays headstrong widow Emily Hartwood. You can play as either, and although the story varies slightly depending on your choice, they begin with the same goal: to find Emily’s uncle, Jeremy Hartwood, who disappeared after warning her of cultists at the mansion.

To find him, you’ll need to solve puzzles in the real world while blasting your way through monsters in a supernatural alternate dimension. In the opening moments of the investigation, tensions are high. Derceto’s corridors feel narrow and claustrophobic, it feels like there’s danger lurking in every shadow, and your heart’s one jump scare away from leaving your body. However, developer Pieces Interactive plays its cards too early, and before any dread can truly set in, you’re thrown into combat.

Unfortunately, this is where Alone In The Dark falls apart. Repetitive enemies – humanoid mutants and shadows, with the occasional insect-thing thrown in – are slow, and shamble toward you as if politely waiting to be shot. You’re rarely in any real danger, as ammo is plentiful and the monsters themselves only take feeble swings at you. Up close, combat has all the grace of a drunken brawl outside a chippy, and we stopped using melee weapons – which are weak to begin with – because of how silly it looked.

Limp combat is exacerbated by Alone In The Dark’s many bugs. In one instance, we shot a mutant and sent it flying into the wall of a nearby mausoleum, where it remained stuck until randomly bursting into poorly-rendered flames several minutes later. Enemies were frequently caught in scenery (this will supposedly be fixed at launch) but these glitches aren’t limited to fights. Audio crackles and cuts off constantly, and hardly a moment goes by without a texture catching on Carnby or Hartwood. Scripted scares fall flat because you can’t tell if something is working or not – It’s impossible to be immersed when you’re left second-guessing every unusual interaction, wondering if it’s the work of a pesky poltergeist or (more commonly) a bothersome bug.

Even when the scares are deliberate, Alone In The Dark fails to frighten. Almost all of the horror elements are restricted to Carnby and Hartwood’s otherworldly trips, and as soon as you realise the mansion itself is largely safe, it loses all menace. This formula also makes the would-be scarier segments predictable, and they lack subtlety – there’s never any time to stew in tension before monsters jump out, and there are very few situations you can’t just shoot your way out of.

However, there are some undeniable highs. Alone In The Dark features some brilliant if repetitive puzzles, with one cracking highlight tasking you to open a padlock using spooky portraits, a family tree, and a star sign cipher. The plot, which leans heavily into surreal Lovecraftian horror, is riveting, though takes playthroughs as both Carnby and Hartwood to fully see. Even when it stops feeling intimidating, exploring Derceto Manor remains interesting – it’s a nostalgic old-school survival horror setting inspired by early Resident Evil and Silent Hill games, and learning how to get around its convoluted hallways and locked doors becomes strangely satisfying.

Derceto Manor wears its years well, but Alone In The Dark comes across as a dated patchwork of ideas. There’s a stealth feature you’ll never use, while boss fights – which are only introduced at the very end – feel like tacked-on gimmicks. Dated visuals make characters unsettling to look too closely at, while conversations with the mansion’s residents can sound a little stiff and lifeless.

Ultimately, it’s the immersion-breaking bugs, janky combat, and alarming lack of scares that fumble Alone In The Dark’s potential. Like Derceto Manor, Alone In The Dark looks alluring from the outside – but once you’re in, it’s impossible to enjoy your stay.

Alone In The Dark launches on March 20 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. We played on PS5.