Post by Pug' on Sept 14, 2006 0:38:19 GMT 1
September 11, 2006 - We recently had the opportunity to get the latest on one of the oldest game series in today's industry: Alone in the Dark -- The game that created the survival-horror genre back in 1992 and paved the way for series such as Capcom's Resident Evil and Konami's Silent Hill.
Eden Studios ("V-Rally") presented the status of the game and explained a few details regarding the gameplay. First of all, the developers explicitly want to get rid of the survival-horror tag, moving it slightly more into the direction of story-driven action. Elements of suspense clearly shine through all the way in Alone in the Dark, so fans of the series shouldn't fret.
Situation: Very bad.
Eden took us through a scene where the player makes use of the inventory -- wait, there is no inventory. Instead, the protagonist Edward Carnby will open his jacket and you'll see his gun in his left pocket and objects in his right pocket. The player can then intuitively pick items and weapons. In combat, players can access them quickly with a button and instantly put them away again.
Another instance of how the development team wants to immerse the player is the use of cars. Players can step right in behind the steering wheel, but by simply moving the analog stick they can move to the seat next to them, or onto the backseat. This may come in handy if -- for example -- there's an attack from the front or rear. In this case, players can shoot right through the window.
Eden Studios also showed off a technical demo where various visual effects such as depth of field, motion blur or dense lighting were shown. The result is amazing. Many effects known from TV series come to fruit in realtime, with particular attention being paid to the use of cameras. The lead character is wrapped into a yet unknown realm, controlled by unknown forces.
Cutting it really close.
In Alone in the Dark, the developers want to create suspense by putting the action right into one of the most well known places: Central Park in New York City. Why is the park located in the heart of the city? And why does it have the rectangular shape it has? Fans of conspiracy theories should listen up because this might be precisely what they're looking for. Even though it's fictional, it raises some interesting questions, no matter how likely or unlikely they are.
Another aspect the developers spoke about was the delivery of episodic adventures. It's currently planned that people can buy a retail version of the first part and buy additional episodes via the Internet, similar to a season of a regular TV-series. It might also be possible to buy a whole season in stores. But when we asked about whether there's an expected pricing scheme yet, the developers had to state that there's been no definite decision yet.
In any case, Alone in the Dark is on the right path to return to the level of credibility it achieved back then in the early '90s.
Alone in the Dark is expected to ship for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime in 2007.
images: media.pc.ign.com/media/804/804426/imgs_1.html
Eden Studios ("V-Rally") presented the status of the game and explained a few details regarding the gameplay. First of all, the developers explicitly want to get rid of the survival-horror tag, moving it slightly more into the direction of story-driven action. Elements of suspense clearly shine through all the way in Alone in the Dark, so fans of the series shouldn't fret.
Situation: Very bad.
Eden took us through a scene where the player makes use of the inventory -- wait, there is no inventory. Instead, the protagonist Edward Carnby will open his jacket and you'll see his gun in his left pocket and objects in his right pocket. The player can then intuitively pick items and weapons. In combat, players can access them quickly with a button and instantly put them away again.
Another instance of how the development team wants to immerse the player is the use of cars. Players can step right in behind the steering wheel, but by simply moving the analog stick they can move to the seat next to them, or onto the backseat. This may come in handy if -- for example -- there's an attack from the front or rear. In this case, players can shoot right through the window.
Eden Studios also showed off a technical demo where various visual effects such as depth of field, motion blur or dense lighting were shown. The result is amazing. Many effects known from TV series come to fruit in realtime, with particular attention being paid to the use of cameras. The lead character is wrapped into a yet unknown realm, controlled by unknown forces.
Cutting it really close.
In Alone in the Dark, the developers want to create suspense by putting the action right into one of the most well known places: Central Park in New York City. Why is the park located in the heart of the city? And why does it have the rectangular shape it has? Fans of conspiracy theories should listen up because this might be precisely what they're looking for. Even though it's fictional, it raises some interesting questions, no matter how likely or unlikely they are.
Another aspect the developers spoke about was the delivery of episodic adventures. It's currently planned that people can buy a retail version of the first part and buy additional episodes via the Internet, similar to a season of a regular TV-series. It might also be possible to buy a whole season in stores. But when we asked about whether there's an expected pricing scheme yet, the developers had to state that there's been no definite decision yet.
In any case, Alone in the Dark is on the right path to return to the level of credibility it achieved back then in the early '90s.
Alone in the Dark is expected to ship for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime in 2007.
images: media.pc.ign.com/media/804/804426/imgs_1.html