Review: 'Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare'

From...

By Jake the Snake

(IDG) -- Paranormal investigator Edward Carnby is back, but the hero and his series have been warped to the present. A newly hip Carnby sports long hair and modern clothes rather than bifocals and tweed. No matter -- "The New Nightmare" for the PlayStation repeats what was great about the original game: exploring a house so creepy that Dracula himself wouldn't dare step inside.

A murder leads Carnby to Shadow Island, a dark place made even darker by the supernatural dabblings of the local gentry (the island's resident evil). Exploring a vast Victorian estate, you discover loads of evidence pointing to foul deeds, plus hellish monsters you must dispatch with such weapons as a triple-barrel shotgun, grenade launcher and plasma cannon.

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You play either Carnby or Aline Cedrac, a scholar of ethnology and one tough babe. Each follows different but overlapping paths through the two-disc game. Much of your time is spent collecting keys or other puzzle-solving clues, which are nicely woven into the story. The controls are standard survival/horror fare, and enable easy movement and combat.

The pace is slower than that of "Resident Evil," however, and the monsters are not as prevalent -- but that makes it all the scarier when a demon finally pops up. Ominous music and constant thunder keeps you edgy, but nothing is as creepy as the surroundings. The prerendered scenery would be stunningly beautiful if it wasn't so darn creepy -- it's some of the best scenery on the PlayStation. If you're a "Resident Evil" fan with no monsters left to kill, don't be lonesome -- get "Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare."