Classic horror game reboot 'janky', say critics

Terrifying. Creepy. Haunting. All words you'd probably want to be associated with your newly released horror game.

And the word lots have used is "jank" - questionable quality all round, with bugs, glitches and clunky combat.

But not all reviewers were put off by the game's rough edges, and there was plenty of praise for the two leads.

The title, developed by small Swedish studio Pieces Interactive, is a new version of the classic series hailed as the "original survival horror".

First released in 1992, it paved the way for others - most notably Resident Evil and Silent Hill - in one of the most popular and influential genres of the past 30 years.

Alone in the Dark's own history has been troubled, and the previous release 2015's Illumination, was slammed by critics.

The remake goes back to the original's roots - there are two playable characters, and the action again centres around Derceto Manor, a creepy care home deep in 1920s Louisiana.

Prior to release, BBC Newsbeat spoke to creative director Mikael Hedberg, who's been dubbed "the Stephen King of video games", and producer Andreas Schmiedecker from publisher THQ.

Mikael was responsible for Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Soma - two games that regularly appear on "scariest ever" lists.

He told Newsbeat that Alone in the Dark was more of a "chilling haunted house experience" and much gentler than his previous works.

On that point reviewers seemed to agree. Most - including Metro, which gave the game seven out of ten - said it wasn't especially scary.

But others, such as Push Square, which awarded six out of ten, said its sound design and atmosphere - leaning more towards psychological scares than outright horror - were creepy and unsettling.

There was broad praise for Jodie Comer and David Harbour's performances as main characters Edward Carnby and Emily Hartwood, even if the script they were working from wasn't so kindly received.

Some outlets suggested the two had been brought in for their star power, such as GameSpot, which accused the makers of "stunt-casting" in its four out of ten review.

The game's producer Andreas told Newsbeat using the two actors wasn't a "gimmick", but did admit having the two Hollywood stars on board helped the game "to reach more people".

David Harbour's performance has been a source of debate since he was quoted last August telling the Happy Sad Confused podcast that recording for Alone in the Dark was "limited in scope".

He spoke about recording his lines using facial capture techniques, rather than a full-body motion capture set up.

Many took this to mean he was unhappy with how things had gone, but Mikael insisted this wasn't the case.

"The stuff that I heard felt like he wanted to really do more, and not in a bitter way, but more 'I wish I could have done all of this stuff'."

The other point both developers mentioned to Newsbeat was their desire to do justice to the original game and the legacy of the series.

Mikael said: "It was important that we tried to do something that can stand by itself but also truly pay homage to the original."

Critics had very mixed takes on how well the game did this.

Eurogamer's Vikki Blake, in her two-star review, said "bugs and glitches" reminded her of old-school horror games, but not necessarily in a good way.

And while she praised the "thoughtful design" of parts of the game she said the overall delivery was "unpolished".

But for others, such as GamingBible's Richard Lee Breslin, who gave a seven out of ten review, for those who can look past the lack of gloss there's fun to be had.

He wrote: "If you love old-school horror games, then Alone in the Dark could be your surprise contender for 2024."

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