With the Alone in the Dark remake due out this October, the developers released a free playable prologue to give a taste of the game’s atmosphere ahead of its release. Set before the events of the main game, this prologue puts you in the shoes of 11-year-old Grace, who agrees to help Jeremy Hartwood send a letter to his niece. Since his niece, Emily Hartwood, is one of the two protagonists of the main game, this sets up the premise nicely.
As Grace, you can examine certain objects in the mansion to get some voiced dialogue about them. The prologue is mostly linear, although there is an optional room to explore and a locked door you can only pass through once you get the key after talking to Jeremy. I spotted another locked door in my playthrough, so I assume that will be an area to explore in the full game. At one point, there is also a minor quick time event in order to create a safe path across a dangerous area. That’s about the extent of the gameplay of this demo, which only lasts around 10 minutes at most, so it doesn’t give the clearest impression of what to expect from the game itself.
The atmosphere also left me somewhat puzzled. Partway through the demo, the manor grows dark and sinister, with unsettling changes and monsters lurking in the water. This should create a sense of unease, but Grace more or less takes it in stride. She’s startled, but not particularly upset. It’s hard to stay concerned in a horror game when the 11-year-old protagonist treats the sudden appearance of monsters as a minor annoyance. Early on, Jeremy asks Grace if she’s “one of them,” and while she’s happy enough to help him, she certainly acts like the horrors of Derceto Manor are familiar territory for her. This is probably intentional, to create disturbing dissonance through an innocent character acting at ease with the horrors around her or imply Grace is not what she seems, but I just hope the tension will be stronger in the main game.
The game looks beautiful, and the voice acting seems solid. I had a bit of trouble with the camera, however, particularly when using mouse and keyboard controls. I eventually turned down the camera sensitivity and switched to using a controller, which made it much more manageable.
It ended with a teaser showing Emily Hartwood and Edward Carnby arriving at the manor. The original Alone in the Dark had you choose which character’s story to play, and it seems the remake will follow suit despite both characters arriving together.
Overall, the Alone in the Dark Prologue left me a bit uncertain. The full game is supposed to have combat and puzzles, but none of that was on display here. It sets up the story, but presents the horror in a strange way that lacks tension. This prologue seems like it’s not meant to be representative of the full game in terms of gameplay, so I wish it gave a better idea of what to expect. Alone in the Dark will be released on October 25 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
