| Survival horror comes crawling back to the PC and although the original Alone in the Dark is the daddy of the monster mash, the New Nightmare barely manages to rival its evil console-based twin. |
| Edward Carnby returns for the fourth outing in the series, whose search for his friend Charles Fiske who disappeared after investigating a family shrouded in sinister rumour, takes him to their foreboding family estate, on the imaginatively titled Shadow Island. | | If you are a fan of the original series or its myriad derivatives, you'll recognise the setting and style of play. The decrepit old house is hardly a novel setting for the genre but what adds to otherwise standard fare, is some slick graphics and a rather nifty lighting system. | | You will notice almost immediately that the house is for the most part, fairly dark and unfortunately you are far from alone; your flashlight is fundamental in both discovering items and areas and in fending off the hordes of light sensitive nasties that lie in wait just out its range. | | Tackling creepy denizens in this way makes a refreshing change from simply blasting your way through a host of creatures and you have to choose paths carefully. It is not a monumental change in survival horror gameplay, but Darkworks' lighting system makes for a nice variation and is a shining example of how to build up the atmosphere. | | Eerie sound, an unprecedented lighting system and superior graphics do much to create an unsettling mood and The New Nightmare is certainly a competent addition to the survival horror genre. |
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