The rumors are true. THQ Nordic and developer Pieces Interactive are returning with Alone in the Dark, a re-imagination of the first ever game in the franchise, only this time with a brand new story. The classic single-player third-person horror experience has been in development since late 2019 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC but the bad news is it won’t appear any time soon.
Alone in the Dark has a new story where Jeremy doesn’t die
When THQ Nordic acquired the Alone in the Dark IP back from Atari, they wondered what they should do next. The answer is a love letter to the original game. The 1992 Alone in the Dark game was a haunted house scenario with a lot of character and backstory and the re-imagination of the game is aiming for a similar feel. Whereas the original game featured events after the mysterious Jeremy Hartwood committed suicide, this time Jeremy has gone missing at Derceto Manor and his fate is unknown.
Players can choose to investigate his disappearance as his niece Emily Hartwood or as a private detective, Edward Carnby, who is hired by Emily. Both characters arrive at Derceto once again, but this time the building is not abandoned. Decerto is now a mental hospital for the rich and healthy and is filled with strange and evasive residents; one of these is a dark man who is somehow connected to Jeremy Hartwood, and another is Grace Saunders from Alone in the Dark 2. Unfortunately, there are also portals to nightmarish worlds, dangerous otherworldly creatures, and a plot of rising evil and its followers. The game takes place across several worlds, but the 1920s gothic Derceto Manor will always be at the center.
The new story is written by Mikael Hedberg, who was the writer behind SOMA and the Amnesia franchise. He’s aiming for a classic single-player third-person horror experience with a dense atmosphere where players battle enemies, explore their surroundings, and solve puzzles. Combat won’t be easy as players can only use the weapons they can find and these won’t always have the same effect on every monster. Sometimes the better option is to run away. Meanwhile, the puzzles are interconnected to the secrets that players discover as they explore. Letters, documents, books, and clues are dotted throughout the game to expand on the story lore.
Players will get a different story depending on the playable character they choose. NPCs will react differently, there will be different cutscenes, and there will even be areas that can only be accessed by a certain character. To see everything, two playthroughs will be needed. However, it will be a while before you can do that as the game is only just approaching the alpha stage and does not have a release date at the moment. THQ Nordic promises more information over the coming month.
In other news, the Cult of the Lamb launch on Steam has accumulated more than 61,000 concurrent players. Elsewhere, the Genshin Impact 3.0 livestream has been given a date and time.
