While the straight-to-DVD has already gotten a release in Europe and Australia, the flick never got an American release. Till now. Lionsgate Home Entertainment is finally releasing the movie on January 26, 2010 with the tag line "Evil Returns". Apparently the tag "Crap Returns" was taken?

Based on the game by the same name, the previous Alone in the Dark was directed by Uwe Boll and starred Christian Slater and Tara Reid. The sequel was written and directed by Boll cohorts Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer.

Alone in the Dark II DVD Art, Date [ShockTillYouDrop.com]

We actually had to go through and ban people for getting off topic while voting. If you'd like to discuss what you think of the contest or the prize, fine, but please do that in the contest reminder posts, not in the voting post. Doing that in the voting just gums everything up and makes counting the votes harder. It's not only common sense, but common courtesy.

Another thing: Towards the end of the voting, we got spammed with a ton of votes by commenters who had never commented before. What's even more iffy is that the commenters names were written in a similar pattern — like this "NameName."

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We're giving away a copy of Alone in the Dark to one of you reader people. Here's the contest:

Make your own Alone in the Dark boxart. Photoshop is a-okay! Make sure you incorporate "Kotaku" and "New Year's Eve" into your box art, because the deadline for this contest is, you guessed it, New Year's Eve. Send all entries to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom.

Alone in the Dark

We're giving away a copy of Alone in the Dark to one of you reader people. Here's the contest:

Make your own Alone in the Dark boxart. Photoshop is a-okay! Make sure you incorporate "Kotaku" and "New Year's Eve" into your box art, because the deadline for this contest is, you guessed it, New Year's Eve. Send all entries to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom.

Alone in the Dark

Make your own Alone in the Dark boxart. Photoshop is a-okay! Make sure you incorporate "Kotaku" and "New Year's Eve" into your box art, because the deadline for this contest is, you guessed it, New Year's Eve. Send all entries to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom.

Alone in the Dark

I’m going to go suck on a bunch of ice cubes to still the raging throb of agony that is my mouth and then call my mom. Here’s everything I got out of Atari...

Alone in the Dark on PS3 – If It’s Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It
Hands On: Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World – Gah! Too Many Colons!
Hands On: What’s Cooking? With Jamie Oliver
Hands On: Dragon Ball Origins DS
Hands On: RACE Pro
Hands On: Backyard Football 09

Have a good (dry) weekend!

That’s exactly what developer Eden Games did following the overwhelming bitch storm that followed the PC and 360 release of the much-anticipated Alone in the Dark. We all know the story: fiddly controls, broken gameplay mechanics and a truly agonizing root-hunting sequence that gets sprung on you towards the end of the game all added up to a mediocre action/horror experience most gamers were content to skip.

“It’s not like we pretended we made the perfect game,” said game designer Emile Morel as I sat down for some hands-on with the PS3 version of Alone in the Dark. “We read reviews… We wanted to make it better.”

They haven’t changed the plot, mind you – so any beef you had with the implausibility of the story or the lameness of the setting will still be valid. But, I can say after only twenty minutes of playtime, that Alone in the Dark on PS3 really is better. A lot better. Which is damned impressive considering Eden only had four months of turnaround time between the 360 and PS3 release (so for once, we should be grateful that the PS3 dev cycle takes longer).

The biggest improvement is the camera. It’s pulled farther back so you can see more and you control it with the right analog stick, as God intended. Even better, it automatically repositions itself behind you as you move, so you don’t have to babysit the camera while rounding corners or targeting enemies.

Oh yeah, about targeting… With the right stick being given over to the camera, you have to hold down L1 in order to manipulate the objects or weapons Edward Carnby picks up with the right analog stick. This is a bonus, actually, because L1 also targets enemies, so it’s like having a Grand Theft Auto style of combat instead of that senseless flailing from the 360 version. (Also, Morel says the targeting system automatically chooses the most dangerous foe – a real plus, if he’s telling the truth.)

In addition to combat changes, Carnby’s overall movements have been redone so that gameplay is much, much smoother. His turns are tighter, he never walks backwards, and his default speed is running so you don't have to hold down a button to haul ass. This carries over into the first person view as well, so expect less eyestrain as you pan around looking for enemies.

The enemies themselves have also been fiddled with such that the weapon you use on them actually matters. The bigger the stick you hit the monster with, the less times you have to hit it. And baddies fall down more easily now, so you can torch them that much easier.

Speaking of torching – the inventory system got all the attention it needed. No more stupid menu scrolling (“Do you really want to drop this item… are you sure?”), and they’ve gotten rid of the battery pack so you’ve got more space to work with. (Really, unless Carnby’s packing dollar store flashlights, he should be able to get through one night of terror in New York City on a single set of batteries.) Combining items is way easier since now you don’t have to select the correct items in order (bottle before lighter or lighter before bottle?), and the game now pauses when you enter the inventory screen so you actually have time to be creative with the combos. The pausing also allowed Eden to change the way you maneuver through the inventory – now you can go from left to right or right to left, one item at a time with a simple tap of the D-pad.

Also, and Morel got a little testy when he told me this, the hot key combo option is still available so you don’t even have to go into the inventory to get out your favorite weapon set. Still – as in, you could do this on the 360 version, but apparently people didn’t know that and complained bitterly about how hard it was to get out the Molotov cocktails and handgun over and over again.

They didn’t fix that loading screen that says “cloth in a bottle is the best way to make a Molotov cocktail” – as far as I know, that’s the only way to make a Molotov cocktail, and I’d have so bugged that if I’d been testing this game.

Thank God I wasn’t though, because I would have died of agony if I had to do the driving levels over and over again. Even now that they’ve fixed some of the issues with driving in Alone in the Dark, I still suck at it. But I am glad they slowed down the monster chasing you in the getting to Central Park sequence. Insta-death is never a good thing. Also, they’ve tweaked the handling and collision issues so you’re not fishtailing every time you get too close to the curb – and added a checkpoint halfway through the level.

The last – and perhaps most glaring – issue Eden got around to fixing was that root-burning sequence. Instead of dumping it on you towards the end of the game, the quest is introduced in Chapter 3 and you have the whole rest of the game to get around to it instead of having to go back and burn them all before you can finish the game. And the percentage of roots you need to burn to complete the quest has been lowered from 75% to 50%, so really, this is going to be a lot less aggravating.

Ultimately, Eden wanted to make Alone in the Dark on PS3 a game you could enjoy without getting hung up on technical issues. There’re still going to be problems, of course – four months isn’t enough time to fix everything, and some things aren’t bugs at all. For example, there was some griping about the survival-horror aspect of the game being muddled. Morel tells me that Alone in the Dark isn’t even supposed to be survival-horror – it’s intended as action-adventure.

As if to drive that point home, a new section has been added to Chapter 6 exclusively for the PS3 version. I don’t want to give too much away – but imagine that scene from Jurassic Park where the T-Rex is chasing the Jeep had sex with the ending scene in Speed on the subway train. It’s the baby of that (and that’s why you always use protection, kids).

So I say to you jaded gamers and to any other journalists who might be perusing this piece (get back to work, you bums): give Alone in the Dark on PS3 a chance to stand on its own. Pretend you never set eyes on the 360 version. And journos – do not copy-paste your old review and add a mere paragraph describing all of the effort Eden put in to making the PS3 version a better game. That’s cheating.

Alone in the Dark on PS3 ships in November.

P.S. – Sadly, there won’t be any Trophies at launch. Eden was anxious to get this game out the door on-time; but they’re totally open to doing a patch sometime in the very near future.

Sounds like they're making every effort to make the game better this time around. Perhaps I'll finally give it a go when the PS3 drops in two months. Hit the jump for the full list of changes!

GAME FEATURES: PLAYSTATION 3

Full 360° camera control: enhanced camera controls allows complete freedom of the camera and better handling of first person view camera movement for even more immersive gameplay

Fine-tuned controls: quicker and smoother reactivity of the hero's movements in third person view make for more rapid movements in nail-biting situations

Inventory system more accessible: more logical jacket inventory system with the ability to combine objects using only the D-pad, and more fluid hero movement makes item selection a breeze.

More tips: players will get all the help they need to get through every situation and get the most out of the game

Spectral Vision tuning: a tutorial explains the need to burn roots in order to gain spectral vision and difficulty tuning means less spectral vision is required to reach the end of the game

Improved car dynamics and handling: car handling has been tuned to make driving a car a walk in the park in every situation, including increased suspension and reduced drift

59th Street level tuning: one of the game's most exciting sequences just got better. 59th Street has been tweaked for a more satisfying race against the fissure with difficulty tuning, an added checkpoint at Columbus Circle and clear voice directions given by Sarah

Brand new thrilling action sequence: an exclusive new sequence has been added in Episode 6 for even more pace and variety of gameplay in the episode.

Eden opened its AitD presentation at Leipzig by listing all of the flaws in the 360 game. "We have absorbed and taken every piece of criticism about the game that was constructive and would help," a rep said. Eden's spokesperson also explained why they thought the tight camera position was a good idea at the time. Writes Eurogamer:

"On the 360 version what we wanted was to have more immersion with the camera being really close to the player." Fair enough, but plenty of people found it clunky and irritating. Indeed, recent focus testing with the new system revealed that people didn't feel any less immersed anyway, but hey. Later, when pressed on its original choices, Eden admits it was simply too close to the project. It might well feel much more like an action game, as they say, but not enforcing the original claustrophobic viewpoint on players makes for a far more playable experience.

No word on when exactly the patch is coming out, but the hands-on descriptions of the PS3 version say it is a much more enjoyable and playable version.

Eden to Fix Alone in the Dark 360 and Alone in the Dark Hands-On [Eurogamer]

Atari execs likely have the universally 'meh'ed Alone in the Dark reboot to thank for that non-loss, but we're anxiously awaiting the publication of their 10-Q form to find out all the thrilling financial details.

I would say this gives PS3 owners a chance to read reviews, talk to their friends, and form some sort of conclusive opinion about whether or not to pick up the game or not, but after digging through review scores last month for the Frankenreview I still haven't decided whether or not I want to play it, and I bought Dog Island.

PS3 Alone in the Dark this November [Eurogamer]

After you answer it remember to send all five questions with all five correct answers (and links) to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom. You also need to put "Here's Hoping I'm 11th" in the subject line. You *must* do this, exactly as written here, with quotes for your entry to count. Make sure you just read this carefully! And remember, you don't want to be first, you want to be eleventh.

There was even added bold text just to make sure people would actually read the post! But people didn't. Lots of people didn't — instead, they sent along the right answers and links, but put things like "Alone Contest" in the email subject line or forgot the quotes for "Here's Hoping I'm 11th." Scott S. was the eleventh person to do it correctly, but probably like the 50th person to send an email. (The folks who didn't follow the instructions were disqualified as mentioned in the post.) Hit the jump for the answers and links, which I embedded.

Answer 1: Okami sushi (Note: This post is also acceptable for an answer. Scott S. sent both.)
Answer 2: “A game of chess is like a sword fight.”
Answer 3: Waffle House
Answer 4: Carefully
Answer 5: “Tyler Stay Scared George Romero”

[Pic]

Tomorrow is the last question. It will go up at noon and hopefully will not be late. Also, anyone who puts answers below in the comments or elsewhere will be banned and mocked. Hit the jump for the third easy question — and the second and first ones, in case you missed 'em.

Fourth Question: How will we treat the steering wheel?

Previous: Third Question, Second Question and First Question

Also, anyone who puts answers below in the comments or elsewhere will be banned and mocked. Hit the jump for the second easy question — and the first one, in case you missed it.

Third Question Where did Fahey meet up with two former University of Georgia students that went on to create a parody of the chidlren's books?

Here are the previous questions: Question 1 and Question 2.

Also, anyone who puts answers below in the comments or elsewhere will be banned and mocked. Hit the jump for the second easy question — and the first one, in case you missed it.

Second question: What did a well-known recording artist say a game of chess is like?

Here's the first question for those who let it pass them by.

Remember, you are only sending us your answers this Friday, not before and not after. FRIDAY.
Alone in the Dark [Official Site]

Sixteen years and three lackluster sequels later, Infogrames subsidiary Atari and developer Eden Games attempt to breath new life (and new death) into the series with an all-new Alone in the Dark, featuring a strangely displaced Edward Carnby in a modern-day setting. New setting, new gameplay, and terrifying new enemies, none of which are more terrifying than your average game critic.

IGN
I love a good yarn, and I was hoping to find one in Alone in the Dark. Instead I was introduced to yet another amnesiac fighting demons and carrying around a spooky stone. It doesn't help that our hero is challenged in the dialogue department, having been endowed by the game's writers with a nasty blue streak. You can count on hearing the words f*** or s*** nearly every time our scarred-up hero opens his mouth, an attempt at gritty realism that comes off as adolescent and trite.

Team Xbox
The problem is, who – if anyone – at the publisher or developer actually played this game and decided it was a good thing to unleash on gamers? Did they not realize how horrible the game is to control or how screamingly annoying the camera is switching from third person to a fixed shot is? Did no one say, guys we really need to make this game less of a frustrating mess, even for people who play lots of games? The answer to these questions seems to be “no”.
VideoGamer.com
For a game set in an eerie looking Central Park, with monsters around every corner, Alone in the Dark isn't really very scary. You'd assume this would be a given. You even have the trademark torch that runs out of batteries, yet there are few scares. When a monster lands on the roof of your car for the first time you might jump, but then when you've seen another magically fly 100 metres in order to do so it ruins the mood somewhat. There's a constant fear of death, but this isn't down to the setting but the inevitable fumbling in your inventory. One of the scariest moments occurred early on when Carnby appeared to be having some kind of seizure, his body uncontrollably gyrating on the spot. Alas, this was a bug, just one of many that occurred during my play through of the game.

1UP
As a lesson in ambition and creativity, AITD is an awkward (but welcome) role model. Though no one element is particularly polished, the game's plenty varied, and it happily defies genre characterization wherever it can — racing segments, rappelling, and a handful of great ideas keep things fresh. Though with such methodical, purposeful design every step of the way, it's tough to sit back and enjoy what's otherwise an engaging, surprisingly cinematic caper. You likely won't be thrilled by the time you sit through both of the equally lame lose-lose endings, but I can't imagine you'd regret your time in the Dark.

The game sounds like almost as much of a mixed bag as its review scores.

To say that I've personally paid little attention to Atari's resuscitation of Alone In The Dark would be an understatement. But with a trailer this oddball, featuring some curiously out of place stunt drivin' and an off the beaten path soundtrack — what, no nu metal? — I'm morbidly curious, despite the early poor reviews and current hubbub. Sure, it's a gray and brown mess that looks far too much like a Silent Hill B-side, but it has flying lamprey demons versus helicopters. This could be a disaster of delicious proportions.