Pretty much anyone who reviewed Alone in the Dark on the Xbox 360 heaped hatred on the game's controls and camera system, and developer Eden Studios have learned their lesson. Not only is the forthcoming PS3 version going to have better movement and non-claustrophobic views, the 360 will get a patch that Eurogamer says "will implement most of the changes that have been made to the upcoming PS3 version."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]