Alone in the Dark 2 is a 1993 survival horror video game developed and published by Infogrames. It is the second installment in the Alone in the Dark series. It was ported to the PC-98 and FM Towns in 1994, 3DO in 1995 under the same name, and to the Saturn and PlayStation in 1996 as Alone in the Dark: Jack Is Back in Europe, and renamed as Alone in the Dark: One-Eyed Jack's Revenge in North America.
Alone in the Dark 2 is a 1993 survival horror video game developed and published by Infogrames. It is the second installment in the Alone in the Dark series. It was ported to the PC-98 and FM Towns in 1994, 3DO in 1995 under the same name, and to the Saturn and PlayStation in 1996 as Alone in the Dark: Jack Is Back in Europe, and renamed as Alone in the Dark: One-Eyed Jack's Revenge in North America.
阅读详细介绍
Alone in the Dark 2 is a 1993 survival horror video game developed and published by Infogrames. It is the second installment in the Alone in the Dark series. It was ported to the PC-98 and FM Towns in 1994, 3DO in 1995 under the same name, and to the Saturn and PlayStation in 1996 as Alone in the Dark: Jack Is Back in Europe, and renamed as Alone in the Dark: One-Eyed Jack's Revenge in North America.
Gameplay
The original game's horror theme has been significantly de-emphasized in the sequel. While there are some supernatural goings-on (Voodoo black magic), the main villains are gangsters and pirates. While the enemies are revealed to be possessed by evil spirits, and are green and zombie-like in appearance, they are far from the shambling walking corpses of the first game, and walk, talk, and behave much like ordinary people, arming themselves with guns and shooting at the player. The player can pick up weapons on the way with firearms such as the Revolver equipped at the start of the game, Shotguns, Tommy guns, a Derringer pistol, Flintlock pistols and melee weapons such as Swords. The game world is larger than that of the original, encompassing not only a mansion, but also the surrounding gardens as well as a pirate ship hidden in caverns beneath the house; however, unlike the first game, with the exception of the main house, its locations may only be explored in a strictly linear sequence, a pattern that would continue in later sequels.
Although much of the game is spent playing as Carnby, the player will occasionally take control of Grace Saunders. Grace, a child, cannot fight and is instantly captured if the gangsters spot her, so instead she must sneak around and defeat the gangsters by turning common household objects into booby traps.
Plot
It is Christmas of 1924, three months before the events in Alone in the Dark. "Supernatural Private Eye" Edward Carnby and his partner Ted Stryker are investigating the kidnapping of young Grace Saunders. The trail of clues leads to an old mansion named "Hell's Kitchen" - the home of an infamous gangster boss and his gang. Edward decides to pick up the trail when he learns of Ted's disappearance in the mansion, but Edward soon finds out that Ted has been murdered.
Carnby eventually finds out that the mobsters are the corporeal forms of the spirits of pirates that plundered the sea hundreds of years ago, the lot having sold their souls in exchange for eternal life through voodoo magic. Fighting his way into the house and ultimately onto a pirate ship hidden in the cliff on which Jack's house is built, Edward must survive, discover the secret of the pirates' apparent immortality, rescue little Grace, and find out why the pirates are so interested in her.
Jack in the Dark
Jack in the Dark is a small game made during production of Alone in the Dark 2. It was used as a promotional game distributed during Christmas in 1993 (just before Alone in the Dark 2 was released). The game was on a single floppy disk in a golden wrapping featuring a Jack-in-the-box illustration on the top. It is a short adventure featuring the young child Grace Saunders. During Halloween, she enters a small toy store after dark and gets locked in it. There, the toys are alive, and Grace must save Santa Claus from an evil Jack-in-the-box. Jack in the Dark is an adventure game that focuses purely on puzzles and has no combat. Later CD versions of both Alone in the Dark and Alone in the Dark 2 came packaged with Jack in the Dark.
Release
The original MS-DOS version shipped on floppy disk. The CD-ROM release added a full Red Book audio soundtrack, dialogue speech (in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese, depending on the country the game was released), and a new playable section of Grace Saunders which connects the mansion and the ship areas.
As with the first installment in the series, outside of Europe the game was distributed in North America by Interplay Entertainment and in Japan by Arrow Micro-Techs Corp, which once again developed and published Japanese-exclusive versions for the PC-98 and FM Towns.
The console releases of Alone in the Dark 2 include a 3DO port (1995), and also versions for the Saturn and PlayStation in 1996 with reworked and fully textured polygonal models. New FMV cutscenes were also added to these ports. All console releases were also published in Japan by Electronic Arts Victor, with the Saturn and PlayStation versions being released as Alone in the Dark: Jack Is Back.
Reception
Computer Gaming World in April 1994 said that the computer version of Alone in the Dark 2 "looks rich enough to meet gamers' expectations for a solid sequel". In May 1994 the magazine said that with improved graphics, it "offers plenty of game play for those who like their adventures with a dash of the macabre". In June 1994 the magazine said that the game was not "for those who are easily frustrated". It concluded that "Despite its weak ending ... Alone 2 is a good, solid challenge. Much more so than its predecessor, it will test players' reflexes as well as their minds".
Edge gave the PC version 9/10, praising the "more responsive" character control, "nerve-tinglingly clear" audio samples and "movie-style production" values, as well as the huge increase in the number of locations from the first game. They warn players that the game is "gruesome" and "bloody frightening", concluding that it's "also great entertainment."
Reviewing the PlayStation version, Maximum called the PC original "one of the most ground-breaking arcade/adventures to date" and hailed its appearance on the PlayStation as "the first true arcade/adventure for the system." They commented approvingly on the H. P. Lovecraft-inspired locations, the way the player is eased into the controls, and the twist of having to play through a segment of the game as Grace. However, they remarked that the game is outdated and outclassed by the upcoming Resident Evil. Next Generation emphasized the last point: "frankly it's yesterday's news, and releasing it to