As a newcomer to the series I had little so expect from the Alone in the Dark game and came away hopeful for a future sequel. AitD is basically a physics based horror-survival game with some neat quirks from Eden Studios.
When you begin in the game you play a male character suffering from amnesia named Edward who wakes up with some mean dudes. The beginning of the game doesn’t immediately start you off in Central park and acts as a tutorial to work you through some of the more quirky controls and features. There is where some frustrations start to sink in. The camera has two versions third or first person view both of which are lame. In first person the view seems sluggish but is necessary for firing weapons. While the third person views camera needs constant babysitting and can often be unbearable when fleeing from enemies.
Some of the neat features of the game are the inventory system (you looking down to the inside of your jacket), the physics based puzzles / platforming, and the item combine system. The item combining ranges from sweet (lighter + mosquito repellent = homemade flamethrower) to not so sweet (batteries+bottle+tape = you're just dumb).
The atmosphere is dead on and comes off creepy and the story interesting and semi-compelling. The game paces itself there "episodes" which are separated by sequences which are actually skippable.
All in all I think the game has some awesome ideas just doesn’t implement them smoothly and is a problem possible of fixing in the next instalment. Definitely worth checking out in a rent but not an essential purchase in my opinion. Minor Note: Achievement wise it puts out points well, having easier yet creative ones towards the start as well as progress achievos at the end of the level and game. I finished with approx. 575-650 pts.