Alone in the Dark 2 is one of very few survival horror games on the 3DO. As a watershed moment in the evolution of the genre, Infogrames brought us a very simple but ultimately absorbing and forward thinking adventure in the shoes of the venerable Edward Carnby in the form of Alone in the Dark. How does the sequel fare, however?
Definitely not as well. The original Alone in the Dark was certainly rough around the edges as it was released at a time where embarking on 3D adventures was difficult because it was a path not taken. Polygonal graphics at this time were more suited to games like Shockwave and other space games as it doesn’t take a lot of polygons to render a box and some laser decals. Infogrames went as far as rendering entire people and monsters in a complicated perspective that had never been embarked on before and this is why I enjoyed the original so much. Alone in the Dark was never particularly scary to me as I was growing up, with more complicated horror games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill taking that crown. It was, however, a good game. It seemed that way. It had a unique control system and some good atmosphere. Unfortunately, that did not translate to the sequel.
In Alone in the Dark 2 Carny investigates the disappearance of a little girl named Grace Saunders. He finds, however, that his latest 
adventure is a more jaunty affair with less of an emphasis on horror. I hate to say that this is where the series began to take a turn for the worse but there really is very little going on here that will actually scare you.
Unlike Alone in the Dark, the sequel is a more gun heavy, combat filled experience. Gunplay is favoured over the cautious pace of the original game and I feel that it somewhat ruins the atmosphere that the game does exude. It doesn’t help that Carnby’s control scheme has not improved all that much and although the locations in the original game worked with Carnby’s clunky, sub-screen driven control scheme (giving you the option to push, fight etc.), the more open areas and combat emphasis of Alone in the Dark 2 don’t.
Additionally, players must actually play as Grace Saunders later in the game and it’s downright tedious. Playing as Grace is tense, but irritating and although it takes a step back into feeling more helpless, it will frustrate you ultimately dampening this enjoyment.
Graphically, Alone in the Dark 2 has not improved in 2 years. It looks slightly sharper than it did on DOS but I would have liked some texture mapping to characters, improved animation and a better frame rate on 3DO. We got none of this, in fact the frame rate seems worse on 3DO than it does on DOS, fluctuating wildly, seemingly for no reason. This, coupled with the naturally clunky nature of the controls, makes Alone in the Dark 2 somewhat of a chore to play.
Environments do look good though and the atmosphere that made the original game so memorable is certainly there. The underground sections look particularly brilliant but with such bland characters and erratic frame rate, the game suffers considerably.
I really wanted to like Alone in the Dark 2 as it presents another step in the evolution of one of my favourite genres of video game; that of survival horror. However, it presents a step in the wrong direction. The game de-emphasises horror in favour of zombie gun battles, atmosphere suffers because of this and it also highlights how inadequate the control scheme is. I have no issue with “tank” controls as I highlight Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and the brilliant Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare as some of my favourite games of all time, Alone in the Dark 2 simply adds a clunky control scheme onto fundamental failings that make it difficult to recommend.
Club 3DO 