Alone in the Dark: Illumination

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In Alone in the Dark: Illumination, players must combat monstrous hordes in the darkness-filled town of Lorwich. As one of four heroes, they'll utilize both weapons and the power of illumination to defeat enemies. Players can build their party by rescuing companions, each with unique abilities and weapons, and face danger in every shadow in this action-horror experience inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's writing.

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Alone in the Dark: Illumination screenshot

+10

23%

Audience ScoreBased on 190 reviews

atmosphere6 positive mentions

story9 negative mentions

The game has a unique light mechanic that adds tension and strategy to combat, requiring players to lure enemies into light sources to defeat them.
The character classes offer different abilities and playstyles, which can make for a fun multiplayer experience with friends.
The atmosphere and level design can be engaging, providing a creepy environment that aligns with the horror theme.

The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, including game-breaking issues that can prevent progress and poor AI behavior.
The gameplay is repetitive, often revolving around fetching items and completing similar objectives across levels, leading to a lack of engagement.
The graphics and animations are outdated and unpolished, making the game feel more like an unfinished product than a completed title.

story
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
76%
18%
The game's story is widely criticized for its lack of depth and engagement, primarily conveyed through minimal text narration without any cutscenes or voice acting. Players find the plot to be a mere backdrop for repetitive fetch quests, with no real character development or immersive world-building, leading to a disjointed and uninspiring experience. Overall, the narrative fails to capture the essence of the original "Alone in the Dark" series, leaving many feeling disappointed and disconnected from the game's characters and objectives.
- “Each character is unique and plays differently and has their own story.”
- “And whilst on the subject, some of the inspiration towards the enemies and story in this game comes straight from Lovecraft, which is a niche more game developers really should capitalize on because there's such great source material.”
- “Ok, where to begin... while a fan of the horror genre, and I mean the Lovecraftian kind, I have been surprised by the storytelling in the game. No cutscenes at all, a text storyline which leans more on the gothic/emo prose than actual Lovecraftian storytelling.”
- “Firstly, there is like no story other than zombie things are out to get ya.”
- “No intro, no cut-scenes, more or less no noteworthy story (provided in text form only).”
- “The game doesn't consider details like story or world-building important.”
gameplay
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
80%
11%
The gameplay of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users describing it as slow, clunky, and unbalanced, leading to a frustrating experience. Critics highlight issues such as repetitive mechanics, poor AI, and a lack of depth, while some appreciate the core concept and light mechanics, though they feel these elements are poorly executed. Overall, the gameplay is seen as a significant detractor from the game's potential, with many players expressing disappointment in its execution and design.
- “The gameplay isn't deep, but the core works well enough.”
- “Moving away from the general structure of a survival horror game, Alone in the Dark: Illumination instead focuses on co-op and multiplayer gameplay in the same vein as Left 4 Dead and any other wave-based survival shooter.”
- “General gameplay feels good, and the game presentation is nice.”
- “Not a compelling squad shooter, not a compelling survival horror, and its core mechanic is incredibly meaningless when the monsters are so easily stunned.”
- “The gameplay is slow, clunky, and directionless.”
- “The graphics are pretty good but gameplay is just boring and the game keeps crashing.”
graphics
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
61%
27%
The graphics of the game have received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many reviewers describing them as outdated, low-resolution, and poorly executed, often comparing them to subpar titles. While some acknowledge that the visuals serve their purpose in creating atmosphere, the overall consensus is that they are clunky, cheap, and marred by serious glitches that detract from the gameplay experience. Despite a few positive notes on the artwork and atmosphere, the graphics are generally seen as a significant weakness of the game.
- “It's not bleeding-edge top-of-the-line graphics, but it's good enough for the atmosphere the game creates.”
- “Aka, great concept, good lore, and even the graphics aren't too shabby but a few things make it a hot steaming melty mess.”
- “Graphics wise, well they seem a bit dated, I want to say a mix between Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the new Killing Floor 2 graphics.”
- “From the awful graphics, boring gameplay, horrendous audio design, and overall lack of quality, it's clear that this was simply a cash grab from Atari.”
- “From glitches that cause your character to freakishly convulse to graphics that are borderline Ride to Hell level cheap, the graphics and stability of the game are abysmally poor.”
- “Graphics: outdated and clunky.”
stability
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely criticized for its significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, including progression-blocking errors and frequent crashes. Many players report frustrating experiences, such as unresponsive controls and graphical problems, leading to a consensus that the game is currently a "buggy, clunky mess." While some hope for future patches to improve stability, the overall impression is that the game is unplayable in its current state.
- “Each stage comes with its own progression-blocking glitches.”
- “From glitches that cause your character to freakishly convulse to graphics that are borderline Ride to Hell level cheap to the game becoming more unstable and eventually crashing if you so much as turn on lights, which by the way, you have to do if you're fighting as anyone other than the witch, the graphics and stability of the game are abysmally poor.”
- “A buggy, broken, unplayable mess.”
atmosphere
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
86%
14%
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its detailed environments and effective use of lighting, creating a spooky and immersive experience in locations like abandoned mines and graveyards. While the artwork and audio contribute positively to the overall ambiance, some players feel that the game's core mechanics detract from the experience. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a strong point, despite some technical shortcomings.
- “The atmosphere is pretty nice, with some spooky locations on dark stormy nights, abandoned mines, or in a graveyard, for example.”
- “The level design, the surroundings, and the atmosphere of light and darkness are impressive.”
- “It's not bleeding-edge top-of-the-line graphics, but it's good enough for the atmosphere the game creates.”
- “The artwork, atmosphere, audio, and other details are well done, but the game is broken.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Overall, the game's replayability is severely criticized, with many reviewers noting a lack of incentive to revisit levels due to their linear design and repetitive gameplay. While the cooperative mode and unlockables offer some potential for replay value, the general consensus is that the game is not worth its price, especially for single-player experiences, and is better suited for multiplayer.
- “The first campaign alone should last you two or three hours, and there's three campaigns in total here (not counting the escape map, which is pretty replayable it seems).”
- “Co-op and unlockables add to replayability.”
- “This might affect replayability.”
- “The worst entry in the series, worse even than the 2008 game; even after all the updates, the combat still feels very sluggish and unresponsive, the animations are stiff, the level design is linear, the enemy AI is simplistic, the graphics are outdated with low-resolution textures, and poor effects. There is no real horror, just waves upon waves of enemies, and no replay value as all levels feel the same and there's no incentive to revisit them after completion.”
- “If you are still interested in the game, wait for a 75% discount to avoid frustration right now. There isn't any replayability value, and the game wasn't made for single-player but multiplayer, so the overall quality is nowhere near $30; $15 is the farthest the game is worth.”
- “The first campaign alone should last you two or three hours, and there are three campaigns in total here (not counting the escape map, which is pretty replayable it seems).”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
83%
50%
The humor in this game is largely perceived as unintentional, with players finding more amusement in its glitches and shortcomings than in any actual comedic content. Many reviews express frustration at the game's lack of quality, comparing it to a tedious classroom experience, while the absurdity of its design choices is noted as a source of dark humor. Overall, the humor is seen as a byproduct of the game's failures rather than a deliberate feature.
- “Even then, there are some commands, like pausing the game and pressing F to activate something, you cannot rebind because the game has a sick, twisted sense of humor and wants you to suffer.”
- “The Alone in the Dark franchise, if you can even call that a franchise anymore, is now buried with an unbelievably lackluster co-op shooter (which is hilarious considering it's Alone in the god damn dark).”
- “There's no enjoyment to be taken here other than laughing at what exactly Atari has become as a publisher.”
- “This game is so lame it's not funny.”
- “The jokes fall flat and feel forced.”
- “I expected humor, but it was more cringeworthy than comedic.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
33%
50%
The music in the game has received largely negative feedback, with users noting issues such as improper looping, a lack of ambient sound, and missing sound effects. Many feel that the overall audio experience feels cheap and unpolished, detracting from the game's atmosphere.
- “I think the screen is amazing, mutants and music horrifying.”
- “The music on the main menu doesn't even loop properly if you leave the game open for too long.”
- “Sound and music: feels very cheap.”
- “There's little to no music, very little ambience, and many of the sound effects are missing.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be extremely repetitive and tedious, as it involves picking up items one by one and constantly backtracking due to a limit on carrying capacity. The requirement to gather specific items like wires or batteries, combined with stamina limitations, further detracts from the enjoyment and makes progression feel laborious.
- “Wandering around picking up items one by one while constantly luring enemies into ever-failing streetlamps and barrel fires creates an extremely repetitive and tedious experience.”
- “There is an impact on enemies when you shoot, but they downgraded it by limiting players to only carry one item for progression, making it even more tedious to go back and forth to fetch items.”
- “You either get 3 wires, 3 batteries, or start up a generator to proceed. There's not much fun in doing it, and the fact that your stamina gets drained makes it even more tedious to do at a walking pace.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting significant frame rate fluctuations, dropping from 160 fps to 70 fps even on high-end systems like the i7 6700k and GTX 1080. Overall, the performance is considered subpar and disappointing.
- “This title also has horrid optimization, with framerates constantly fluctuating from 160 fps down to 70 fps with all settings on max while running on an i7 6700k/gtx 1080 system.”
- “The performance is a joke too.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a blatant cash grab, with users pointing to poor graphics, unengaging gameplay, and subpar audio design as indicators of a lack of quality and effort.
- “From the awful graphics, boring gameplay, horrendous audio design, and overall lack of quality, it's clear that this was simply a cash grab from Atari.”

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2h Median play time

2h Average play time

2-2h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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