Alone in the Dark: Illumination™ (v2016.10.26)

Lorwich is a ruined New England town where darkness behaves like a living enemy, swallowing streets and spawning Lovecraftian creatures wherever the lights fail. Alone in the Dark: Illumination abandons slow, solitary survival horror for a four-player action-horror format built around gunfire, supernatural abilities, and keeping the shadows at bay. The mood is pulpy and grim rather than subtle, with grotesque monsters pouring through foggy forests, decaying buildings, mines, and underground ruins. Its familiar cosmic-horror imagery gives the campaign a B-movie monster-slaying energy, even when the atmosphere aims for dread.

Players choose between the weapon-focused Hunter, spellcasting Witch, support-minded Priest, and gadget-wielding Engineer, then push through four campaigns while collecting upgrades and unlocking stronger skills. Combat centers on shooting and crowd control, but light is the key tactical resource: lanterns, flares, generators, and illuminated areas expose or weaken enemies that become far more dangerous in darkness. Levels mix arena-style encounters with switches, movable objects, and environmental puzzles that rearrange routes or open sealed paths. Cooperative play supports up to four players, allowing teams to combine healing, traps, magical attacks, and raw firepower, while solo runs leave one character to manage every threat without backup.

Its strongest idea is the light-and-shadow system, which gives ordinary wave combat a useful layer of positioning and resource awareness. Enemies are less intimidating as individual creatures than as a mass pressing in from unlit corners, so staying near a safe pool of light matters as much as aiming well. The four classes offer different approaches, though the game is best treated as a straightforward co-op shooter rather than a deep role-playing experience or a return to classic Alone in the Dark puzzle horror. Players who enjoy the accessible monster blasting of Left 4 Dead-style co-op games and want a Lovecraft-flavored setting may find a decent group session here, while series veterans seeking tense, methodical survival horror should set expectations accordingly.