8 Video Game Reboots That Failed TWICE

No series does underbaked reboots quite like Alone in the Dark. Forget two, the progenitor of the survival horror genre has double that number of failed attempts.

There is no better evidence than every proceeding game since the original trilogy being a stand-alone attempt at cleaning the slate. Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare in 2001 is perhaps the closest to greatness AITD ever managed but even then the game was seen as a latecoming ironic coat-tail-ride of Resident Evil’s original success.

The next Alone in the Dark to arrive was the 2008 reboot, an ambitious project which was rightfully applauded for its literal “jacket pockets” inventory and some impressive effects work but ultimately let down by bad controls, a lack of polish and prioritising experimental ideas over a solid base. Also, the game’s sales probably weren’t helped by controversy surrounding Atari’s selective process when it came to critical reviews.

Seven years later, under the cover of darkness and zero marketing, Atari put out Alone in the Dark: Illumination in 2015 in order to try and cash in on the online co-op shooter trend. Sometimes, companies release games without talking about them in the hopes that people will buy them on brand familiarity alone rather than actually show the product itself. Let’s just say Illumination has a 19 on MetaCritic for a reason: uninspired, broken and boring.

Which is why it was amazing to see Alone in the Dark return to its roots with a purer reboot of the source material in 2024 even if, yet again, it was worryingly undermarketed. Whilst it once again followed Resident Evil in some of its style, it cut a unique profile with its bigger focus on puzzles, Hollywood casting and 1930s setting. All the same, the game just didn’t have the level of depth that it needed to compete in the modern era. Combat was sloppy, graphics were under par and many reported technical issues that derailed the atmosphere.

Three months on from the release of Alone in the Dark, developers Pieces Interactive closed shop which is a damning indictment that a single failure in the gaming space today can be the death knell of a company. 

But it probably won’t stop Alone in the Dark from dragging its bloody, beaten corpse back out on stage in a few years time for another go-around.