A long time ago before the likes of 'Resident Evil' had even been dreamt of, there was a game that would set the world on fire. A game that would combine action and adventure into one seeming mass and start to help break down the barrier between graphics and gameplay. Alone In The Dark was its name and even today a copy still resides almost un-touched in our back office. Such is a testament to just how great it was.

Many have forgotten the game that helped shape a hundred clones and bring about a new generation of gaming, but not all. We can still remember the eerie polygon characters as they strut around a haunted house clutching shot guns, ready to dispatch any denizen that dare approach. A sequel was soon made but failed by being to similar to the original and then finally a ground breaking third arrived. Set in a western town the graphics and gameplay surpassed all others, unfortunately our story ends there because a fourth was never made, until now.

Long time no see

Since the AITD games disappeared off the face of the earth a new breed of action/adventure game has emerged. Most of note from these would be 'Resident Evil' and its followings as well as the more recent Nocturne. Thankfully after all these years of waiting AITD looks set to be reincarnated for a fourth run. French developer Darkworks are behind the latest incarnation and their job is to bring back AITD and update it for the 21st Centaury.

At times it's almost hard to believe that the first AITD game came out 10 years ago, in fact we feel quite old when even contemplating it. Yet in keeping with the development period of the original, the new one has already taken around 20 months to get this far and still has until October 2000 to go. As anybody can tell by the lengthy development period, a lot of work is going into making AITD4 a total success.

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