Atari might be flying high now, but earlier this year, the company was facing a much bleaker future. The studio pinned much of its financial hope for 2008 on “Alone in the Dark” following another de-listing notice from Nasdaq. There was reason to believe that the game would sell decently, as it was being developed for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2 and PC. Unfortunately, for Atari, most critics weren’t impressed with the final product. In fact, many panned the spooky adventure, due to technical and gameplay issues.

“Alone in the Dark” released for most platforms on June 23. PlayStation 3 owners had to wait until Nov. 18 to get their hands on the game. Though, perhaps Sony nation should be grateful for such a lengthy delay. The PS3 SKU was renamed “Alone in the Dark: Inferno” and addressed some of the issues found in the other versions of the game. However, a few gameplay tweaks and an added subtitle weren’t enough to save “Inferno” from predominantly average reviews.

Many gamers, including this writer, had high hopes for “Alone in the Dark.” In addition to the game’s impressive graphics, preview builds showcased intriguing features such as the reliance on fire, the build-your-own-weapons inventory system and the episodic format.

However, upon release, many critics found the title to be rather disappointing. Some noted that Eden Games had some noteworthy ideas, but they were overshadowed by glitches, bugs, shoddy car physics, lackluster writing and poor controls. Eden fixed some of these problems in “Inferno” and even said it would develop a patch for the 360 version. However, the company later amended that statement.

“Alone in the Dark” designer Emile Morel told MTV’s Multiplayer blog:

We can’t promise it because it is still early. We are finishing this [PS3] version first. I guess it also depends on the success of this version. If people review it again and said it’s not worth it…

That 360 patch, to my knowledge, still has not been released. I guess that means “Inferno” wasn’t high on many PS3 owners’ wishlists. Though, I didn’t expect it to sell too well. The PS3 SKU was irreparably harmed by the critical reception of the other versions.  It would have taken a massive amount of effort to change the public’s perception of the game. Plus, it released in the middle of November, when Sony nation was still playing “LittleBigPlanet,” “MotorStorm: Pacific Rift,” “Resistance 2,” “Fallout 3″ and “Call of Duty: World at War.”

However, don’t feel bad for Atari. The company is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Infogrames and will be publishing a number of promising titles next year. These include “Ghostbusters: The Video Game” and “The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena,” which were dumped in the wake of the Activision-Vivendi merger. Atari has also recently acquired Cryptic Studios, the developer behind “Champions Online” and “Star Trek Online.”

A litany of mediocre reviews is the reason why “Alone in the Dark” is one of our top gaming moments of 2008.

Source: MTV Multiplayer

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