I'm not Alone

So What Would You Do?

You're a sarcastic gumshoe with the power to enter the spirit world. Well obviously you take jobs from creepy old ladies who live in Resident Evil-style mansions with bad local reputations and huge satanic statues in the lobby.

As you've probably guessed, I'm Not Alone presses all the familiar buttons for survival horror: tired plot, hysterical music, scuttling things at the periphery of your vision, and a poorly lit house with demonic inhabitants infuriated that you're there to sort them out. The problem is it brings nothing new to the table and fails to be entertaining, scary, or satisfying.

Combat basically involves whacking or shooting whatever is lumbering towards you until they fall down dead. Health is recovered through successful attacks in the monster closet -I mean Daemon World - that the game prewarns you about in such a way that all the scares are nullified.

The puzzles are tedious fare, but there are some good touches - downed enemies are entertainingly dragged through the floor by icky tentacles. The problem is, the terrible frame rate and the lumbering engine makes combat a chore. Problems are compounded by an archaic and satanic save system.

The most depressing thing apart from the hackneyed plot, lumbering puzzles and chugging whack-attack combat is the price. Such a B-movie style game should have straight-to-video prices, but asking $30 will have you screaming in my sleep ever since.