After a couple of delays, THQ’s belated remake of Alone in the Dark is almost upon us and we couldn’t be more hyped. After all, the title is poised to breathe fresh life into what was once recognized as the granddaddy of survival horror (even though it predates that label by a good few years).
You see, despite its far-reaching influence — which can be felt in everything from classic Resident Evil to mainline Silent Hill entries— this IP has been languishing since the turn of the millennium. Owing to a string of increasingly dodgy sequels, very few gamers under the age of thirty are likely to hold the series in high esteem, while its protagonist, Edward Carnby, is hardly as iconic as his nearest counterparts in Leon S. Kennedy or James Sunderland.
Mikael Hedberg, however, is still very fond of Alone in the Dark, believing it to be every bit as relevant as the heavyweights that have since overshadowed it. Indeed, where others see a stodgy franchise that is long past its expiration date, he sees a rich source of unmined potential.
Serving as Creative Director for the upcoming remake, Hedberg has managed to dust the cobwebs off this creaky brand in a truly exciting way. Boasting an A-List cast (comprised of Stranger Things’ David Harbour and Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer), a neo-noir atmosphere, dual campaigns, and modernized gameplay that takes inspiration from the very best of contemporary survival horror; his vision for Alone in the Dark is one that should see it restored to its rightful place atop the genre pantheon.
To find out more about this, we sat down with the Amnesia and SOMA writer for an exclusive interview. Going really in-depth with our discussion, we quizzed him about his relationship with the original Alone in the Dark, the bold creative direction he has decided to take this remake in, and his experience working with Hollywood talent for the first time.
Not to mention, we also spoke a little about what he could be working on next.
Bloody Disgusting: Before we get into the remake, I thought it would be good to establish your own relationship with the Alone in the Dark series. When were you introduced to it and were you a fan right from the off?
Mikael Hedberg: For me, it all started back in the mid-90s when I got to play the original. I don’t remember exactly when that was, but it was probably on my mother’s Macintosh. Let’s say I was about 14 years old! Anyway, I don’t think I actually finished it at the time. I do remember being very freaked out, nevertheless, because of the low-polygon stuff. I’m not sure if this is something younger people would even appreciate nowadays but, back then, there was nothing else like that. As far as I know, Alone in the Dark was the first time you controlled a proper 3D model [If nothing else, Guinness World Records has identified it as the “First-Ever 3D Survival Horror Game”].
Sure, there were titles released previously that had painted backgrounds and whatnot, but this elevated it to a whole new level. It was a quantum leap from a technology point of view and it made the horror really come alive.
Absolutely! It might seem quaint for modern audiences but there’s no denying it was a huge step for the medium.
And not only was it scary in terms of how it visually presented itself, but it was also just unpredictable and relentless. I remember that, pretty early on, you have to fight a creature that breaks through a window in the attic. And if you don’t know what to do at that exact moment then you just die!
It’s from that era of trial-&-error game design, you know? Where failing was just something that was expected of you. It was a little bit like Dark Souls in that respect. It threw a lot at you right at the beginning, so that you had full respect for the monsters.
[Franchise creator] Frédérick Raynal told me that his intention was to make the player feel constantly afraid, even when you’re just walking around. So he put in trap doors and other nasty surprises to make sure that you never felt safe. It’s such a dick move! And of course, that’s all exacerbated by the fact that you were lumbered with these tank controls, which meant nothing was smooth or polished.
So, yeah it was brutal and I was probably too weak as a child to properly handle that [Laughs].
When did you go back to finally face it?
Well, I think the first horror game I really connected with came much later on, in the form of Silent Hill 2. I remember being able to process that one a lot better.
That makes sense, it’s much more forgiving than Alone in the Dark. Dealing with enemies isn’t as tough, you get clearer directions, and the puzzles aren’t quite as obtuse.
That’s true. So long as you can withstand the oppressive atmosphere and psychological trauma, then the actual gameplay isn’t anywhere near as challenging. Anyway, I think it’s worth mentioning because that’s when it all clicked for me.
From there I naturally moved onto Resident Evil, before eventually returning to Alone in the Dark and then giving the second and third games a go too. I don’t think I ever played The New Nightmare, however, I did try the [2008 installment] that’s set in New York.
So where did the inspiration come from with this new remake? Does it go back to your childhood memories of the original?
Funnily enough, I think it goes back to Resident Evil again. It’s one of those weird things where classic RE was heavily inspired by Alone in the Dark, but now our game is being inspired by the Resident Evil 2 remake. It’s like a perfect circle!
When we were having our initial conversations about how to do a contemporary version of Alone in the Dark, the Resident Evil 2 remake had just been released and we all agreed that it was amazing. It’s really, really well done and it seemed like we could try something similar.
The thing is, Alone in the Dark might be the grandfather of survival horror but I don’t think it’s got the same brand recognition today that Resident Evil enjoys. So our thinking was that, if people are hungry for the next entry in that bigger franchise, then maybe we could get their attention by delivering something comparable. I’m not saying that to diminish our game of course. I just mean that we’re [operating] in the same space and you don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. If a Resident Evil 2 fan tries out the new Alone in the Dark, they will easily be able to pick it up.
That brings us nicely to my next question! You just alluded to the fact that, while Alone in the Dark certainly has an important legacy, it’s not quite as prominent in the horror arena as it used to be.
Yes.
With that in mind, do you think people are going to be as fiercely protective over it as they were when, say, the Resident Evil 4 or Silent Hill 2 remakes were announced? And, if not, does that give you more freedom to change things up?
For sure. There was a brief moment when we were considering doing a more faithful remake of the original, but it just didn’t hold up. That gameplay is so of-its-time and even if you updated all of the graphics, it would still feel weird to a modern audience.
We knew we had to do something else to bring the franchise back and make it relevant for today. So, we started thinking about whether or not we’d do a sequel to the last game [Alone in the Dark: Illumination], which was like a weird multiplayer shooter. Even THQ were like: “We definitely want to stay away from that one!”
[Then] I ended up pitching a version that leaned more into the RPG side of things, trying to create something [akin] to Call of Cthulhu. That didn’t really fly with the people in charge either.
In the end, after pitching all these blue-sky ideas, we decided to give ourselves permission to take cues from that Resident Evil 2 remake. After all, the RE series is itself indebted to Alone in the Dark so it’s only fair that we can borrow from it! That’s how we ended up with the approach we’ve taken here.
I think that’s the most logical way of modernizing it.
Totally. That being said, even though most people have probably forgotten about Alone in the Dark, not everybody has. For those loyal fans, we wanted to reassure them that we also care deeply about the source material and that we aren’t just [chasing trends]. We’ve been respectful of the original, fleshed out some characters, used existing text documents as the [seeds] for brand new plot points, and generally built upon what was already there while going in our own direction.
For example, the character of Grace Saunders has been brought over from the second game and given a massively expanded role. We did the same thing with Dr. Gray, who is briefly mentioned in the original but — where he was previously just a name on a sheet of paper — we’ve given him way more to do.
Likewise, I was so happy that we were able to reinsert Emily Hartwood back into the franchise. Edward Carnby has lived on throughout all of the sequels but she kind of gets ditched after that first game for some reason, so it was very important to me that we bring her back.
When you have [both Emily and Edward], you can play them off against each other. You can also have them develop the story more naturally through dialogue, without having them constantly thinking aloud or narrating everything that’s in their heads.
I suppose that’s a relatively big change for you too, given that so much of your previous work has revolved around characters who are utterly alone.
Yeah, I’ve always wanted to do something like this! Even as far back as Amnesia: The Dark Descent, I was trying to convince them to let me have another character for Daniel to talk to. And they were like: “No, we can’t afford it.” Which is why we had you interacting with somebody behind a closed door instead. It meant that we didn’t have to animate them! Then in SOMA we gave you what was basically a talking radio the whole time.
Whereas here [in Alone in the Dark] you get to properly meet people and there are full cutscenes too. It’s much more fleshed out.
The reimagined version of Derceto must surely have factored into that decision? Because it’s no longer an abandoned mansion, but rather an operational psychiatric hospital that’s fully staffed and has patients roaming around.
Exactly, I wanted there to be more characters in one place and that seemed to be a good way of [justifying] that. Very early on I thought: “If I want to keep people around, I can’t just have them loitering in a haunted house.” That wouldn’t make any sense.
The hospital location also sets up this whole question of what’s real and what’s not, as you start to doubt your own sanity. Which is something that we play around with a lot here.
The other interesting thing about the game’s setting, besides the physical location, is the time period. It’s been described in promo materials as “Interbellum horror.” Could you talk a little about that?
I really like setting things in the past. I can’t remember exactly when Amnesia is supposed to take place, but it’s somewhere in the nineteenth century.
Meanwhile, our version of Alone in the Dark is set in the 1930s, which sandwiches us nicely between The Great War and The Great Depression. So everybody is already doomed to begin with! On the practical side of things, it also means you have access to a little more technology. It’s still old-timey but you’ve got proper flashlights for example [Laughs].
I’m very immersed in the period because of all that time I spent playing the Call of Cthulhu Role-Playing Game with my friends. When you’re the storyteller there, you have to try and learn a lot about the historical context: what was going on back then; what did people have access to; what wasn’t invented yet and so on. Because of that, I already had a lot of this stuff in the back of my head.
The other thing that stood out to me was the geographical aspect and how that linked to the era. Because I don’t think that the original game necessarily sold that idea as well as it could. When you think of that first game, and its stereotypical haunted house, it just looks like your average Lovecraft story. You know, Providence, Maine or New England. But it is actually set in Louisiana! I wanted to make a bigger deal out of that with the remake because it’s such a cool combination of time and place. That’s why we’ve embraced the bayou, the gangsters, the jazz and all of that stuff.
So yeah, there are a bunch of reasons why we chose to set it in the 1930s. However, if I was making another one now I’d probably want to move along even further into the 40s. When I’m researching, I tend to go down a bit of a rabbit hole and find all these cool things that happened in different eras. Anyway, there’s stuff I’d like to explore in the next decade if I get the chance one day.
You could do a whole series of Alone in the Dark titles set in different decades!
I know you’re joking but, hey, that’s not a bad idea! It could be really cool to see what the franchise looks like in the 50s and in the 60s. I just love getting the chance to read up on history.
Having said that, I know the pitfalls that come with setting a game in a specific period. You’re always gonna fuck it up somewhere. I really like it when people are detail-oriented with these things, but you’ll eventually run into problems if you try to be totally authentic.
For instance, when we were researching the fashion of the 1930s, and saw that everyone was wearing these really wide pants, we just knew that it would look absolutely ridiculous to modern players. So we had to try and think of ways to tweak it and make it look cooler.
Well, to be fair, it’s ultimately about eldritch monsters and supernatural occurrences. It’s not meant to be a historical record.
That’s true, but I never want to go too loosey-goosey. I do think there’s something to the idea that, the more grounded in real-life history it is, the [more effective] the eldritch horror becomes.
You also run into these weird little questions that you might not know the answers to. For instance, when we started to kit out the environments for this game, we put in chain-link fences everywhere. Which prompted us to ask: “Did they even have those back then?”
My art-director correctly pointed out that they did indeed have chain-link fences in the 1930s. He looked into it and went on a bit of a research bender [laughs]. But what I said to him was: “Most people won’t know that. They’ll think it’s out of place.”
To me, chain-link fences are associated with the 1990s. With zombie horror, Hellraiser and Resident Evil. They might have actually existed back in the 30s, but they don’t feel right. So we really downplayed how much you see of them in Alone of the Dark. It’s as much about matching what the audience has in their head as it is about matching the real history!
I think there’s also something about how, when you set horror in a bygone era, and remove people’s access to modern technology, it tends to feel creepier.
Yes, it really does help! When you read Lovecraft for example, you’re struck by how people go out to these weird places in the woods, and they have no way of contacting civilization whatsoever. They don’t even have particularly good transportation! They’ll take like a random bus to get somewhere and it only comes by once a week. They’re so far removed from security! I like that aspect of it.
There’s also no internet to research with, which means characters have to pour through obscure tomes and investigate artifacts. I love all that stuff.
You’ve already mentioned Resident Evil 2, the works of H.P. Lovecraft and the Call of Cthulhu RPG. Were there any other major inspirations that fed into your vision of Alone in the Dark?
Of course! Whenever you pitch these things to other people, and try to get them onboard, you often signpost them to things they know about. For us, the film Mudbound — which took place in a similar period and in the Mississippi region — was a pretty useful reference point. We also based the tone and vibe of the whole thing on The X-Files. Especially when it comes to the comradery between the two protagonists, and the sense of levity that brings.
Being in Louisiana, we couldn’t avoid the inevitable specter of True Detective either. At one point we really leaned into that and the game was much darker, more intense and severe.
Whereas now, it’s got a more adventure-y tone. I like to call it “feel-good horror,” which I know some of the people at THQ are a bit nervous about! They think it sounds tame, but I don’t mean it that way. What I mean is that it’s not as heavy as some of my previous games and we’ve got these likeable characters. The world isn’t quite so pessimistic and it’s got clear-cut good guys and bad guys. Do you know what I mean?
Yeah, it’s like a more Hollywoodized version of things.
Exactly! It’s not a full-on Tintin, but it’s not True Detective either!
I suppose having access to these charismatic movie stars — in the form of David Harbour and Jodie Comer — helps you maintain that Hollywood tone as well?
You know, I never really thought of it that way but you’re totally right. They bring it into this more [glamorous] reality that’s less grim.
The funny thing about that is, when we initially started this project, it was meant to be pretty small-scale. Then after about a year of working on it, THQ said they had enough confidence to put some real money behind it. And they asked us to think of some actors that we wanted to play Emily and Edward.
The first wish list I put together was probably quite humble; comprised of smaller TV actors because I didn’t know how high to aim. The names I came up with seemed reasonable to me, and I thought each of them would bring something different to the respective roles.
But then THQ told me to think even bigger! So I was like: “[Hesitantly] Could we maybe get David Harbour?” and they said: “Yeah, we’ll go with him!”
I was so surprised by how serious they were about this. Then we got Jodie as well, which was super cool!
Did the characters end up changing once you cast both roles? You mentioned that everyone on your original wish list would theoretically bring something different to the parts. How did that work out with David and Jodie?
All characters go through this journey. When you write them, you might have a very clear impression of them in your mind, but once you bring it into the studio they’re gonna evolve. The actors will do their thing and bring something else to the roles that you hadn’t seen before.
In this case — because David and Jodie were such huge stars — they were cast without really going through a traditional audition process. When they turned up on the first day, we were just like: “Okay, let’s see what they do with it!”
With David, he’s doing something similar to what he does in Stranger Things. Edward Carnby is maybe less badass than Hopper, but it’s in the same vein.
Meanwhile, Jodie brought a lot more sincerity to everything. With her performance, it all became so much more earnest and I was happy that she did it that way. I think she kind of rescued the drama and tragedy of the story by bringing that more sincere quality to it.
And with these two characters each having their own separate campaigns, was it a challenge to figure out how the dynamic between them would work? Did it affect the way scenes were written?
One of the ways we kind of saved ourselves some trouble here is in how we thought about the two campaigns and the ways in which they interrelate. It’s not like they run side-by-side [as in Resident Evil 2]. Instead, the idea is that you essentially pick who is the lead and who is the sidekick. Regardless of who it is, the overarching journey is mostly the same. They do have some chunks of the game that are completely unique to them, but the main changes are in the cutscenes and the ways in which people react to you. So it’s more like two alternate versions of the same story, as opposed to a pair of radically different campaigns.
Regardless, it was a lot of extra work and I’m glad that THQ encouraged us to do it.
Finally, I don’t know if you are familiar with this term, but you’ve previously worked on a lot of “Helpless Horror” titles. You know, games where your ability to defend yourself is very limited. With Alone in the Dark, though, you’re moving towards more traditional survival horror in the Resident Evil mold. What was that transition like for you?
It has been a challenge for me actually. We had to figure out how much combat there should be, what form it should take, and so on.
It’s changed a lot over the course of production too. When we started out, there was very little action and the levels were built with that in mind. Yet, since then, we’ve started adding more and more monsters to the experience.
You’ve also got to think about whether it makes sense for these characters to be able to hold their own in such extreme circumstances. Emily is just a governess in our game. She looks after rich people’s kids, so we had to figure out a way to make it believable for her to fight these creatures.
That’s never been something I’ve had to consider before in the likes of SOMA or Amnesia and was a really interesting question to tackle. Because I didn’t want [the characters] to be too good at fighting. They’re not meant to be U.S. Marines or whatever!
It’s an area that I’d like to explore more in the future. It’ll be interesting to see what I do next from here. Personally, I think I lean more towards the helpless horror, as you called it, but I’m curious if there’s a middle ground somewhere.
When you talk about what you’re going to do next, is that likely to be another Alone in the Dark, or something else entirely?
I don’t know is the honest answer. Nothing has been decided upon yet. Maybe THQ knows, but I certainly don’t. I think I’ve kind of done everything I wanted to do with Alone in the Dark. If I were to come back to it, I would need to find an entirely new angle on it.
I’ve kind of carved out a niche for myself in horror, but that’s not necessarily all I want to do either. Perhaps I’ll branch out in terms of genre next. Who knows? Let’s see what happens!
Alone in the Dark arrives March 20 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam.
The post ‘Alone in the Dark’ Exclusive Interview – Mikael Hedberg Talks Lovecraft, ‘Resident Evil’ and Remaking a Classic appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.