Atari has announced that they will be rebooting two classic horror franchises, Alone In The Dark and Haunted House, later this year. Although both have just been revealed, they are expected to be playable at PAX Prime, which takes place at the end of August.
Arguably the more well known series, although not necessarily for the right reasons, Alone In The Dark: Illumination is the latest attempt at a reboot of the classic survival horror franchise. In development at Pure FPS, a studio I can find little information on, other than the fact that it holds the license to Rekoil, little is known about Illumination as of this time. However, if you’re like me and have played Rekoil, than you know this isn’t the best first impression to have.
Originally created in 1992, Alone in the Dark is considered to be one of the most influential titles of all time. Its 3D graphics and H.P. Lovecraft-inspired story influenced countless horror titles since release. After a seven year break, Atari tried to reboot the series back in 2008, but the planned franchise-starter received scathing reviews and was quickly forgotten about.
Haunted House, which is another classic horror title, will also receive the reboot treatment, courtesy of Anna developer Dreampainters. The developer had been working on a sequel to Anna called White Heaven, which was set for release in 2014, but has remained silent on the title since May. Earlier this year, however, studio founder Allesandro Monopoli did reveal that the studio was working on a “reboot” of an older property for a major publisher.
First debuting on the Atari 2600 back in 1982, Haunted House is cited as one of the earliest titles in the survival horror genre. A sequel to the game, also titled Haunted House, was released for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Windows PC back in 2010.
We will have more information on Alone in the Dark: Illumination and Haunted House later this month, following PAX Prime.
