Alone in the Dark: Illumination

Alone in the Dark: Illumination is the sixth game in the Alone in the Dark horror series. This edition is a third-person shooter that is meant to be played cooperatively with up to four players, but can also be played alone. The game is set in the fictional town Lorwich in Virginia (USA). Deluge Multinational Company purchased and re-opened a defunct mine in the town, but shortly after bizarre accidents and animal attacks occur. When all communication is suddenly cut off, an involved party hires a supernatural private investigator to find out what is going on.

The game has four main characters that represent different classes. Theodore Carnby is called The Hunter. He is a direct descendant of Edward Carnby, the male protagonist of the original Alone in the Dark. He has access to the most powerful weapons such as an assault rifle, a submachinegun and a flamethrower. The other characters have ranged weapons as well, but they are less powerful and require more use of secondary skills. The entire game is set in a dark environment and the many monsters can only be damaged when they are exposed to light. The characters constantly need to switch on lights and restore power in order to have a chance to defeat them. Many of the environment based puzzles involve switches, doors, explosives and batteries to progress. The Hunter's flamethrower combines light with regular damage to dispose of enemies quickly.

The second character is The Witch. She is the great granddaughter of Emily Hartwood, the female protagonist of the original game. She combines a revolver with secondary, magical skills such as a lightning strike, creature control to take over an enemy and lightning crawler. The third character is The Priest. He can charge his pistols with holy light to use light and damage simultaneously. He can also light up and damage a large radius by calling the Wrath of God as a light beam from above. He can heal the other members as well. The final character is The Engineer. Next to a pistol and a shotgun she relies on gadgets and can set up a tesla wall barrier or launch a spinning comet that emits light. Characters are meant to work together to complement each other's abilities.

There are many items in the environment to restore health and ammo. As each character has specific weapons, not everything can be picked up by everyone and certain doors can only be opened by specific characters. Characters can sprint for a short while until the stamina recharges. Next to ammo, there is a separate meter for the secondary skills. By progressing through the game, experience is gained to level up. Skill points can be spent in a common skill tree (speed, damage, reload speed, health, ability regen, ability cost) or a class skill tree unique to each character to enhance their abilities. There is a separate loadout panel to equip weapons. The game consists of three campaigns: The Mines of Lorwich, Beneath the Graves and Factory of Fear. There are some randomized elements (enemies, items) to the levels.