Alone in the Dark 3: Won

I had no idea how to solve the lingering issue with the machine guns or the number thing on the wall. It kept spitting out random numbers, but I had no idea what they were. Without a clue, I looked it up again...I have to use the musical sheet on the thing I used the film on previously. Huh...interesting. This tells me a number, which is one of the numbers that the number thing was spitting out. This stops the machine guns and all is well.

What was his plan B for this?

Here there's a window, to another area and a bank vault door. Its locked and the key I have doesn't work. It takes me a few moments, but then I realize, hey, that's some stars, and I have that book that told me to use a diamond. It opens, and a zombie pops out. He knocks me down and steals the amulet...but the game tells me to get it back. I wouldn't have thought that if it hadn't told me, so I chase after him. He goes down fairly quickly. Inside are some bullets and Hill Century briefcase, no doubt containing money. Its booby-trapped, and I don't know how to unbooby trap it.

The way out has Carnby opening a window and sliding down a pole onto a roof, where he promptly falls through. Inside Carnby meets...McCarthy, I think. He has a message for me. Stone, guess I was right, wants the case and the key, in exchange he'll give me Emily. Whomever's voicing Jed Stone is incredibly aggressive here, its actually crosses over into being badass. Shame I'm not going to hear it again.

This is an awfully short train ride

This whole section goes by rather quickly. After getting a flask and searching a mining cart for a detonator and some bullets, I'm sent on outside. Its a rather impressive sequence, where Carnby rides past some enemies in a cart, while the fellow who gave me the message gets shot by the enemies breaking in. At the end I have to quickly enter a building or Carnby is overwhelmed.

Another picture to take out of context

Inside is a dude with a whistle who summons enemies with Winchesters. Fighting them is a fool's errand, they'll keep respawning and they can easily defeat Carnby when he's out of ammo. Instead, Carnby has to push a sign that a bucket is on top of...which causes the dude to start crying...There's no indication of what to do next in-game, but you find an eye-bolt in a nearby pile of pipes, then use that to bang on a bell three times, which causes the door to open. Not like a regular door, no, it opens and shuts, and if you don't get it when its open, Carnby dies.

This reaction feels a bit low-key

Directly outside the building, which I guess is the train station, is the water tower I am to reach, and an open grave with Carnby's name on it. That's interesting, I think, as someone rushes up from behind me and steals the case. He was in the train station, and I should have blown it up, says Carnby. Carnby doesn't know how loaded that statement is. I have a map, I have two items, so this should be easy. Its less troublesome than other precise puzzles, but still troublesome. Carnby actually moves over to the location he should go when the detonator is used.

Suitably dramatic reaction

Now I can deal with Jed Stone for the case. I put it down in front of his minion, and wouldn't you know it, he betrays me and I get killed. This is the event that causes Carnby to live again. An Indian apparently brings Carnby back from the dead in the form of a cougar. I'm curious as to whether or not these are living Indians or undead Indians, but whatever.

This image almost feels like its from a different game

This is surprisingly fun. I try fighting a dude whipping another one, but despite getting right next to him, this does nothing. But the whole town is opened up and the cougar moves fast. There's nothing I can do in the town, but I can enter the saloon. And get up the staircase, but not across the hole. Oh...I have to jump, and that's the only time in this form that I have to do that.

Come to think of it, why is there a statue of Jed Stone with this in his hands?

My objective in this form was to get a gold eagle statue situated on top of Jed Stone's statue. This is easy once you get past that hole. Now comes the tricky part, the moon comes out and now I have to fight two werewolves, the old-fashioned kind that turn into wolves, not a hybrid. I have to interact with a tar barrel, then interact with a silver barrel inside the bank-like building. Given that the door to the bank was locked earlier and now wasn't, I'm starting to feel like I'm being screwed around. After killing two of them, Carnby Cougar puts the statue onto the fire.

Jed Stone and company got to work fast, having buried Carnby already, and I can see that Emily looks just as awkward as ever. Carnby gets a badass resurrection scene where his hand comes out of the ground, and one of Stone's men looks, tries to shoot, then drops his gun and runs. Hell, yes. We've come a long way, its time to finish this.

In tandem!

My entire inventory is gone, but I can pick up that guy's Colt. I wonder where to go next? The station is closed and there's no other way here. Ah, the water tower. Carnby's double is there. Hey you, a voice clip from the last game plays. Carnby has a double? Not sure what the rules governing the undead in this game are, but oh, well. At first I fight him and get slaughtered, but then I realize after trying to fist fight him that he's just faster than me. Hang on...This is one of those clever tasks, like in Tomb Raider, where I have to find some way around it.

Why does the Carnby double do this?

I only figure out half the trick, I have to look up the other half. Yeah, I'm not sure dropping an item would have ever occurred to me. This causes Carnby to say he abhors violence and merge with his double, in another cool sequence. Unfortunately, its followed by a sequence on the water tank, which is not so cool. Climbing up, then jumping in to fight some shirtless dude with a knife. He drops a brush I have to use on a background object in order to open a floor plate.

Back to random puzzles

This leads to a cavern hallway, with a map, an Indian's head, and a notebook. A Frenchman narrates how some strange mountain ore is causing irreversible mutations. Only Mr. Stone is immune to it, everyone else has to cover it in lead. This seems to imply that they're working either some kind of radioactive mineral, or magical mineral. How this leads to ghosts, I don't know. There's a leaf I missed that I put on the Indian's head to open a door.

This must be one of the prisoners sent here

This leads me to a pair of big hulking dudes. I take out one with my new gun...and a punch, because I was having fun, and that wasn't good. The second I take out much quicker, which is funny. Sort of sums up my distaste for this game at times. After thorough examination of the area, I get a pick-ax. Its a weapon. The whole area ends in a pit with a poem written by a convict. Something about giving water to a rifleman and the something a needleman. Don't touch him...oh, don't tell me I was supposed to use my Colt on some puzzle enemy instead of actually using it.

There's nothing to explain any of this

After a few attempts at beating two dudes who just don't seem to play fair, I've saved my Colt ammo and made it back. Give water to the rifleman and he'll teach me to fly. Clearly that implies I'm to walk over this pit, as a leap of faith. Like in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Only its all trial and error. One thing that makes it less annoying is that now there's no after death animation and Carnby lets out the most hilarious scream after falling into the pit.

You can tell he's a puzzle enemy because he stays there

On the other side, there's a man with a pick-ax. Aha! I think, this fellow must be the one I am to shoot. I run out of bullets firing at him. So clearly that wasn't the solution. Uh...I reload and try to take him out in melee. Fisticuffs don't seem to work and he gets a hit on me with the pick-ax, but at least I beat him.

And apparently a new island will form too

This leads to a second dude in a library, reading a book. Do I shoot him? No, its useless against him. Using the pick-ax destroys it, but allows me to keep fighting with the handle. I kill him with this. The book he was reading was Jed Stone's sketch book, which would have been hilarious out of context, but in its just as hilarious. Also amusing, a burned book from apparently someone trying to affect a Mexican accent. Apparently Stone is the fruit of a union between Pregzt and a "beth Jarrett", whoever that is. Could she be related to Elizabeth Jarret from last game? Or perhaps the person translating the game did a poor job? Hm...

Check out that face behind Carnby

More positioning fun, a lever in an elevator followed by a series of colored buttons. I can figure out the order of the later with a slide I find inside a piggy bank. This leads to a lab, from which there's not an obvious exit. There's a scientist in a cell, but Carnby gets upset whenever I do something to him. The solution is to get a vial of poison nearby, use it in a distilling coil. This shrinks Carnby, and allows him to enter the cell. Once inside, the scientist, naturally, turns into a hulk and starts wailing on me.

Its not explained, but he locked himself inside

The solution now is to use the poison, which puts it on a needle I picked up earlier, then use the needle in the precise spot in order to kill the scientist. This gets me a straw, a bottle of ammonia, and a key to the "goal", which unlocks the door to the cell. Now I have to shrink down again and enter a mouse hole. There's a gap here that Carnby can't jump, so I have to use the straw as a pole vault. And once again there's a bit of wonderful programming where timers still run even if I'm on the menu.

Imagine just walking into this thing

At the end of this area, and changing back to normal size there's this thing. If nothing else, AitD 3 has been hitting it out of the park with their monster design. It takes a few moments, but since the enemy sometimes stops attacking me to eat the lava-like substance here, I hatch a plan. First I try the ammonia, but it won't let me throw that, so instead I use the potion on it and start running. Success!

Emily's position can't be too comfortable

To get out of here I at first assumed I had to do something with the web, but that just seems to kill Carnby. There's something that looks like an eye, but opening reveals Jed Stone and Emily, and Stone shoots me. Turns out I have to use the gluestick and then climb up a wall where there's light. That's good. Up there, there's a head on a table and the hulk it belongs to walking around. The solution here is much simpler, throw the head down the hole and the hulk follows it. Once again its more a matter of positioning yourself, except this time to avoid getting hammered by the dude. Health is starting to become a concern, I'm hovering in the 20 range.

Looking back at these, this feels more random than it actually is

Next room, the dreaded martial arts guy. He doesn't actually fight like the circus performer did last time, which seems strange. I can't really fight him too well in melee, and the ammonia doesn't work...so I look it up...and I missed a Winchester in the last room, my Colt having disappeared when I first changed sizes. I thought there was something there, I just didn't think I would have to move the anvil. This is mildly troublesome, but doable. Two flasks bring me back to an acceptable range of health.

I wish text didn't disappear so fast, makes it hard to capture properly

Cobra, as the game calls him, drops a wig and a silver coin. There's a slot in a poster of Jed Stone, which opens the next door. Which takes Carnby down. Its Stone! He's fleeing! Emily is here, but walking over the red liquid kills Carnby. The puzzle here is simpler than I give credit for, just put a lead ingot into a crucible and then use a match, found one screen back, to light it. This saves Emily and allows me to get an evil wand.

What even is this place, anyway?

The next hallway is a bit obtuse. The door on the other end brings out spikes once I get into the room, and a hulking dude starts coming after me. You'd think I could see him before walking into the room, but what do I know? The intended progress is to shoot him, then throw the bottle of ammonia at the door, waking up Emily, who fell asleep by it. She then pulls a lever causing the door to retreat and sheath its spikes. Emily then walks into a room...and Jed Stone puts on armor that looks like his face? What?

This bit is pre-rendered

After using Cobra's wig on a chain, I can enter the possibly final room. Where Stone is, in mecha armor!? He's got some kind of energy cannon. Somewhere along the way we've lost the plot of this game. Two cowboys teleport in and teleport around as I walk around the room. What results is something very clever. In order to get rid of the two cowboys, I have to use the evil wand on an eagle totem pole, explained in a note I picked up a few rooms ago.

Carnby, trying to figure out how to solve the mystery of how a train works

From there, I have to defeat Stone somehow, in his armor he's invincible, but does visibly take damage. The issue here is that Stone has pretty good accuracy and screwing around with anything quickly results in him shooting you, and once he's got you in his sights, its hard to continue running away. The end goal is to wait for him to walk away from a certain area, then use a knife on some wires, followed by opening a valve. This creates an area with an electric current, so its just a matter of hiding until Stone steps near it, and a cutscene plays where Indians spirits accost him and he falls into the water, electrocuting himself.

And we never saw anyone ever again

From here its simple, walk through a door to a train, put some coal in, and Emily and Carnby escape the town. An Indian appears over the sunset and all is well. That's it, that's the game. I'm still not sure how I feel about this whole thing. Parts of it, especially in this last section, were very good, others...not so much. A good chunk of items have an extremely esoteric use that I never figured out.

This Session: 2 hours

Total Time: 6 hours 50 minutes