The slow-drip of 32-bit games hitting the PlayStation 5 continues this week with the release of three more classic titles. Look for Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare to spook survival horror fans, MediEvil to make them laugh and Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire to send Star Wars junkies into a galaxy far, far away. That's exciting news, but are any of these games actually worth playing? To answer that question, I decided to flip through the pages of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Computer & Video Games, Next Generation and more classic magazines to see what the critics said back when these games first came out. It's time to put on a brave face, because this is going to be a very scary episode of PlayStation Plus Review Crew!


This year we got a brand-new reboot of the classic horror game Alone in the Dark, and it was met with so-so reviews. Of course, longtime fans know that this is not the first time the series has been rebooted with mixed results. No, I'm not talking about that 2008 game published by Atari, but rather Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare on PlayStation. Developed by Darkworks and released in 2001, this game hits the reset button and sends Edward Carnby some place he had never been before – present day. Beyond that, we got a survival horror story that felt like it was directly inspired by the more successful Resident Evil, complete with two different stories that have you playing as either Edward or Aline. This was Alone in the Dark's time to come out of the shadows and really shine. But is that what happened?

When it comes to the reviews, the critics were all over the place with The New Nightmare. Electronic Gaming Monthly's average score was a 5.7 out of 10, but that doesn't tell the full story, as the scores ranged from a 3.5 all the way up to a 7.5. Let's start with the more positive of those two: “It's funny how Capcom took the best bits of Alone in the Dark and improved upon them to create Resident Evil, considering Infogrames is now doing the same in reverse. The control, if a tad sluggish, is up to par with what you'd expect in a game like this. The flashlight feature works nicely, throwing shapes all around on lush pre-rendered backgrounds, creating a suspense-filled atmosphere with enough surprises to make me jump on more than one occasion.” On the flip side, Kraig complained that this is little more than a bastardized Resident Evil rip-off. “It's more like a gothic Easter Egg hunt than a mystery. Don't come here to get your blood pumping. The zombie-bustin' action is pedestrian at best, and the dark graphics ... well, they're just dark, not very scary. It seems like the only thing the designers got right was the game's subtitle – it was often a nightmare to play.”

Believe it or not, this was the lowest magazine score for the PlayStation version of The New Nightmare, as the rest of the critics were a lot more open to the changes. For example, the reboot received a solid 7 out of 10 from Edge in their 99th issue, and an 8 out of 10 from Game Informer in their 100th. This was the sweet spot for the game, as the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine also went with a 4 out of 5, and PSM went with the equivalent 8 out of 10. They concluded that “it may not be completely perfect or have the best graphics ever, but the latest Alone in the Dark definitely reminded me of why I love this genre so much. The puzzles are well thought out and the voice acting is actually even quite decent. If you're a fan of the Resident Evil series, then this game is a definitely must-have. It's not too terribly innovative, but it does do an amazing job of keeping you at the edge of your seat. And if that isn't a sign of a great ‘survival horror' game, then I don't know what is.”

If you're looking for the highest score, then you know where to go – GamePro. Giving it a 4.5 out of 5, Jake the Snake noted that “the pace is slower than that of Resident Evil and the monsters are not as prevalent, but that makes it all the scarier when a demon finally pops up. Ominous music and constant thunder keeps you edgy, but nothing is as creepy as the surroundings. The pre-rendered scenery would be stunningly beautiful if it wasn't so darn creepy – it's some of the best scenery on the PlayStation. If you're a Resident Evil fan with no monster left to kill, don't be lonesome – get Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare.”

The critics were all over the place with this reboot, which has been true of all of the Alone in the Dark games. This is an extremely polarizing series, and now it's your chance to see which side of the divide you land on.

If you were a console gamer in the 1990s, then you might remember Rebel Assault as that Star Wars game that looked amazing in magazines, but got terrible reviews from the critics. By employing full-motion video and locations straight from the movies, the 1993 original foreshadowed the future of Star Wars video games, even if it wasn't that much fun to play. But that's just the first game. Surely a sequel will benefit from the advanced hardware and developers who were more experienced making this style of on-rails shooter. I mean, the PlayStation version was made by Factor 5, who had already made a name for themselves with the Turrican franchise and would go on to make some of the best Star Wars games, so Rebel Assault II was in good hands, right? What could possibly go wrong?

Now, if you were a subscriber to GamePro in 1997, then you were probably still really excited to play Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire. Although the coverage was reduced to a third of the page, they still managed to give the game an impressive 4.5 out of 5. “The sharp, exciting graphics include long, well-done cinemas and rendered ships. The shooting levels are movie-quality clean. The sound is rich with symphonic scores sampled from the trilogy. Although the gameplay isn't as deep as Shadows of the Empire, it's still fast shootin' fun with a Star Wars twist. Rebel will keep you happy for a solid weekend.”

In case you haven't figured it out yet, GamePro was the outlier when it came to Rebel Assault II. Compare their take to Electronic Gaming Monthly, where Dan gave the game the same 4.5, which sounds fine until you realize that it's a 10-point scale. “At its heart, the game is complete nonsense. You run or fly through full-motion video sequences, or pre-rendered backgrounds, shooting at objects that are not part of the scenery. Yawn. The other areas involve you maneuvering your craft around various obstacles. Snore. To make matters worse, the control of these crafts is worthless.” Fake ninja Sushi-X liked it a little bit more, giving it a 6, but still argued that you shouldn't buy it: “This game gets my rental award of the month. I would like to know how unskilled LucasArts thinks we gamers are. The first time I sat down to play Rebel Assault 2, I beat it. This is a problem. I love the cut-scenes, and it's a must-play for anyone who loves the movies, but you'll only need to play it once or twice.” Electronic Gaming Monthly ended up giving The Hidden Empire a very middling score of 5.5 out of 10.

From there, things only get worse. Next Generation absolutely hated the game, giving it a terrible 2 out of 5. That's bad, but nothing compared to the Official UK PlayStation Magazine, which also went with a 2 ... out of 10. They argued that “This second Star Wars title is completely useless and a major mistake on the part of LucasArts, a company with a fantastic reputation on the PC format. They'll have to go a long way to persuade us that having the Star Wars label on the box means that we're in for a gaming treat. In the case of Rebel Assault II and Dark Forces, it just ain't true.” By the way, in case you're now suddenly curious, they gave Dark Forces a score of 5 out of 10.

Look, Rebel Assault II isn't very good. Or maybe GamePro was right this whole time and it's a misunderstood gem? I guess you'll just have to play it for yourself and see who was right. Spoiler alert: It wasn't GamePro.

With the success of games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, horror was all the rage during the 32-bit era. While those franchises used their eerie locations and unsettling atmosphere to send shivers down your spine, Sony decided to go in the opposite direction. Taking inspiration from The Nightmare Before Christmas, MediEvil uses its spooky setting to make you laugh. This is a light-hearted hack and slash action game developed by the people who brought you the 1997 Frogger reboot. With its Halloween-themed worlds and creative character designs, it was a refreshing counter to the cute and cuddly mascot characters that had dominated the market up until then. And the gamble paid off, as MediEvil was a hit with consumers, spawning a sequel and two different remakes. Not bad for a bunch of bones. Let's see what the critics thought of Sir Daniel and his harrowing adventure.

Electronic Gaming Monthly liked it ... for the most part. Crispin gave the game an 8.5 out of 10, admitting that while he's fed up with these cutesy 3D action/adventure games, “MediEvil packs enough puzzles, weird weapons and, for the lack of a better term, ‘meat' to its gameplay to keep me interested until the end. You get a cool mix of indoor and outdoor levels. Some stages – particularly the floating ghost ship – are damn near amazing.” Dean was a little less enthusiastic, giving it a 7 out of 10: “I'd classify the game as an action RPG ‘light.' Light because the battles and puzzle solving are on the easy side as is the overall objective of the game. No doubt it's a solid package, but it's definitely geared toward a younger audience. That's fine, as long as you don't mind.”

While the UK edition of Play went higher with a score of 86%, the real interesting story is what's happening on the other side of the scale. For example, you saw Edge give the game a so-so score of 7, which is the exact same grade you saw over at Game Informer. Notoriously grumpy Next Generation lived up to their reputation with an even lower score, a 3 out of 5. They complained that “the problem is that the whole game, while neatly packaged, is aimed strictly at platform fans. There's nothing new here, in either design or gameplay, and in the end, MediEvil just doesn't have enough to push it beyond being anything more than a competent clone of what's come before.”

And if you think that's a low score, wait until you get a load of Computer & Video Games. Giving the game a 2 out of 5, they compared this PlayStation hit to one of my favorite Capcom games. “If you've ever played the Capcom classic Ghosts ‘N Goblins, you'll know what MediEvil is all about in the first seconds of play. The hack-and-slash action and look is eerily familiar, unfortunately MediEvil isn't as memorable as Capcom's game. The main problem is repetition, the game doesn't really get going until the third or fourth level, and by then I was a bit bored. That's not to say MediEvil is a bad game, just short on genuine thrills.”

And that's the thing, this game is definitely not bad, but it's also not going to blow you over. The horror-theme is fun and there's a lot of potential, but in the end, it's yet another hack and slash action game without much depth. Give it a try on PS Plus, if you dare.