You can play The New Nightmare as either Edward Carnby, a paranormal private investigator and poster boy for the series, or Aline Cedrac, a college professor and requisite video game babe. As in Resident Evil 2, the protagonists cross paths but have separate adventures within the main story, which, in this case, involves evil supernatural forces at work on the appropriately (but unimaginatively) named Shadow Island.

Although The New Nightmare uses the genre-standard, third-person, fixed-camera viewpoint, it adds a twist by bathing most of its detailed, predrawn 3-D backgrounds in darkness, and then equipping the player with a controllable flashlight. Not only does this create some rather impressive lighting effects, but it also heightens the sense of fear that is further fueled by the game's ominous music and sounds.

Unfortunately, the rest of The New Nightmare isn't very inspired. Its underdeveloped controls are on par with the first Resident Evil, which might not be so bad if not for that fact that this combat-light game has you tediously running around looking for keys to match its many nondescript locked doors, as well as trying to find solutions to vague puzzles that all too often leave you in the dark. --Joe Hon

Pros:

• Play as either of two protagonists, each in a separate adventure
• Impressive lighting effects
• Effectively ominous music and sounds

• Awkward viewpoints
• Clumsy, underdeveloped controls
• Gameplay is more often tedious than challenging