So,I Really enjoyed the first AITD.The plot was satisfyng (I love Lovecraft),the gameplay was ok (you die many times but combat system is not broken) but...I really hate AITD2.
The fighting and aiming systems are broken,kill an enemy with a gun without wast all the ammo is really hard.You are so slow,your enemies so fast,and it's ridicolous that you must kill them in order to proceed (if you skip the fight they will follow you and kill you).
To proceed I must save minute after minute,reloading a fight to take as less damage as is possible,the plot is horrible.I uninstalled it when you wear a Santa's costume and enter the house.Worst game ever,for me.

Yeah. Even if I like it, I have to admit that the game is incredibly frustrating until you know it inside out (and even then, it has some bugs so you're never really sure).

A little trick for the enemies. Wlak beside a doorway or a corner and wait for the enemy to come (remember to run (double-tap up) or you'll never make it). Just make sure to make slight taps when you're firing (one tap shoots three bullets with the Thompson and your average enemy can take nine) They should be easy picking at this point. And if you have to fight one with a close combat range, I have only one tactic. Back them into a corner and be relentless.

There are a few puzzles that can be quite hard to figure out. The plot isn't too bad (it's based on Voodoo instead of Lovecraft), but it starts rather slow (you haven't even got into the meat of the game).

This is a game that takes a lot of patience to enjoy (and definitely more action-oriented than AITD 1). Just remember those tricks if you're thinking of getting back in.

I have to admit, I didn't enjoy it as much as the others (hell, I was stuck for many months on it once). Definitely the worst of the series, but not the worst game ever.

I also found a trick to raise you hp and become immortal,but there's no fun using it :(
BTW,the trick is:

-enter the mansion,go in the kitchen,find the poison and the wine.Combine and then use them,opening your invenoty hitting Enter,selecting Drink and releaseing Enter.As soon as you release Enter,hit again without releasing Enter,Drink again the poison and repeat until your hp are over 32000 (make sure the minus sign disappear).
Equip the frying pan to fight (because you are drunk).

I uninstalled the game because for me it's too hard,I don't enjoy at all a game if my first thing is to save every second I play,and with this cheats there's no sense,it's a survival,if you loose that,no fun :(

I've heard of that trick, but never used it. There's no fun in cheating anymore (unlike when I was 10 and I was cheating like a pig).

You can take a look at my video walkthrough, if you want (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxN7Ia-pPy0&feature=relmfu).

Good walkthrough,the hints on the screen are well accepted.Rep for you :)

In AITD2 if you run away the enemies will ALWAYS follow you, in fact during the garden section I died so many times trying to avoid them,but the only option is fight.

I agree that putting more action wasn't a good idea. That engine wasn't made with action in mind, but that's what the publisher ordered (and partly why Frederick Raynald left the team).

AITD3, however, is much more balanced. There are more enemies than in part 1 (and most of them block the way), but most of them are either puzzle enemies (that you can't kill with your weapons). Those who aren't are made much easier thanks to not using automatic weapons (they're limited to six-shooters and winchesters) and that the camera angles are actually helps in the fight scenes. There's also never more than 3 enemies to fight at the same time (and even then, it happens only once and that encounter is optional).

The weak point is that the game is much more linear. You have to explore the buildings the way the game expected you to (I guess it was made that way to keep the plot coherent).

And I agree that AITD isn't a game that I enjoy playing for a second time, except for the last part. I loved the swordfighting controls and the final battle.

Then I will give AITD3 a try.I hope it will be better then the second chapter,or I will hate this series forever!

I am currently playing AITD2 and I actually find it much better than in my memories. Sure, the guys with the Thompsons are a pain the ass but there are many potions to refill the life. There is quite a bit of save/load involved but it was not too tiresome in the end. Once inside the mansion, the gameplay is more similar to the first game as the enemies can be most killed of the time by solving puzzles.

once past the garden, I had alot of fun. Ended up beating it without too much trouble.

It's mostly a mess but far from the worst (that would be the Xbox 360 reboot). The writing is strong and it's nice to see them not rehashing Lovecraft but it's plain to see the engine was not built for an action game. Gunplay is broken and the level and game design have been significantly downgraded from the original. In particular there's no 'search' mechanic so the ability to get clues about the environment or interact with it are gone. If you can suffer through the first two-thirds the game does pick up in the last act with better gameplay, more backstory and a great ending. But keep in mind that AITD2 is a twenty-year-old game. True, as a game it's more miss than hit, but the idea that you could have action and stealth in an adventure game was unheard of back then.

The 2nd game was pretty bad, mainly because it took an action-focus over the 1st's intrigue-style gameplay.

A good tip though, is once you get into the house and have to contend with all the guys with guns, is to simply run past them to the stairs and go up. At the top, go back down. Once down, tap the key to go back up. The guys will end up shooting each other and you'll end up only having whoever lives through the event to deal with. I call it the "Firebrand9 Stair Trick".

They're all really good

I agree. Alone in the Dark 2 is crap. The game engine simply was not designed for this kind of gameplay. Your shots constantly miss unless you're at point blank range, getting shot at results in you getting stunlocked and there's just so many cheap deaths.

Apparently at the time of release infogrames didn't care about the quality. They just wanted to force it out quickly to cash in on the success of the first game.