Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Every so often, I like to try a horror game to see if my palette for them has changed at all. This years was a long awaited go at "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" with the PS4 re-release that was a Playstation Plus game a few years back. Though I can see the quality of the game, it's just not one for me.

Awakening in a seemingly abandoned stately home, you play Daniel, who has amnesia and must explore, finding notes that fill in the details of what has occurred there. Solving simple puzzles along the way, Daniel is increasingly psychologically attacked by unseen noises and movement in the dark - with only candlelight or a lantern to provide the release of the truth. Soon though, Daniel discovers that he is not alone in the catacombs.

There was a lot to like about "Amnesia: The Dark Descent". Though I didn't play it as the developers intended, i.e in the dark, with headphones on, I did get a sense of the superlative sound design that makes the game so compelling. Visually the game was fine, using a basic engine to generate the house and its contents and with enough physics to allow you to throw the items around. I liked the visual effects that occur as Daniel takes psychological damage, with the screen becoming blurry and distorted until you can find some light, it reminded me of seminal Gamecube game "Eternal Darkness". The puzzles were basic stuff, mostly fetch quests or combining items like in a point and click adventure.

Where the game lost me though, was in the encounters with the creatures. I gave up at the second major one, which I understand is about halfway through the game. The first, using water to show where the creature was at least made sense, (as in, I could see where my goal was). The second just ended with me blundering into the creature over and over again and getting killed. It wasn't fun and soon moved from scary to frustrating. At my age, I don't have enough free time to not make progress with a game, each time I play.

Undoubtably well-made and atmospheric, I feel like the problems are more with me than with the game.

I really wished there was a good sequel to this game becouse i wonder when are we gonna get a good amnesia sequel and we got machine for pigs that Meh alright...but man i always wondered when are we gonna get a amnesia sequel or remake to make me satisfied anyways back to the point.

This game is just a masterpiece no other horror game as achieved its level, sure there is outlast,resident evil 2 remastered and etc but man in 2010 how can u see these types of games i sure havent anyway i am not giving 10/10 becouse some parts like are not as scary as some and some puzzles are hard to players to get through but anyways 8/10 solid game

You wake up in a medieval castle. Shambling around, trying to shake the confusion(seen through gradually switching Dutch angles and filters), you can say with certainty only two facts - your name is Daniel, and you live in Mayfair, London. Finding the first of many notes(that, along with the flashbacks which are done via red tint, voice-over, without taking away control, evoking the feeling of recalling a memory, make up the storytelling - you are not hand-holded through, you get hints, and piece the whole together, yourself), you find your former self imploring you to do one thing... kill Alexander, the politically powerful Baron of the vast Castle Brennenburg in Prussia, which you currently find yourself in.

Immediately, we have questions. Why? For both the murder(which you get to make up your own mind on - is it deserved or not?) and the distance between what you call home and where you are now. What's happening? Clearly, something supernatural is going on(a gust of wind will blow open a door, for example... inside!), is spreading through the creaky, near-abandoned(sections in disrepair, cobwebs, maggots...) fortress, the foundation of which will shake, threatening to bury you in the rubble of this centuries-old building. These will be answered, by you paying attention and applying yourself, without culminating in any easy conclusion or removing all mystery. This uses your own imagination.

The elements that are not of this world are made all the more terrifying by the contrast(something uses well, in general - open/closed areas, shadow/brightness, etc.) between them and the clearly natural world around you. Eerie and murky though your surroundings may be, they behave as you'd expect. This is similar to the Penumbra series, also by Frictional Games, and is in many ways an upgrade. The physics engine makes a triumphant return - nearly everything is interactive. Pick up, rotate on both Z and X axes(by pressing R - I wish it would allow locking one of the two, and using the keyboard is slightly awkward, as is the "sometimes yet not always working" quality of using Right Mouse not only to push/throw/slam, that goes fine, no, when you attempt to use it for the opposite direction... if they just decided that it could only go "away" from you, that would be fine), move, pull open every door and drawer, etc. Everything has weight, glass can break, and so on. Need to mess around with all these objects? No. You can, and sometimes it'll help, not always(it might hurt! Fire=ow, as you might imagine).

This won't remind you that it's fiction, or what medium it belongs to. When you take a break, it's as if coming to from a nightmare - you spend a little time reassuring yourself that no, that wasn't reality. The closest this comes to a HUD is brief bloodied wounds when hurt, and the centered cursor, which changes to let you know when and how you can use something you're pointing to. Auto-saving whenever you cross between loading areas(always accompanied by two context-free lines, that you have to place, deduce the meaning of) means you don't think about that aspect; and whenever you stop playing, you can store progress, as well. Sadly, their efforts towards such does lead to some loss of consequence; I won't detail it, I mention it merely as one of the only criticisms of this as a whole. The opening asks you to lose yourself to this, and I concur. Let go. Play alone. In a pitch black room. With headphones. You can thank me later.

Having already explained how this, like its spiritual predecessor, breathes life into point and click adventure(in addition to puzzles that require you to break/lift etc. objects around you, there are the traditional, inventory-based combine/get key/bring to other place and use ones), a genre dead since 3D became prevalent, let me tell you why this stands out as survival horror. There are no weapons, and the well-designed, monstrous enemies are few in number as well as variety. Conflicts are rare enough that you never get used to them or feel safe(yet without leading to frustration), and are driven by the prevalent disempowerment of the player. You can't fight back, and have to hide, and failing that, run. As fast as you can. You can be obscured by the dark, and crouch around a corner and/or behind something. They will "patrol"/search if they don't know where you are, and if they spot you, they will chase you down - at same or greater speed as you can muster, killing you with two blows. Buy yourself seconds with debris and putting a door between them and you... get your bearings while they tear through it to get at you.

The thunderous score makes you incapable of "missing" that one is near, and they always feel like they could come by, in spite of the scripted spawns(not outcomes, those are up to you!). Ah, so, avoid the light, I hear you say? No, you will have to balance it - static sources that can't be turned off(!) such as candelabra and torches with the plentiful Tinderboxes(matches) or the carried rare-oil-consuming lantern that you find early. Why? Because that's how you manage Sanity. And if not, you will start hallucinating(blurring, seeing dead bodies, hearing a consistent, sharp note etc.), and you will be of no use. Acting is average. Writing, story and multiple endings(conclusive, yet leaving room for interpretation) are satisfying, based on setup and pay-off.

The 9 and a half hour length and lack of replayability is helped by being mod-friendly, and the free(at least on Steam) DLC of "Remember"(five short stories by Mikael Hedberg, the writer of this) and "Justine"(a 1-2 hour independent level, with a Portal-esque approach, testing your strength of character). There is a lot of disturbing content and some brutal, bloody gore in this. I warmly recommend this to any fan of Edgar Allan Poe, Clive Barker and The Haunting of 1963. 8/10

The horror genre is truly one of the underrated genres of gaming, but that's because the gaming industry is running out of ideas for this particular genre. You get a lot of idealistic "Hollywood story" horror games every year, it's getting annoying. Same old plot. Same old weapons. Same old frights. Nothing really standing out (except maybe a few rare gems which have come out the last few years like Dead Space and Penumbra) This time around, it's different... Completely different... Redefined horror... REAL horror... The one that gets your adrenaline pumping... The one that makes you sweat as if you were there... The one that lets you live the character... The independent Frictional Games (The one behind the awesome Penumbra series) shows the big gaming companies how to do it right. The 5 genius minds behind Frictional Games are really all it takes to get you to watch your back. You start out as an amnesia infected Daniel, who can't remember anything but his name. You're in a castle and you just have to know how you came here.

The darkness deep within this castle hides great horrors and terrors that are just to good to be spoiled... You'll just have to "run for your life" yourself... 10/10 *Highly recommended for horror fans*

WARNING: This game is NOT AT ALL for the weak-heart, easily scared, easily fainted ones... You have been warned...

The atmosphere of this game. It is great. The game is really tense and creepy. The game is effective and it is a satisfying experience. The location the game takes place in is awesome. The voice acting is well done. The game is a good looking game.