Amnesia: The Dark Descent

I'm not really sure how to begin...

I've played all the classic horror games, the Silent Hill games, Penumbra, FEAR, Condemned, System Shock, etc. Not one of them comes close, although Penumbra deserves second place and bears some similarities - it was, after all, made by the same team.

Amnesia isn't typical in any way. You don't fight, you have no guns or explosives. It's raw survival that drives the action. The elements that make the game so uniquely terrifying have more to do with what you hear and feel, and less to do with common gimmicks like monsters jumping out of the shadows (not a bad tactic, but one that grows tiresome over time). When you create a new game, on-screen text advises players to experience the game, rather than win it.

Before playing, make sure that you are in a dark room, adjust the brightness as per the game's specifications, and play with headphones. Since so much has to do with mood, and since the atmosphere is so compelling, it would be a disservice to the game and yourself to play it any other way.

The story itself is fairly simple - a man has lost his memory and is trying to put the pieces together. But there is something.... wrong. As you progress through the game and begin to see the whole picture, the sense of "wrongness" increases to a nearly hysterical level.

I enjoy watching good horror movies with friends, it might make me a bit sadistic but I do enjoy sharing their fear and giving them a bit of a scare. I can't think of a film or game that I would tell an adult friend not to watch or play. But in the case of Amnesia, be warned - this game is DARK. Some of the themes and scenes are extremely disturbing. It's the only game I've ever had to take breaks from because my nerves were so frayed I wasn't even having fun anymore.

Furthermore, if you're a parent considering purchasing this game for a child, please don't. There are some things you really don't want in your head, and some of those things could be potentially harmful to a child. Some of them could be harmful to adults as well, I suppose.

Anyway, if you love horror games and are looking for more, pick this up immediately - it's the best one yet.

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

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

The Dark Decent is currently one of the best horror games I've ever played. Throughout the entire game I was terrified but I had this motivation to keep pushing on. That motivation was from how interesting and fun the game is.

The gameplay stands out a lot in the horror genre. You could say it's a simple walking simulator, but as it gets more in depth it really shows off how unique it is. One of the mechanics is sanity, if you don't keep your sanity high enough you may start experiencing problems with the mind, causing hallucinations and an inability to see. As you can tell, it can get really scary if your sanity isn't high enough. Light plays a major factor here as well. You need to make sure to manage light, if you don't your sanity will fall and dangerous consequences may stop your path. The enemies are also an interesting factor, sometimes you're just relying on sound, with the option of seeing them. Each type of enemy has its own sound, so you'll be able to tell if you can hide or outrun it. There was one sound that I never saw the enemy that matched it, it sound a lot heavier and I'm glad I never poked my head around the corner.

I didn't quite understand the full story after I finished it, but from what I played I could gather the basics. The story is presented through collectable notes and voices inside your head, so if you are not paying attention you'll miss the plot. It was interesting enough to keep me playing till the end. It's probably something I'm going to read and watch a lot about.

There were a few technical problems, like audio randomly being in my left ear only or me falling out the map. However, it doesn't really make the experience worse but kind of adds to it. When I feel out the map I thought it was a feature and crapped myself in the process.

To conclude, Amnesia: The Dark Decent is an amazing and unique horror game that has left an impact in the horror genre, possibly inspiring many more games I haven't played yet. It's a master of visual and audio immersion, which in combination creates one of the best horror games of all time.

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.