Frictional Games has created a spine tingling First Person Adventure/Horror that will keep any player involved. As the name implies, Amnesia: The Dark Descent is told from the perspective from Daniel. And also, since this game is an Adventure/Horror game, it will draw comparisons to the several Resident Evil and Silent Hills games that have come before it. Although, the biggest tilt in gameplay is the lack of weapons to defend yourself. This will require the player to rely on much more civil courses of action as the story unfolds.
With introductions aside, I am probably one of the biggest babies when it comes to a scary game. Resident Evil was frightful. Silent Hill was frightful. Fatal Frame was frightful. With that, I forced myself to continue through this game. Which, incidentally, is exactly what Frictional Games intended. As I started the game, the tutorial screen click by and the introduction told me not worry about saving, not worry about beating the game, and not worry about fighting. I had to rely on being hidden, or even run away from unsafe situations. So, that is perfect for me.
At the opening screen, the protagonist of the story is telling himself to remember. He must remember. Focus. His name is Daniel. He is Daniel. You infer from the monologue that he has forced himself to forget something. That something to later be discovered and the reason itself will also be revealed. Other than this internal monologue, Daniel will discover journal notes, diaries, and mementos to help his memory return. While venturing and looting through the castle, you find Tinder Boxes and a lantern. These become vital to survival.
Since the game outright lets the player know that there won’t be fighting, whit and resources become the only means for survival. That being said, I asked myself, “What do I do when something attacks me?” I soon found out. Short answer, light something and solve the puzzle. The main and primary use of the tinder boxes and lantern are to light your path. But, there are a limited number of tinder boxes and lantern oil potions, so there is a constant struggle between the dark and light. The reason there is such a struggle is because of what is chasing Daniel. It is only know as “the Shadow.” The shadow never takes a physical form. But, it leaves behind a blobby gelatin that can only be described as villainous Jell-o. The is important to know because besides the character having health, Amnesia also introduces the “Insanity” stat.
If you spend too much time in the dark, you will start going insane. If you see paranormal acts, you will going even more insane. If you start at monsters for too long, you will go even more insane. If you solve a puzzle, you will become sane. The insanity gauge functions like a stealth system. While you are completely sane, you are much less visible to monsters when you hide. When you have completely lost your mind you body is convulsing and monsters and much more likely to spot you. For me, this was more fun to watch my insane meter rise and see what it said.
Graphically speaking, the game does seem a little dated. It reminds me of some Xbox original launch titles. This is by no means a bash, or a burn. Merely an observation. And, to be very honest, I’m not the most critical person when it comes to graphical intensity. I grew up on wonderful titles that has 8-bits of graphic. So, this aspect of a game doesn’t sway me one way or the other. But, the creativity of the monsters and castle environment were very impressive. I found myself very lost in the room just by sorting through all of the items and hoping to find anything of use.
Speaking of items, I didn’t listen to the now weapon rule for too long. While moving with the basic WASD, I would grab any interactive object I could and carry it in front of me for as long as I could. Whether that be a chair, flask, bottle, book, crate, and just about anything else. Most times I would lose the object because of the random spinning I would do to make sure nothing was sneaking up behind me. Thankfully, the games controls of very smooth. I’ve run into several first person games where either the X-axis was to slow and the Y-axis was balls to the wall fast.
Just like most horror games, the sound and ambiance is what makes the game suspenseful. And in true fashion to its predecessors, I probably peed myself eighteen times before the 3rd room. And, again, the game actually starts in its tutorial by telling you to go into a dark room to play the game and put on headphones to makes sure you get the full effect. So, that is what I did. And in a matter of moments, i was sucked in and completely scared.
Even though I may hate myself later for playing horror games, I always find myself happy when I get to complete their puzzles and make it to the next section. Amnesia: The Dark Descent is no exception. Really enjoyed the game. Really enjoyed the story. And really enjoyed having me bladder release without me wanting it to. Only downfall to the whole game is that it seems a little short. You get sucked in quick and then see it end. It isn’t an out of the blue ending or anything. Just really want to keep going.
Score: 7/10
Amnesia: The Dark Descent was developed by Frictional Games and released for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating system on September 8th. A copy of the Windows version was provided to us by Frictional Games for reviewing purposes.
