Hello Escapist, I would just like to state before I carry on with my post. that this is my first online review and it is mostly being done for constructive criticism. So if you would be so kind as to comply with my request it would be most appreciated.
Amnesia: The Dark Decent is a realistic, first person horror game from the Swedish company 'Frictional Games.' Strictly allowed only for the PC, Amnesia: The Dark Decent has quickly become one of the most recognized indie games ever made with slightly over 200,000 sales. Although it is MA + rated game, it should be remembered that it is a great game to scare people of all ages, whether it is your dad, your sister or that annoying 9 year old next door.
The game starts off with a small cut scene that only allows you to hear the protagonist, Daniel, quickly trying to remember what has happened and write it down recently after he self inflicted Amnesia (hence the name) through a potion or tonic. Why he wouldn't write down the note first is completely beyond me. After that you wake up on the grown in what at first glance is your stereotypical 'haunted' mansion. You then start to wander around finding notes and reading them, one of them tells you how monsters are chasing you and you must kill a man named Alexander. As the story progresses you learn how he got to the mansion, why he came, why he wants to kill Alexander, why monsters chase him and the rest of the story. The story is, in my opinion, average, it won't wow anyone and it isn't a strong selling point, but thats not to say it is bad of course, its just not great.
The game play is where Amnesia: The Dark Decent shines brighter than the sun. The physics engine has had a lot of work done into it and it definitely pays off, if you are running and you through a chair against a closed door it will hinder attempts to open it. There is nothing more piss-your-pants scary than when you are in a dead end room full of bodies and a deformed monstrosity starts knocking on the door you locked. You will have to think fast where to hide, in a cupboard, behind a chair, behind the door, they are all possibilities. If you are going to try and be Rambo by fighting the monster, which everyone tries at least once, you will die instantaneously. If you try to outrun the monster, you will die, thats why hiding is the only way of survival. The great bonus of hiding is that you can see that monster loom over you while you try to hold back the fear and tears. Alas there are bad parts of the game play in Amnesia, puzzles are one part of them. I don't want to assume the game creators enjoy puzzles for fear of surround presumptuous, I mean I like them too, but they get very annoying. There was one particular level where you must climb onto a bridge, so I tried to stack rocks up to it and after 15 minutes I found out that all I had to do was throw one rock up there and it would come down. This angered me a lot, especially since that whole level was full of puzzles and I just wanted to move on. The notes that are scattered curiously around the castle provide much solace if you have been running and hiding for too long, and are the only of discovering plot and figuring out what to do next.
The artistic detail that has gone into Amnesia: The Dark Decent seems to be quite nice on first glimpse. It is just a shame that up until the later levels of the game you will be in stone hallways which really gets boring if you take time to notice it. Although you wont be stopping to notice it, what you will be doing is trying to solve some puzzles or hiding from monsters.
The game also makes a nice use of its insanity meter, when you go insane from being in the dark or witnessing scary events you see bugs crawling all over you and you sometimes fall to the ground and have a sob for 20 seconds, this is very effective but annoying at the best of times.
The biggest and probably the best part about this game though is the fear it gives you. Most other generic self proclaimed horror games are more about repainting the walls a deep red blood instead of actual fear. In Amnesia some of the scariest moments are traversing corridors with your lantern and although no monsters are there, you still get scared, your knees shake and you need to go to the toilet (That last one happened with me about 8 times in total through this game.) This is a game you play at night time, with headphones and no light, so you feel you and the character are one and when you hear the low rumbling of a monster you don't just run because you don't want to restart the level. You run because of the fear and primal instinct that is refined greatly through the overwhelming fear provided.
In all I would rate this game a 4 out of 5. It is good, the developers definitely have potential and the game play and scares are great. But the monotony of the earlier levels becomes bad and the scenery could use a better change earlier.
Thanks for reading and leave your comments and criticisms down below
Amnesia: The Dark Decent is a realistic, first person horror game from the Swedish company 'Frictional Games.' Strictly allowed only for the PC, Amnesia: The Dark Decent has quickly become one of the most recognized indie games ever made with slightly over 200,000 sales. Although it is MA + rated game, it should be remembered that it is a great game to scare people of all ages, whether it is your dad, your sister or that annoying 9 year old next door.
The game starts off with a small cut scene that only allows you to hear the protagonist, Daniel, quickly trying to remember what has happened and write it down recently after he self inflicted Amnesia (hence the name) through a potion or tonic. Why he wouldn't write down the note first is completely beyond me. After that you wake up on the grown in what at first glance is your stereotypical 'haunted' mansion. You then start to wander around finding notes and reading them, one of them tells you how monsters are chasing you and you must kill a man named Alexander. As the story progresses you learn how he got to the mansion, why he came, why he wants to kill Alexander, why monsters chase him and the rest of the story. The story is, in my opinion, average, it won't wow anyone and it isn't a strong selling point, but thats not to say it is bad of course, its just not great.
The game play is where Amnesia: The Dark Decent shines brighter than the sun. The physics engine has had a lot of work done into it and it definitely pays off, if you are running and you through a chair against a closed door it will hinder attempts to open it. There is nothing more piss-your-pants scary than when you are in a dead end room full of bodies and a deformed monstrosity starts knocking on the door you locked. You will have to think fast where to hide, in a cupboard, behind a chair, behind the door, they are all possibilities. If you are going to try and be Rambo by fighting the monster, which everyone tries at least once, you will die instantaneously. If you try to outrun the monster, you will die, thats why hiding is the only way of survival. The great bonus of hiding is that you can see that monster loom over you while you try to hold back the fear and tears. Alas there are bad parts of the game play in Amnesia, puzzles are one part of them. I don't want to assume the game creators enjoy puzzles for fear of surround presumptuous, I mean I like them too, but they get very annoying. There was one particular level where you must climb onto a bridge, so I tried to stack rocks up to it and after 15 minutes I found out that all I had to do was throw one rock up there and it would come down. This angered me a lot, especially since that whole level was full of puzzles and I just wanted to move on. The notes that are scattered curiously around the castle provide much solace if you have been running and hiding for too long, and are the only of discovering plot and figuring out what to do next.
The artistic detail that has gone into Amnesia: The Dark Decent seems to be quite nice on first glimpse. It is just a shame that up until the later levels of the game you will be in stone hallways which really gets boring if you take time to notice it. Although you wont be stopping to notice it, what you will be doing is trying to solve some puzzles or hiding from monsters.
The game also makes a nice use of its insanity meter, when you go insane from being in the dark or witnessing scary events you see bugs crawling all over you and you sometimes fall to the ground and have a sob for 20 seconds, this is very effective but annoying at the best of times.
The biggest and probably the best part about this game though is the fear it gives you. Most other generic self proclaimed horror games are more about repainting the walls a deep red blood instead of actual fear. In Amnesia some of the scariest moments are traversing corridors with your lantern and although no monsters are there, you still get scared, your knees shake and you need to go to the toilet (That last one happened with me about 8 times in total through this game.) This is a game you play at night time, with headphones and no light, so you feel you and the character are one and when you hear the low rumbling of a monster you don't just run because you don't want to restart the level. You run because of the fear and primal instinct that is refined greatly through the overwhelming fear provided.
In all I would rate this game a 4 out of 5. It is good, the developers definitely have potential and the game play and scares are great. But the monotony of the earlier levels becomes bad and the scenery could use a better change earlier.
Thanks for reading and leave your comments and criticisms down below
