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Michael
United States
Nebraska
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Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a horror game by Frictional Games. I recently played through it via Steam and it scared the crap out of me. The following will be a spoiler-free account of my thoughts on it, and recommendations to potential players.
Basics:
In the game you play as Daniel, a man who is currently suffering from, you've guessed it, Amnesia. It is a first person game with fairly intuitive controls for anyone with computer gaming experience. You character moves throughout the environment, interacting with various objects, avoiding dangers, et cetera. To move through the game, you need to solve puzzles, collect items, and avoid danger. If Daniel runs out of health or sanity, you lose. Unfortunately, my screen capture isn't working, but here's a screenshot from VGG's gallery.
Game Immersion:
Like many games, how much you enjoy Amnesia: The Dark Descent depends on how much you put into it. This is not a game where you can play with one eye, and watch TV with the other. To get the full experience, put in head phones. Turn of all the lights. Play it only when you can continue to game for an extended period. Amnesia: The Dark Descent does a great job at sucking you in, but it can only do so if you're willing.
Once your in the game, Amnesia: The Dark Descent creates tension that builds up as you go from room to room. I was deep into the game once when my roommate knocked on my door - I nearly hit the ceiling from jumping out of my seat. As you advance in the game the plot becomes increasingly chilling and disturbed - and the rate at which is does is very well paced so that each step downward seems horrifying. The plot is based on a series of short stories by Mikael Hedberg, and is well adapted for gaming.
Difficulty:
Amnesia: The Dark Descent isn't a particularly challenging game. The puzzles in the game are fairly simple for the most part. I think this is a good move by the game designers. Immersion and entertainment are much more important in this game then challenging puzzles. The trouble with a difficult puzzle is that getting stuck becomes frustrating, and takes you out of the game. When you are unable to pass a certain area for a long time, you slip out of the game. The great thing about Amnesia: The Dark Descent is that it makes you forget you are playing a game, but if you're unable to advance, it would quickly lose that quality.
Negatives:
As much as I like the game, there were some issues. For instance, the screen tends to wobble and blur as you lose sanity - if you are prone to headaches from such issues, this may be a game to avoid. The other issue I had was in grabbing or using objects. There were several occasions where I was standing right next to something I wanted to grab, but couldn't get it for the life of me, until I moved slightly to the left or something. The game seemed only to recognize that I wanted to pick up said object when I approached it from a certain angle. Luckily these instances were rare, because it took me out of the story somewhat.
Overall:
This is certainly the best horror game I've ever played. If you're a horror fan, or even if you're not, I recommend giving Amnesia: The Dark Descent a try. It goes beyond the simple horror tactic of things jumping out at you from the dark over and over and creates a lot of suspense. The game is relatively cheap on Steam, and is certainly worth the price.
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Hm, I keep hearing how scary this is, but I can't quite see how. Can you give an example?
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Michael
United States
Nebraska
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celiborn wrote: Hm, I keep hearing how scary this is, but I can't quite see how. Can you give an example?
Not a great example. I don't want to give anything away. But perhaps I can be a bit more clear on the way at which it's scary. A lot of the horror genre derives it's spooks from a sudden loud noise, or a monster jumping out. Corridor after corridor this becomes trite and boring.
What I feel that quality horror does, and Amnesia is a perfect example, is make the horror come from you. It has suspense. That moment when you know somethings there, but can't bear to turn around. Not knowing what's coming is always scarier because you always imagine the worst possible thing.
The other great thing about Amnesia is the pacing. Gore is gore, and visually limited to being as scary as the graphics allow them to be. But how games use this is can make a game scary. If every bit of the game is covered in blood and body parts, than it really has no effect on the player. It just becomes part of the scenery, not real or important. But if you pace it right, then the bloodied body seems like a bloodied body to you, instead of just useless background.
I know it's not a great description, and I'm sorry I can't give an example. Realistically, without the whole mood of the game around it, horror examples seem kind of silly anyways. If you like horror, you will like this game if you give it a strong chance, and play it right. If you want to be scared, you will be.
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Wulf Corbett
Scotland
Shotts
Lanarkshire
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There is an excellent Let's Play of this on YouTube by Mangaminx which demonstrates just how good the horror element is. It takes over an hour of gameplay before you even see anything, but it's still genuinely worrying every time she turns a corner. And her exaggerated reactions make it all even scarier, and funnier (but are definitely not safe for work...)
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I remember a review where someone said hold scared he was while he tried to avoid a monster in a corridor filled with water. The commentors then talked about the fact that there wasn't even a monster altough some were convinced of the opposite. And in the end all of them were completely scared by that scene.
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Wulf Corbett
Scotland
Shotts
Lanarkshire
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Yes, the water sprite is ludicrously scary (and potentially deadly for the character), despite video capture proving there's nothing there but water! Nasty, Hurty water, mind you...
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