Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 1

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[...]although i myself would be fascinated to play a horror game with a totally vulnerable charachter, as id be able to relate to that charachter[...]

Oh that reminds me - have you ever played "the Void"? It's not really a horror game, more of a surreal-creepy-artsy-game but its very dark, atmospheric and unique. In that game you only have one resource and its at the same time your lifeforce(quite literally!), your weapon and the only way to interact with NPCs and the environment.
Combined with the scary, dark world it is set in it really feels as if everything you do only serves to drag you closer to death - which makes sense story-wise as the game is set in a world between life and death. It really excels at making you feel incredibly vulnerable and alone - at times you even get the feeling the game itself doesn't want you to win...

so yes, i agree the player should loose Everything at the midpoint of the game, it should only happen the once, so it feels like a scare mechanic and not lazy design.

Sounds good - but how should it be implemented? I have the feeling, thechineseroom will try and stay away from cutscenes (and rightfully so!) in favor of more interactive storytelling. And the ol' bump-on-the-head-wake-up-in-a-cell-later-without-your-stuff thingy has been done too often I think...
Maybe the game could simply have a part where the player needs to dive through water and as a result the lamp doesn't work anymore afterwards. That could be very scary, too - imagine if you could only see blurry there (as it should be) and while your head is underwater you hear faint sounds you couldn't hear above the surface. Deep moaning, more felt than heard, clicking and cracking, the sound of something huge slowly closing in on you from below...but you have to dive down into that black abyss nonetheless, not knowing what will await you there.

Which REMINDS me - why aren't there more horror games taking place in the deep sea? One would think it would be a no-brainer, especially if you take Lovecraft as inspiration...