Amnesia: The Dark Descent (my review)
From the nightmarish fiends at Frictional Games comes the first-person survival horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent, spiritual successor to the Penumbra series.
Set in 1839 Prussia, you play as London limey Daniel who, as the title implies, has amnesia. How or why he lost his memory is unclear to begin with, however he managed to leave himself a note shortly before losing his memory telling himself that he “chose to forget” and that he now needs to descend to the depths of Brennenburg castle – a large decaying structure nestled in a vast, dark forest - find a man named Alexander, and kill him. His former self also tells him that he’s being hunted by some sort of shadow, a “living nightmare”, and so he must get moving quickly. If you’ve ever spent a good Friday night in Glasgow then this has probably happened to you before.
From there the story is told in a similar way to Penumbra’s through notes & diaries found through exploration of areas as well as flashbacks, with some interesting turns & revelations along the way. I know what you’re thinking: “Amnesia? That tired old storytelling mechanic? The game’s plot can’t be any good if it’s relying on an old crutch like that.” I thought the same thing, but in this case it works quite nicely with Amnesia’s narrative and suits Frictional Game’s peculiar exploration-based storytelling method, letting you piece together what happened rather than be spoon-fed the story (as in other amnesiac videogame stories). If you’ve played the Penumbra games (which you should) then you’ll know what to expect gameplay-wise; simple & intuitive control scheme, physics-based puzzles & interaction, stalking around in dark areas with precious few light sources and simple stealth elements. Again this is made even more impressive by the fact that it was created by an independent developer with a dev team you could fit in an elevator.
Since Amnesia uses the HPL Engine 2 the graphics do look a lot nicer, and although they’re not Crytacular they’re certainly far from ugly. The textures are at a high enough resolution, objects & surfaces have a lot of detail and the dynamic lighting is spectacular – especially ambient & moon light pouring in from the outside (the only other game I’ve seen that pulls off moonlight realistically is Thief: Deadly Shadows). Shadows are suitably thick and haunting and there’s a feeling of apprehension when walking around watching your lantern slowly illuminate the surroundings, afraid of what you might find lurking in the dark. Of course along with this comes increased system requirements – slightly higher than the likes of Assassin’s Creed. Although it should be able to run smoothly on any current rig and the game still looks nice if the settings aren’t cranked up to max. As with Penumbra, the developers really put a great deal of effort into making the game sound good in both the music and SFX departments. The music is suitably haunting accompanied by rather jarring environmental noises, keeping you on edge throughout the entire experience. Enemies also make appropriately grotesque and horrible noises which add to the nail-biting tension of the experience.
You may have noticed that I used the word “experience” towards the end of that last paragraph. Because that’s what Amnesia is; an experience, conveyed through the medium of videogames. The guys at Frictional Games seem to be some of the few people who view videogames as an art form. There’s a common misconception that videogames are just ‘games’... well, some of them are (Unreal Tournament, Call of Duty, Painkiller, etc) but videogames present a completely new means of artistic expression and are by far the most immersive medium out there. Paintings are art, books are art, movies are art, so why shouldn’t videogames be classified as art? I know they’re called videogames but “virtual reality interactive experience” doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily. It’s good to see that the developers understand that and are experimenting with this new art form, and as such they concentrated more on crafting the experience rather than the actual ‘game’ part of Amnesia - and it shows. I can’t recall one moment in Amnesia where I knew I was just playing a game and was constantly stalking from one hidespot to the next, carefully searching rooms, cautiously opening doors and peeking around corners while maintaining a constant sphere of situational awareness – both in-game and real life. And screaming whenever something shocking happens like a Covenant grunt when Master Chief walks into the room. The only ‘gamey’ parts in Amnesia are the puzzle sections but they’re played out in the same cautiously curious mindset you have when exploring the rest of the castle and they feel very organic, like they flow naturally with the rest of the game world, so you’re never taken out of the experience. Art exists to provoke thoughts & emotions in people which are two things that Amnesia does beautifully. It sets up the experience very well; Castle Brennenburg & its secrets are the artistic piece, the protagonist Daniel is the vessel that allows the player to enter the game world and the controls & game mechanics are the tools which are used to interact with the realm of Amnesia. The reason amnesia (the condition, that is) works so well with the game’s story is because it allows the player to step into Daniel’s shoes as themselves and explore the mysteries of the castle, viewing Daniel as a separate character. And as you discover new pieces of information & exposition you begin to form theories & opinions about your (Daniel’s) former self and question who’s the real monster stalking around Brennenburg.
The whole experience is drenched in mystery; from cryptic notes & documents found lying around to the beautiful yet eerie vista of the forest surrounding the castle to the sheer ambiguity of Castle Brennenburg itself. There are lots of alchemical drawings & symbols around the place which, as someone who has a great interest in alchemy, I found very interesting to decipher. Not that I uncovered any grand meanings behind the diagrams but it was a nice touch – extra points for attention to detail. Being a survival horror game it’s obviously meant to invoke fear in the player, which Amnesia does quite well due to a masterfully crafted atmosphere (through immersive sound & intriguing visuals). It’s not too rare to see this in games, but Amnesia also uses the same techniques to achieve the opposite effect. One part in particular stood out for me after I frantically escaped a cellar where some... things were pursuing me; I found myself ascending a staircase lined with ornate torches into a large atrium bathed in soft moonlight pouring in from the foggy windows, with an eccentric fountain in the middle and a pair of marvellous eagle statues guarding the two staircases leading to the 2nd floor, all blanketed by some of the loveliest music I’ve heard in a game for a long time, invoking a great sense of relief and serenity. Compared to what I just escaped from it was like stepping into a sanctuary after charging through Hell. And then watching that sanctuary slowly diminish into the engulfing darkness reminded me of the dread I was heading towards and couldn’t escape from. The juxtaposition of feelings in that one sequence was very noticeable; now that’s a rare thing to see in games nowadays. Amnesia is one of the few games where I bother to inspect the architecture, examine the environment and admire the artworks on the walls. And like a good work of art you need to take the time out to properly appreciate Amnesia and immerse yourself in the game world in order to get the best experience, which is what the developers stress you to do at the start of the game. They make it very clear that it’s about the ‘experience’ and not the ‘game’, the mentality of winning. It’s about immersing yourself into the world of Amnesia and playing naturally. The game can really draw you in for a great experience but only if you let it. As with the Penumbra series the best way to enjoy Amnesia is to play in the dark (preferably at night), set the brightness as low as you can allow and turn the sound up (even better with headphones). And as a side note make sure you’re within shitting distance of the nearest toilet.
But enough ranting about Amnesia’s artistic merit, I don’t want you to think I’m gay. Let’s talk gameplay. Frictional Games incorporate their lighting engine for more than just stealth this time around and use in/sanity as a gameplay mechanic. Hanging around in the dark for too long starts to deplete Daniel’s sanity, and as it decreases your vision gets blurrier and it becomes more difficult to function (delayed mouse movements, collapsing to the floor, hallucinations, etc). In order to keep your sanity intact you must stay in the light, so you have the ability to light candles & torches spread around the environment to illuminate your surroundings. Daniel also carries a lantern with him which you must keep replenished with oil otherwise it goes out and you can’t see. However while staying in the light maintains your sanity it also makes it easier for enemies to see you, creating a toss-up between not getting killed by monsters and not going mental. Lighting torches & other light sources makes it easier to see your surroundings and maintain your sanity but gives you fewer shadows to hide in. You also have a limited number of tinderboxes & lantern oil which forces you to conserve resources and the amount of time spent in the dark.
As in Penumbra: Black Plague there are no combat mechanics so you must hide from enemies in the dark, and if you get spotted your only option is to leg it ye’olde Benny Hill style putting as many doors & obstacles as possible between you and the lumbering fiends. The lack of combat in Black Plague didn’t sit too well with me, I mean in real life I’d probably run away too but if I got cornered I’d at least punch the zombie in the face or something. But it works quite well in Amnesia because the enemies appear & disappear very suddenly and you can only catch glimpses of them. Are they really there or are they just machinations of Daniel? Previous castle occupants reduced to a skulking mutilated husk or physical manifestations of Daniel’s own nightmares? Probably the former, but I can’t help but get the feeling that Daniel is imagining some of his own terror. As in Penumbra, staring at enemies for too long depletes sanity and makes Daniel panic so if you hang around long enough to get a good look at their ugly muppets you’ll go nuts faster than Mel Gibson in a Jewish gay club. The developers understand that something stays scarier the less you see of it so I like this approach. Monster encounters are infrequent but unnerving and it’s sometimes difficult to tell whether you’re the only one skulking about in the dark. Monsters have the awkward habit of appearing out of nowhere unexpectedly; I recall one moment where I was lighting a torch on a staircase when a... thing lurched from around the corner and looked at me, causing me to run away from the hideous, jawless, limping, mutilated Jehovah's Witness like a cheerleader who just noticed a tarantula in her locker.
The puzzle sections in Amnesia run along the same vein as Penumbra, requiring diligent exploration of areas and a bit of thought to accomplish. The puzzles aren’t all too difficult though; I got stuck a few times but not for very long. Completing puzzles and advancing the plot restores sanity so there’s a bit of incentive to move on, although you can be almost certain that you’ll witness an unsettling event shortly afterwards which depletes sanity. The inventory system remains unchanged from Penumbra, which is all right because there was nothing wrong with it to begin with. You’ve got an inventory tab, a health meter, a sanity meter and an oil meter which makes it easy to keep an eye on your equipment & status. You also have a journal where you store notes & diary entries you’ve collected throughout the game. Amnesia was a surprisingly short experience (I finished it in about 1½ nights) but who cares? Some great games were a lot shorter and that didn’t hamper the experience too much (COD4, Portal, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Mirror’s Edge, etc). There are multiple endings too so there’s a bit of replay value, although I don’t think anybody will be replaying it anytime soon - not without a few spare changes of pants. Amnesia is heralded by a number of reviewers as the scariest game they’ve ever played, topping such games as Doom 3, Penumbra and the Silent Hill series. I haven’t played that many horror games to make a respectable comparison but Amnesia is certainly the scariest game I’ve ever played and definitely scarier than Penumbra: Overture & Black Plague, and I’m willing to take their word for it.
So in short: Brilliant atmosphere & sound, intriguing game world, fantastic visuals, intuitive controls... essentially everything I said in my Penumbra review multiplied by any number > two. Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a fantastic survival horror/adventure gaming experience, currently only available via electronic download such as Steam. If you’re going to get Amnesia I suggest getting it now via Steam during their Christmas sale for a generous discount.
And a word of advice: don’t play with a razor-sharp kama next to you. When a family member came in to check on me while I was playing I nearly sliced their hand off.
If fate frowns, we all perish.
Do not fear the darkness, but welcome its embrace.
(This post was last modified: 01-30-2011, 01:21 PM by Xanatos.)
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Amnesia: The Dark Descent (my review)
