Amnesia: The Dark Descent (PC) Review - A Guide On How To Lose Sleep

Posted by: Dom Cook on September 15, 2010 at 11:46AM
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So I Heard You Don't Like Sleeping...

Amnesia: The Dark Descent isn't a game I had heard of up until recently, not long after I had posted my previous blog on the decline of the survival horror genre. Okay, so it's pretty clear I haven't had much faith in the horror genre lately, but I can safely say that Amnesia is pure survival horror at its best.

The game takes place in an old castle, set in 19th century England. You take the role of a gentleman named Daniel, a fairly normal fellow with a severe case of - you guessed it - amnesia. Everything is played out in first-person, and similar to BioShock, there are no cut-scenes whatsoever. The story unfolds through notes, mementos, and journals found as you make your way through the castle. You experience flashback-like visions revealing scenes that may or may not be significant. Even while screens load, abrupt pieces of writing appear. It’s anyone’s guess whether these messages add to the story, but they do create a sense of sense of surrealism to this already creepy and unusual game. What's so fantastic about the story-telling is that the whole game is from your perspective. Everything that happens is what you witness. In addition, the game lacks any HUD, so the screen is totally clean as if it were all seen from your eyes - however, your health and sanity can be monitored via your inventory, so you're not left guessing how close you are to death.

Are You Insane Yet?

Insanity is an absolutely fantastic feature used in Amnesia. Anyone who has played Call of Cthulhu will be able to relate. Basically, in addition to health, the player must also monitor their sanity. Seeing unsettling sights will cause the screen to blur and Daniel will, for lack of better words, lose it. Monsters appearing, doors opening on their own - just standing in the darkness, will cause Daniel to breathe more heavily and panic. If I had one gripe, it would be to see horrors and nightmarish scenes appear with Daniel at maximum insanity. More monsters and scares appearing at higher levels of insanity would have made the player fear growing insane even more.

The monsters are pretty damn creepy. If you're a fan of Silent Hill, you'll know exactly what you're dealing with here. What’s the best way to describe them? Meat-sack people. They all look fairly similar with slight variations, but you shouldn't be hanging around to get a good look at their features. The noises they make are fairly unsettling, they move quickly, and guess what? You won't be able to fight them. Oh no. This is a game, that puts "survival" in survival horror. There is absolutely no combat; you'll be running from these things or hiding, and staying out of sight, to avoid conflict. There's a good amount you can do to hide and stay safe: thanks to the wonderful HPL Engine (a reference to H. P. Lovecraft), you can open and shut doors as smoothly as you'd like, allowing you to peek just a little to see whether or not it's safe to come out. You can also barricade doors with tables, chairs and whatever else you can find. Remember how you can pick up nearly anything within reason in Fallout 3 and Oblivion? It’s just like that in Amnesia.

Fear Has Never Sounded Better

So we've established that the game is indeed scary. Does it sound scary? You betcha is does. In fact, I found that the game loses most of it's scare value with the sound off. Sometimes, Daniel will become afraid (symbolized by the blurring and warping of his vision) from mere horrific sounds. Obviously this effect is lost with the sound muted. Sounds such as screaming, footsteps and creaking haunt the castle. At times the music can seem harmonious and innocent during puzzle sequences, other times it's ominous and tense. This twisted blend of music and sound effects really immerses you in the game. You'll find that the best way to play this game is with headphones in and the volume up high. The ambience in Amnesia is superb. You can hear the slightest footsteps in the distance (most probably of monsters) and the tiny scuffling of creepy (yet harmless) insects, of which the castle seems to have a bit of an infestation. The monsters sound absolutely frightening, just the sound of them in the distance sends a shiver down your spine and causes Daniel to grow slightly more insane.

Should You Descend Into The Nightmare?

If you're a horror game fan, there's no doubt about it: you have to grab yourself a copy of Amnesia. Only available as a 1.1gb digital-download game, it's sold at the low price of $20 (USD) from a variety of online stores. The graphics can really vary, but most computers can handle it to an extent. The graphics settings can be tinkered with, but if your computer isn't up to speed then expect to be playing Amnesia with Nintendo DS graphics if you wish to play lag-free.

The length of the game truly varies from person to person. If you're tough - and I mean really tough - you might be able to complete it in 9 hours or so, but considering the amount of times you'll be exiting Amnesia and huddling in the corner, it might take you a wee bit longer. The replayability isn't insanely high either; while the castle can be explored to a good extent and backtracking is possible in most cases, the game is fairly straightforward and you might not feel the urge to replay it. Fortunately, Frictional has included a "Custom Story" option in the main menu. At this point, it's empty and blank, but obviously you'll be able to download fan-made scenarios at a later date - something which will give the game a very long life among survival horror game fans.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is probably the best true survival horror game you'll see this generation, fans of the genre should not overlook this one.