| 10 November 2010
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a survival horror game in the truest sense. That is to say, unlike most modern survival horrors, which eschew their traditional roots in favour of a more action-oriented direction, Amnesia: The Dark Descent revels in creating a slower, more psychological experience, with the emphasis firmly on horror rather than action.
For the most part, this is achieved by removing virtually all action elements from the game. As such, there are no weapons, and no combat, and instead, the game relies heavily on two mechanics which have been all but lost in most modern survival horror games; puzzle solving, and the creation of an atmosphere of intense vulnerability. Needless to say, Amnesia: The Dark Descent isn’t an action-packed game, but it is, however, one of the most chilling and unnerving games in recent years, and is an absolute must for fans of survival horror games.
Set during the 19th century, the game pitches you in the role of Daniel, an amnesiac who wakens up alone in a remote castle in Brennenburg, Prussia. After a brief period of exploration, you come across a note written by yourself, which reveals your goal; to make your way through the labyrinthine castle and murder the castle’s owner – Alexander of Brennenburg – all whilst avoiding a mysterious dark presence which is stalking you from the shadows.
It’s a simple set-up, and one that is executed elegantly with some remarkably uncomplicated mechanics. Whilst the game takes a fairly minimalist approach to the gameplay – essentially, all you are doing is navigating your way through the dark, macabre environments of Castle Brennenburg, avoiding traps, solving puzzles and evading enemies in your search for the game’s antagonist – the game is by no means simplistic or dull. This is largely due to the mechanics the game employs, which really help to create a sense of helplessness in an environment which is genuinely very intimidating.
The game’s ability to keep you at a disadvantage is its greatest strength, and many of Amnesia: The Dark Descent’s best mechanics are based on this concept. The games lighting mechanic is perhaps the most prominent example of this, as the interplay created between light and dark generates three further interdependent mechanics designed with the sole intent of creating tension; sanity, inventory management and visibility. To illustrate, the majority of the environments in Amnesia: The Dark Descent are extremely dark. In order to make progress easier you can light candles and torches you find littered around the environment, or use an oil lamp to light the way. However, this not only drains your inventory resources – which are remarkably scarce – but also makes you more visible to the monsters that are hunting you. The flipside to this though, is that if you don’t have enough light, your sanity will start to deplete, and will cause you to start having aural and visual hallucinations. This makes striking a balance very difficult, and more often than not, you’ll find yourself having to sacrifice your safety and/or comfort in order to progress.
"One of the most chilling and unnerving games in recent years, and an absolute must for fans of survival horror games."
The decision not to include a combat system in Amnesia is by far the developers’ strongest decision though, as Frictional Games clearly understand that the best way to create tension in a survival horror is to make the player feel vulnerable. By not incorporating a combat system, the only real means of dealing with the monsters you encounter are running and hiding, and this makes you feel like you are always the one being hunted and not the other way around, and makes every enemy encounter a genuinely terrifying experience.
Part of what makes these enemy encounters so terrifying is that the encounters themselves are relatively rare, and never seem overused. As a result, you’ll spend much of your time roaming the grounds of the eerie Castle Brennenburg and solving puzzles. As Frictional Games are also the developers responsible for the Penumbra games, and Amnesia uses the same first-person perspective, physics-based engine, it comes as no surprise that the puzzles are all physics-based puzzles which involve manipulating objects and the environment in order to progress. However, as charming as the Puzzles in Amnesia are, you’ll soon realize that there is a pattern to them, and that all puzzles can be solved using two or three different solutions. It remains to be said though, that the puzzles in Amnesia are still far more engaging than those found in most recent survival horror games.
In fact, it’s hard to level any real criticism at Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Though there are certainly areas where the game could be tighter, it succeeds in creating such a foreboding atmosphere and vivid sense of fear that it’s hard to see the flaws, and the areas where the Amnesia excels far outweigh the areas where it doesn’t. The game’s inspired mechanics conspire with the unsettling sound design, disquieting setting and tense atmosphere to produce one of the most distressing survival horror games in recent years; Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a welcome wake-up call for a genre that is in growing need of a shake-up.
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