Y NO PICTURES LOAD? I will try and get this fixed. :l
A black and blue screen with an upside-down metal baby like face crying
black fluids and some odd ancient symbols in a triangular shape. The screen
goes black and the game begins.
You are losing your memory, all events that happened before this moment are
being forgotten, you are being stripped of everything you know, right down to
your own name. You wake up in a pile of rose petals not knowing where you are.
A man with a heavy English accent introduces us at the beginning of the
game which is quite refreshing. A Londoner, from Mayfair to be specific. "I
am Daniel" the only piece of information you are given before beginning
this journey to undo the mistakes you have made whilst being pursued by
"The Shadow." A vivd, red, fleshy goo pile of unknown origins. Sounds
like a lovely game 'ey?
I am of course talking about the
indie horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Many have now heard of it but may
not have had the balls (sorry ladies!) to try it out. Multiple times I've heard
people say they have watched people play it on YouTube, or even watched a
friend but never got round to playing it themselves. Well then, I hope to
change that and convince you to try this one out!
Now I have had problems with games
and movies for a while now, because they just aren't scary enough. Heck, I seem
to laugh at horror movies more so than comedies and I have seen some bloody
good comedies. My theory for this? This game right here. Once I had played it a
lot of other horror games just couldn't do it for me. So why is this? Lets have
a look shall we.
Amnesia, you start off with the
exact same amount of information as the protagonist, which is basically
nothing. You then have to work your way through the Bannenburg estate castle,
slowly piecing your memory back together by collecting notes and having
occasional flash backs. The main reason I love this concept is that I feel an
emotional connection to simply because he doesn't know what to expect, nor what
to do. Same as you yourself. He grinds his teeth in a highly obnoxious way and
he slowly goes insane when the dark yet you only have a lantern and some
tinderboxes to light candles, plus oil for your lantern is quite rare to come
across. As if being in a big Prussian castle in the dark with no memory and
being chased by a big red blob all whilst going insane isn't scary enough there
are some messed up experiments waiting to ambush you around the castle, so some
jump scares are thrown in too. The worst part is you have no weapon and so no
sense of security. What’s so scary about some slow zombies coming towards you
when you have a gun or a sword? No, this game gets to you by making you feel
insecure everywhere you go. A monster – gatherer, comes and all you can do is
hide. A dark corner or wardrobe - sadly no Narnia there, just darkness and the
occasional broom or old lab coat. If you look at the monsters you'll go insane
and if you stay in the dark you'll go insane, so either way you are basically
screwed.
To make the game more interesting puzzles are found throughout really
spanning out the gameplay, don’t expect to be able to speed through this unless
you have played it before.
Ok the puzzles can be quite tedious but enjoyable all the same, everything
is a rush because you cannot stand the idea of the grunt – or even worse, a
brute, making an appearance. Luckily these monsters seem to be confused by
doors, so they won't chase you once you've gone through a checkpoint door.
One problem I do have with this game
is the repeat textures and constant supply of boxes, which I know sounds odd
but how many wooden boxes and crates can one castle have? I think someone
living there spends far too much money and time shopping online and not enough
time cleaning away the boxes. It isn't a big deal obviously, these items proves
themselves useful on numerous occasions, plus it’s always fun to mess with the
monsters by making barricades and throwing things at them from an area they
can't reach.
The games main antagonist is a man named Alexander. Your prime objective it
to reach the inner sanctum of the Brannenburg estate and to kill him. He is a sociopath sweet-talking (Bit of a paradox here) maniac who is trying to open
a portal to another world, by torturing victims in his dungeons. He convinced
Daniel to help him with this with his poisonous words. Luckily Daniel came to
his senses in the end and ran away.
Another character is a man named Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, generally just
referenced as Agrippa. A German scientist who also researched black magic. Alexander
imprisoned him in a useless body and kept inside his castle only to be found by
no other than you. Whether this is a good thing or not is for you to decide.
It’s nice to hear the voice of another human being, although Agrippa really has
no idea how to shut up. He isn’t much to look at either, although (**Spoiler
here) it can be quite fun to finally silence him by cutting off his head, if
you choose to do so. This is a lot less gruesome than it sounds as his head
lives on. Its also quite interesting that Agrippa isn’t just a character, but a
real man who lived in the 1400s.
“You enter a room full of water, the walls a dull grey stone whilst a small
barricade of boxes, barrels
The colour pallets chosen fit perfectly within each area. Reds, greys and
blacks within the castle, yellows and blacks within the dungeons and the murky
blues and greys for the cistern. Its very refreshing to have such changes in
scenery throughout the game and really keeps you wanting more.
The main reason I love this game is simply because, no matter how much I
play it I am still shaking afterwards, even though I know where the gatherers
will spawn I still dread them appearing. It's simply that terrifying. A game I
would strongly recommend to any horror lover, however if you have a weak
bladder - No, I haven’t ever had any kind of bowel movement playing this game,
it may still not be for you. It's cheap
to acquire on steam and comes with extra content, a story and an add on story
called "Justine" - be warned if you play this extra, if you die in it
you will have to start again from the beginning.
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