You'll Wish You Had Amnesia...

Subtitle: TAKE THAT HOW YOU WILL

Actual horror is difficult to attain in a videogame, often because the average gamer has seen an incredibly large amount of digital atrocities (and committed even more). But while most game companies take this fact for granted and go more for contrived action in a horror setting, indie designers have opted to stain our souls with fear. 2010’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the scariest game you will ever pay money for—Slender is the scariest you won’t. Developed by Frictional Games, published by Steam and written by Mikael Hedberg, this game has won many deserved accolades for its story, atmosphere and gameplay.

Amnesia takes place in 1839 Prussia, where protagonist Daniel woke up in a prison cell without any memories other than his name and the knowledge that something is after him. He has a note with him explaining that he erased his own memory and has to kill Baron Alexander, the lord of castle Brennenberg. Against anyone’s better judgment, Daniel sets off to murder the Baron for reasons that become horribly apparent as the game progresses. To say anymore would essentially spoil the plot, but let’s just say there a reason that everything in the castle wants to kill you.

Gameplay is of the first-person perspective, but this game is not a shooter. The closest to a weapon Daniel will find is a bulls-eye lantern that will really just keep him more visible to the abominations that permeate Castle Brennenberg. With no weapons, the gameplay is mostly physics puzzles and ‘find the key’ games that survival horror fans have come to know and love. Amnesia is a unique case, as the player will never get a chance to complain that they have to find a key for what looks like a balsa-wood door, even though they have a grenade launcher or crowbar or high-powered shotgun. This can annoy some players who are used to the approach of ‘getting to shoot something EVENTUALLY’, but overall it adds to the horror and atmosphere.

While the game has a conventional inventory screen, many objects cannot be added to it, and must instead be lifted ‘by hand’. The ‘HPL Engine 2’ (named after Howard Phillips Lovecraft—read my “Cthulhu Sends His Regards”, located below) that powers the gameplay makes it necessary for the player to rotate the mouse in order to operate valve-release levers, and can use the mouse to ease open doors. The latter ability is useful for peeking out of closets Daniel is hiding in, or checking a room for monsters.

The monsters themselves are horrifying to behold, and while they shuffle around when ‘on patrol’ they sprint at Daniel once they see him. They can’t be fought and will break down doors in their pursuit, but can be knocked over by tossing things at them. A game-breaking exploit in the HPL Engine 2 can also render them docile, but I won’t spoil it here.

There is no HUD, and alongside health there is a sanity system. Staying in darkness and other sources of mental stress will cause Daniel to pass out in real-time. This is not always a problem, but it usually happens when a monster is attacking. Insanity manifests itself through auditory and visual hallucinations, as well as making Daniel a monster-magnet. Staying in light—including lighting the lantern—will restore Daniel’s sanity. Tinderboxes can be picked up to light unlit torches, but the monsters always see better in the light. Health is managed in the inventory by a picture of a beating heart, which grows darker and more grotesque the more damage Daniel takes. Players can restore their health with laudanum, a Victorian-era anesthetic.

The main gripes I had with the game is that it is dark—the designers probably made it this way in order to require a dark room to ‘enhance the experience’. And by that I mean rob you of your inner child. Another is that I am a shooter fan, and I believe that if a game is going to be first-person and set in a period where there ARE guns, it is important to give the player an opportunity to use them. Not only does it make things a bit more realistic, it also can provide a way to relieve tension just before unleashing the BIG monster on the player. I understand that Daniel is supposed to be a scholar, but even scholars can pick up a rock and smack some undead bitches with it.

That being said, Amnesia is a fine addition to the horror genre in the unique way that it is actually scary. While depriving the player of a weapon is definitely a niche that shooter-fans will need to adapt to the atmosphere, story and creature design more than make up for it. I would like to add that you should never play it in a dark room, but the game is so dark it seems to have been built that way. Frictional Games definitely won the award for most scary game of the 2000’s with this one.