This article originally ran under a different banner/website in August of 2020 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.
HEAR YE!!! HEAR YE!!! MY LOYAL FOLLOWERS!!! I, the Video Game Doomsayer, am here to announce that Friction Games are releasing another Amnesia game in the fall. Who is Frictional Games you might ask? They are the developers behind Amnesia: The Dark Descent, one of the games that codified the run and hide indie horror genre that has recently overrun Steam like an infestation of cockroaches and mice. Though I will not blame Frictional Games for the pale imitations, I can only sit patiently waiting for Frictional Games’ next title, Amnesia: Rebirth. I am truly hopeful that Frictional Games will push out the horror genre forward similar to what the Resident Evil 2 Remake. I, unfortunately, have yet to complete one of Frictional Games’ titles. I started Amnesia: The Dark Descent a while back, but had to stop due to a lost save file. An injustice that will no longer stand. I will complete Amnesia: The Dark Descent and let you, my loyal followers, know what improvements I would like to see in Amnesia: Rebirth.
You awake in a moody castle. With only a blood trail to follow, you stumble upon a note from your former self. The note says you are Daniel. You recently took a potion to help you forget the past. However, you still need to find Lord Alexander of Brennenburg and kill him. He is located within his Inner Sanctum deep within the castle. Your former self also informs you of an evil presence stalking you within the castle walls. The note also warns you against directly combating the shadowy evil stalking you, saying Daniel has tried and failed to fight the shadow numerous times. Effectively birthing the “hide in a locker” style of horror gameplay we see today.
As you venture through the castle, you will discover additional pages to Daniel’s diary that detail how Daniel came to be in the presence of Lord Alexander. During an expedition to Algeria, Daniel was caught in a cave while exploring an ancient structure. Initially, Dan was unable to move, he soon spotted this blue glow coming from the middle of the chamber. Upon reaching the source of the glow, an orb, his mind begins to flash with images of alien structures. Before he could comprehend what he had done, he awoke to see the expedition team had rescued him. He returned to London to discover the orb from the ancient ruins that had been sent to him. He tried to ask his colleagues at the university if they knew anything about this mysterious artifact but soon learned that merely hinting at the artifact would cause his colleagues to die a few days later. Daniel was fearing for his life until he received a letter from Lord Alexander saying he knew how to keep Daniel safe, leading Daniel to venture to Lord Alexander’s castle.
As you venture through the castle, you will bear witness to Frictional Games’ area of expertise: atmosphere. The chilling sense of discomfort is like a thick fog engulfing the caste of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. The haunting organ-heavy music combined with the limited light sources easily makes the hair on my neck stand at attention. Even when I entered rooms I was positive had no monsters in it, I was unable to escape the feeling of being watched. Not necessarily by an enemy, but I could feel the glaze of some ominous figure overshadowing me. As I huddled up against my computer monitor, with only a single candle lit and the light from my PS4 controller, I could have sworn I was seeing shadows dance along the walls. When a game can instill a state of paranoia without having a monster scream in your face, you know the developers understand the power of atmosphere.
As you find the courage to press forward through the eerie castle, you will often face obstacles preventing you from delving deeper. Sometimes, an ancient elevator won’t be in service or some fleshy growth will be blocking the path forward. My solution to these roadblocks was to search every dark corner for notes that could clue me into what the metaphorical key was to this puzzle. An example could be instructions to fix the elevator or a recipe to create acid to dissolve the growth.
Initially, I found these puzzles easy to work out, but halfway through the game, the path forward began to become murky. I specifically recall the puzzles within this control room. I had to get these machines working so I could drain the water from the sewers. In the control room, there was a room in the back with eight various holes. With spare pipes scattered around the control room, I deduced I needed to place these pipes along the holes to solve the puzzle. I was able to find three pipes and successfully plugged them into the holes. However, there were still two holes left exposed. I searched high and low to locate the final pipe, but I couldn’t find it. After thirty minutes, my frustration broke me and I consulted a walkthrough. That’s when I learned there was no fourth pipe. Despite the earlier puzzles, within the control room, focusing on symmetry, this puzzle seemed only to be created to frustrate players.
From there the precedent to keep using the walkthrough remained. Even when the solution seemed simple, I still kept the walkthrough on hand in case another obtuse puzzle came my way. Soon after I drained the water from the sewer, I learned I would have to be vaccinated against a fungal infestation within the sewer. I ventured to the morgue hoping to find a recipe for said vaccination. Alas, no recipe existed. Only a note saying all the servants had been vaccinated, a recently dead corpse, and a copper rod. I soon began just playing around with items in my inventory when I learned I could combine the copper rod with the surgical needle I found earlier. I also discovered I could use my hand drill from earlier, to drill a hole in the corpse’s skull. Convinced this couldn’t be the way to get vaccinated, I jokingly stuck the copper rod with the needle in the hole on the skull. The little jingle that played when you solved a puzzle went off and I was bewildered. Surely this wasn’t the solution, I thought. Checking the walkthrough, I learned that was the solution and I should immediately find a hiding spot from the monster that was going to spawn outside the room.
While the walkthrough might have given away a potential scare, I can’t say I was all too surprised by a monster knocking down the door. Amnesia: The Dark Descent had been pulling this trick, of spawning a monster the second you complete a task, since the beginning. Fortunately for the game, the monsters you will face are rather horrifying to look at. With dark red eyes, elongated mouths, and pasty white skin that looks like it has been stitched together, they are clearly not something stumbling around in the dark with you. On top of that, there is a sanity meter that warps your vision whenever you stand in the dark too long or look at these creatures; making you have to weigh the consequences of using limited resources to light your path and exposing you or stumbling around in the dark. While it’s an effective game mechanic that countless games would borrow, it all falls apart when you realize some of these creatures only spawn at certain moments, and then despawn after they fail to find you. Only a handful of the monsters within Amnesia: The Dark Descent follow patrol paths like enemies in Outlast. It makes them feel like animatronics at the Haunted Mansion ride; set to momentarily pop up before disappearing backstage. Soon as I figured that out, I found myself running carefree in later levels. It is a shame because it effectively shatters the illusion the atmosphere worked so hard to create.
Now I am not here to say Amnesia: The Dark Descent has no terrifying moments. My time within the Cellar Archives highlight just how terrifying Frictional Games can make a scene. Upon entering the cellar archives, you will see this area of the castle has been flooded, a good thing, as there is an invisible beast lurking within these rooms. Water splashes signaling that beast has spotted you as its prey. Your only course of action is to jump onto boxes and chests sticking out of the water. In the tensest game of the floor is lava, you must navigate to the other side of the room. However, once you exit that room, the luxury of a path of boxes evaporates. You have to run. Immediately, you hear rapid splashing as the beast notices you’re exposed. With no time to look back, my heart races as I know an enemy that I effectively can’t see is gaining on me. With mere sound alone, Frictional Games is able to get my heart racing and the palm of my hands sweating, when other games can’t even muster that with all of my senses. It is truly a masterwork in making me terrified down to my core.
MY LOYAL FOLLOWERS, despite my complaints, I cannot deny that Amnesia: The Dark Descent is an influential game. Despite the fact I would rather have enemies that patrol paths such as the enemies in Outlast, I know that Outlast wouldn’t exist if Amnesia: The Dark Descent didn’t have players hiding in a cabinet when monsters were breaking down the doors. I also believe without this game, Capcom wouldn’t have been able to make Mr. X such a terrifying stalker as he was in the Resident Evil 2 Remake. Amnesia: The Dark Descent showcases how influential Friction Games is in the world of horror. I truly believe Frictional Games can iron out their puzzle design and create a stalker that can capture the terror of Mr. X relentlessly chasing you. These new elements combined with Frictional Games’ expertise in atmosphere, could make Amnesia: Rebirth something revolutionary.
