This article originally ran under a different banner/website in October of 2020 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.
HEAR YE!!! HEAR YE!!! MY LOYAL FOLLOWERS!!! It has been one unruly year. I, the Video Game Doomsayer, strongly considered making this review a tale about playing the latest game from Frictional Games with a case of amnesia. Slowly piecing together the fact that this game, Amnesia Rebirth feels oddly familiar to another game with Amnesia in the title. However, I swear I have used that premise for a review before, but I can’t seem to remember where. It is almost like this year is slowly turning me into a protagonist worthy to be in a game made by Frictional Games. Cheap amnesia jokes aside, October continues to be my favorite month to play horror games, and Frictional Games has graced us with their new title Amnesia Rebirth.
We play as French archaeologist Tasi Trianon; as she, her husband, and a team of archaeologists are on an expedition into the desert. Their plane crashes down and Tasi awakens to find everyone on the plane has vanished. With no memory of what happened, Tasi ventures out to piece together the events prior to the plane crashing. Some of my more observant followers will notice the similarity between the start of Tasi’s adventure and the start of Daniel’s adventure in Amnesia: The Dark Descent. I would also challenge those followers to take a shot anytime I compare the two games, however, I dare not be responsible for the amount of alcohol poisoning I would cause. Nonetheless, the two stories have much in common.
Before I dig too deeply into how Amnesia Rebirth feels like a game that could have come out a couple of years after Amnesia: The Dark Descent, I want to talk about how the two stories differ. The word of the day is subtly. On the surface, Amnesia: The Dark Descent appears to be a trip through a spooky castle. It isn’t until you start delving deep into the castle that you start seeing the Lovecraftian influences on display. Amnesia Rebirth is not as sly at hiding the Lovecraftian influences. Early on, Tasi pulls out a medallion that allows her to access a pocket Lovecraftian dimension and frequently continues popping in and out of it. I find it really takes out the mystery and horror when you expose yourself to Lovecraftian elements so early. Look at The Sinking City. I considered that game more of a detective game in a Lovecraftian setting than a horror game since we meet Insmouthers within minutes of starting the game. When stories are more subtle like Amnesia: The Dark Descent or The Color Out of Space, they tend to be better horror titles.
Despite trying to show off its Lovecraftian nature like a child proud of its drawing, Amnesia Rebirth does copy its older sibling in the gameplay department. Naturally, that means you must fumble around in the dark trying to manage your resources that create light so you don’t go insane. Having recently played Amnesia: The Dark Descent, I was fully prepared for this resource management. However, this time around, resources seemed rarer and didn’t seem to last as long. The trademark lantern doesn’t show up until a couple of hours in. The tinderboxes have been replaced with matches that you can use for light and light multiple candles and lamps. However, these matches only seem to last seconds if you are moving, resulting in spending a ridiculous amount of time in the dark.
I honestly, don’t remember Amnesia: The Dark Descent pulling this cheap trick that only the most pathetic of indie horror games pull. I frequently found myself thinking about Frictional Games’ trademark slogan: This game isn’t meant to be won, try to immerse yourself in the world. A difficult task when the world seems to be nothing but pitch darkness. Darkness does not scare me. It merely annoys me as it seems just to be used to merely hinder my progress. When I am out of matches and lantern fuel, I do not feel the need to fumble around for more resources; I am sprinting to the first source of light I can find. LET IT BE KNOWN GAME DEVELOPERS, MAKING YOUR GAME DARK DOES NOT MAKE IT SCARY. THUS DECREE THE DOOMSAYER!!!
The other thing I find agonizing to deal with in the pitch dark is the monsters. Much like the previous title, Amnesia Rebirth has monsters you have to avoid by steering clear of being visible in the light. Unfortunately, the monsters this game is trying to present as the antagonizing force, just do not invoke fear in me. People often criticize the monsters in Amnesia: The Dark Descent as goofy with their massive stretched jaws and sewn-together skin. While I agree they look ridiculous when you get a good look at them, they are at least unique and can invoke fear when you only get a glance at them. The monsters in Amnesia Rebirth are generic zombies that look like they could belong in any of the million indie horror games Steam stores in the cellar. Honestly, I very much expected more from Frictional Games.
So between juggling resources for light and avoiding zombies, Amnesia Rebirth will ask you to solve inventor puzzles such as crafting chemicals to create gunpowder or finding components to power a foreign machine. Some of these puzzles go back and forth from above-average to tedious. Most of the frustrating puzzles occur when there is a monster hunting you and there is limited light. The most annoying to come to mind is a maze with little to no light, a monster-hunting you, and switches that you need to drag boxes over to get them to open paths into the maze. I could see Frictional Games so proud of this segment only to have their pride shattered when they learned I jumped over many of the switches to get out of the maze. Fear did not grip me, only frustration did. The haunted maze is a trick I expect from cheap carnival fairs, not a pioneer of the horror genre.
Finally, the sprinkles atop this frustrating cake are the trademark motion controls that Frictional Games loves using. Rather than have a button prompt to open a drawer or door, you must click the item and drag your mouse in the direction you want the object to go. My loyal followers will remember I got my ratty robe in a knot over these controls in What Remains of Edith Finch, and I am about to do the same. Yes, Frictional Games seem better at implementing these controls than Giant Sparrow, however, it is still frustrating to try to close a door when zombies are hot on your heels. A small annoyance, but it works in tangent with my major annoyances to push me into irritation.
What absolutely leaves me baffled is how many mistakes Amnesia Rebirth makes that Amnesia The Dark Descent didn’t make. Amnesia The Dark Descent seemed to perfectly balance giving you enough resources so you went always in the dark. The shambling horrors in the previous game had me more unsettled than the monsters in Amnesia Rebirth. Finally, Amnesia The Dark Descent never had to restore to putting me in a literal maze. Amnesia Rebirth isn’t terrible, but it is genuinely disheartening to see a studio that loves horror so much make something that feels like such a step backward. It truly feels like Frictional Games lost all memory of the lessons they had learned from their previous games when making Amnesia Rebirth. I wonder if there is a word used to describe that…
