My loyal followers, nothing fills my heart with more despair than watching studios try something new and walking away with a sour taste in my mouth. I know artists can’t sit idly and pump out the same pieces of art like a tired factory worker. Nor do I expect customers to pay for an artist to remain stagnant. No matter how much Walt Disney dreamed of a world where he could turn his artists into cogs in the great mouse machine, I know creative minds need space to try new things even when success is not guaranteed. Naturally, when I heard Frictional Games was creating a new horror title in the vain of an immersive sim, you could color me intrigued. However, it has only been a couple of months since the release of Frictional Games’ new title. It was available on Gamepass granting me, the Video Game Doomsayer, no excuse for not playing. So why am I just now wrapping up my first playthrough, clocking in at only six hours? Unfortunately, much like the path to escape the titular Bunker, the answer isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. So hear ye, my loyal followers, as I stand atop my soapbox and regale my time with Amnesia: The Bunker.
Our tale begins at the peak of World War 1, on the Western Front of France in 1916. Our hero, Henri Clements, is racing through the trenches attempting to reach no man’s land. Once there, he finds a crater where his injured friend, Augustine Lambert, is on the brink of death. Henri gives him some water, drags him out of the crater, and is immediately ambushed by German soldiers. Carrying Lambert on his back, he attempts to run for his life until an explosion knocks him to the ground. Henri then awakes in the hospital ward of a bunker with amnesia, as is the tradition in the Amnesia series.
You soon discover the bunker all but abandoned. Commanding officers have sealed off the exits of the bunkers as they escape. One of the remaining injured soldiers tells you there is dynamite in the arsenal and the trigger deep within some of the Roman tunnels they found. You must find these items if you wish to have any hope of escaping. Just before you can help the injured soldier, he is dragged into a hole in the wall by some monstrous hand, thus introducing us to The Beast. You soon begin to hear scratching and roaring echoing through the hole as if something borrowing deep tunnels within the walls. With the help of a single shot from your revolver, you unlock the Administration office, but the shot alerts The Beast, forcing you to barricade yourself in the office. From here, the game of cat and mouse begins.
You are tasked to navigate the four wings of the bunker in search of tools that will aid you in your escape. Some items, such as ammo and grenades, are scattered across the bunker and you must utilize them to break locks or doors throughout your escape. Others you will need to craft like bandages, torches, and petrol bombs. You also need to keep the generator in the Administration office fueled up to keep the lights on to reduce the chances of The Beast making a meal out of you. If the generator does run out of fuel, you will need to stumble along in the dark with a wind-up flashlight; that might as well be like ringing a dinner bell when you use it. All together, Amnesia: The Bunker sets itself up as a haunted house Rubik’s cube of a puzzle with so many opportunities for dynamic scares that would have horror fans frothing at the mouth.
Now I can see the confusion among you, my followers. You must be asking yourself, Doomsayer, surely this ever-changing immersive sim horror game is up your alley. Alas, much like Hi-Fi Rush, Amnesia: The Bunker feels like death from a thousand cuts. So many tiny details caused me to become incredibly frustrated, the point of playing the game felt like eating your vegetables as a kid.
For starters, most of the story is told in journal notes you find throughout the bunker. Frustratingly, some entries are read aloud by Henri and some by his fellow soldiers, and others you have to read. I understand when a small game from a newly formed studio doesn’t have the budget to hire voice actors, but Frictional Games are not in this predicament. Amnesia: The Bunker has voice acting for Henri, Lambert, and some other other soldiers. Why not have Henri’s voice actor read all the remaining journal entries aloud and give a small comment about the situation? It would give us more insight into his character. I can understand if this isn’t an issue for some people, but after The Beast has chased me down the hallway, the last thing I want to do is read some journal entries.
Second, I must confess that I am not a smart man, and I have frequently struggled to get into puzzle games. As a result, I frequently ran into situations where I didn’t know where to go and ran out of gas. I spent a couple of hours wandering the dark halls of the bunker unable to figure out what I was missing. I had to resort to a YouTube walkthrough where I eventually discovered a door I had missed. An error stemming from my own skill and at no fault of the game. Unfortunately, those hours of frustration still linger in my mind, forever tainting my experience of the game.
During those hours, I failed multiple times to escape the ire of The Beast. There were numerous attempts to make progress by using bricks to break open doors, only for The Beast to immediately find me in my hiding spot. I remember breaking down the door for the Communications room in the Soldier’s Quarters and hiding in the room next door. I could hear The Beast pacing back and forth along the hallway for what felt like five minutes before he eventually broke down the door despite me making no noise. I also remember another failed attempt to get into a room I broke into in the prison. This time there was no hiding spot so I ran to the Soldier’s Quarters hoping this would “reset” The Beast. Upon returning to the prison, I found The Beast camping in the doorway of the room I was trying to get into. I will admit that both instances happened when the lights were out because I exhausted all my gas supply, but what else could I do except make these risky maneuvers?
Frictional Games have thoroughly drawn themselves a fragile line to walk with the way The Beast works. I agree that The Beast should be on the offensive when the lights are out to incentivize players to consistently collect gas, but there doesn’t seem to be many options to help players metaphorically bounce back. Unfortunately, this leads to situations, like I described, where the Beast is constantly killing you. Soon fear turns into frustration. I often described this as the knife’s edge of horror. You want your monster to be terrifying enough to seem threatening, but not overpowering to the point players get frustrated. It’s a hard line to walk, especially with varying skill levels of players. Unfortunately, my continued failures to escape the Beast caused me to become apathetic to his presence throughout most of the game.
Even though I might not have an answer on how Frictional Games can walk the metaphorical tightrope between tense and frustrating gameplay, I do know one area of the game that could use improvement. Early on the game makes it clear it wants you to experiment to find solutions:
“You can overcome most obstacles in multiple ways. Use your wits and your brains. Experiment. If you think something might be possible to do, it probably is.”
Alas, my followers, I would say experimentation is exactly how you end up in a pitch-dark bunker with The Beast nipping at your heels. Early on, I ventured to the wine cellar in the Maintenance wing. A section of the cellar was closed off, the door locked by a chain, but I wanted to get in as there was a gas can and various other resources I needed. I knew there was an explosive barrel nearby so I rolled it in front of the door and used one of my limited bullets to shoot the barrel. Not only did this alert The Beast to my presence, forcing me to return to the safe haven of the Administration office, but this did not break the chain locking the door. Not only did my experiment waste resources I could use to get into other rooms, but I also wasted time. Time with the generator on. Time that I could explore safely. Time when The Beast wasn’t breathing down my neck. Either allow us to truly overcome these obstacles in multiple ways or inform me what I can and can’t do. As it currently stands, the price of failure is too high.
My loyal followers, it truly breaks my heart to have such distaste for Amnesia: The Bunker. I wanted nothing more than to applaud Frictional Games for daring to challenge themselves for more dynamic gameplay. I want to champion their sound design that had me on edge even when the generator was running. Despite seeing him more often than my own parents, all the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention when I first saw The Beast. Amnesia: The Bunker feels like a breath of fresh air that the series desperately needed after Amnesia: Rebirth. I believe if Frictional Games can iron out many of the problems with the immersive sim elements, their next title will be the massive hit that horror fans are hoping for. If my grievances do not bother you, please support Frictional Games in their bold step forward. Unfortunately, as it stands right now, Amnesia: The Bunker feels like your parents are demanding you untangle the Christmas lights outside and are threatening to turn off the lights if you don’t do it fast enough. All I can say in response is to hell with these lights, I am done and I am going back inside.
