Amnesia is Memorable

I recently played the game Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Finally! Some of you probably realize that the game has been out for quite awhile and a lot of people have been talking about it. I bought the game after hearing so much press and found it hard to make myself play the game.

I do not like horror movies. I am a total wimp usually when it comes to that stuff. After having the game sit on my hard drive for about 3 days I finally opened it and played it. Of course the first thing it tells you is that Amnesia is a game that you play to immerse yourself in. It is not a game that you play to beat. As a student of game design I found that intriguing. Right off the bat the developers had to create a mindset of the player that they were inf act running around this haunted mansion/castle/dungeon/sewer/whatever this thing is supposed to be. It was not subtle, it was direct, in your face and absolutely brutal. It was telling you throw out everything you know about games and just play this without trying to over-think it.


I of course, have no way of doing that. Especially if I want clean underwear when I'm through. I played the game, it took about 6 hours for me to beat, and yes a couple times i did Jump, but those were closer to the beginning of the game. By the end of it there were no real unknowns that started throwing me for a loop. I think the scariest thing about horror games and movies is the unknown. Amnesia really tries to play with that. It has the character your playing as have absolutely no idea who he is or was. By the middle of he game though you have a pretty good understanding of what is going on and that you are slowly progressing towards a climactic ending.

There are only a few monsters and you can easily avoid them most of the time.

So basically I'm downplaying the game as a game itself, and the problem is the game was already stated as not being a game in the opening credits. Wow that's a mind-trip. So for how it is, its a great game, for an absolute great price. If you like horror films/games then you will love this game, If you just enjoy game design then you will enjoy picking apart this game, as I did. The atmosphere the game creates is perfect and the level design and spooks that are thrown at you really are awesome.

The best thing about this game though is its level editor. You can download the level editor for free and easily create your own horror adventure story with their simple editor. Level design itself is relatively simple if you've worked with any 3D creation program before The scripting and programming are a little more advanced, but their are good number of resources online that will help you try and get the hang of it.

If you haven't heard of Amnesia:the Dark Descent, then you need to read some more video game websites. If you have heard of it and haven't tried it yet, then you're missing out on a wonderful experience. Check out Amnesia you won't forget it.

Have you tried Amnesia? How did you fare in this world of horrible things?