Horror games have a lot of interesting design ideas. Alien Isolation is one of my all-time favorites. It builds on concepts already established and captivated me with its incredibly accurate take on the franchise. Aliens chasing you around the boat and reacting to you are awesome. The fact that it also learns from your actions takes the entire genre a big step forward. It’s horror at its best. From what I’ve played, Alien Isolation seems to be the obvious inspiration for Amnesia: The Bunker.
As the name suggests, this horror gem takes place during World War I. While the countries appear to be fictional, the uniforms are clearly French and German. There is no doubt that we are somewhere on the Western Front. I wouldn’t be surprised if Frictional Games was inspired by low-budget horror films with the same themes as Trench 11, Bunker, and the underrated Deathwatch. Even though you’re here alone, not in a group like the movies often show, I felt the same fear, desperation, and stress that a group of characters would do. Our interactive media have the power to put us in the shoes of those we control. This is very evident in the horror genre. I personally think trenches are great for psychological horror, thrillers, etc. So it’s a bit of a shame that the film and game genre itself isn’t often set in World War I.
When I wake up in a game, alone, on the verge of death, my first thought is to try to grasp where I am. I twist and turn some objects I find. As I walked out of the infirmary, I began to understand the extent of my problem. Apparently, I was in an abandoned bunker complex along the banks of the trenches. After that, you’re pretty much on your own. Survival is your problem; the developers won’t account for you. The Introduction and Prologue provide a good framework and presentation. They’re not perfect, and the war sequences feel a bit low-budget, but when the handheld part is over and the game really hands you the reins, the experience finds its niche. Stumbling out of a hospital bed and wandering the corridors of the bunker to find your starting item is evocative. You soon learn you’re not alone, so you pick up a revolver and a blaring broken light, and you start like an old boat engine. This is nothing new for Frictional Games. The idea is that even these projects require some work on your part. You need to open the barrel of the revolver with one button and reload the cartridges in different chambers with another button. The studio excels at interacting with the world and its objects. It is also the master of the interactions between you, the environment and objects. You turn on your light, and it lights up the environment so you can see, and monsters happen to get close, hear the sound and start chasing you. It happens painlessly, without invasive UI, warning lights, text and arrows.
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Just like before, you can pick up objects, rotate, view and move. You need to find the clues, codes and other things you need. My comfort with this is quick and instinctive. However, I’m a bit surprised by the direction. First, World War I was unusual. However, creating such an open world without loading sequences is a bit outside of a developer’s normal game design. Also, the game is very free. You’ll quickly find a room in the bunker, which is your safe room. You can lock it and monsters won’t find you here. There is a save function here in the form of a lantern and generator. You may be asking yourself, why am I wasting time in a room like this. The whole setup involves you exploring the bunker from this room. You need to find items, codes, routes, fuel, and craft new items from your little safe room.
I mentioned earlier that there is a generator. It replaces the Insanity Meter feature in Amnesia: The Dark Descent. You don’t want the bunker light bulbs to go out. The monsters chasing you don’t like light. You’ll quickly realize that you need to plan how to proceed. You have to decide how many fuel tanks to fill in the generator and which ones to keep in the chests in the bunker. There is no infinite supply of this precious fluid, and exploring bunkers in the dark is dangerous. In addition to monsters, there are traps of various natures that you can easily trip up if you don’t look. The light you carry with you is weak, makes noise and attracts monsters. At the center is you, the Dynamo, who needs to go on an expedition to finally manage to escape. In the safe room, there is also a map that you can use, but once in the hallway, only the monster and your breath will keep you company.
Since Amnesia was all about light from the beginning, this was the perfect way to represent the story and the world. I really like the layout and design choices. The only thing I would criticize is that if you are out of fuel, you can lock your ability to progress. Some areas require lighting, and if you run out of fuel, you won’t be able to advance. I’m also not entirely convinced by the fact that you can’t beat 60 frames per second. From what I understand it has to do with their game engine and all interactions with objects in the world. If you cross that line, things will break. I hope the developers will look into this in the future. The graphics themselves are fine. They don’t move the industry forward, but they do the job. The art is great and feels immersive. I was even more impressed with the sound quality. It is always clear where the noises are coming from, they are qualitative and heighten the tension. While it can’t compete visually with the higher-budget titles, there’s something else to impress. In order not to repeat itself, some aspects of the adventure are randomly generated. Code is never the same, projects change locations, etc. You can get some important items like gas masks before other items. That means it all has replay value. Especially if you want to increase the difficulty.
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While we now know that the developer will release a customizable difficulty mode, it’s missing in the game’s current state. It’s a shame, because being able to customize the difficulty level in horror games is something I love. However, the degree of difficulty will make specific changes. The easiest mode offers more save points outside of bunkers, giving you a lot of items and materials. The hardest mode limits this, setting more traps and making monsters more dangerous. I tried all the difficulty levels, from the beginning my favorite is normal, which is a decent difficulty mode. If I’ve learned anything from this, it’s the fantastic vibe. It’s a geeky horror game inspired by rivals like Alien Isolation and low-budget horror films like 2002’s Deathwatch. I can’t help applauding it because it’s the best game Frictional Games has ever made. They took the right lessons from previous titles like Penumbra, Soma, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent. The me who loves seeing or participating in WWI media is a little lyrical about such a good horror experience on the subject. It has no hands, leading to increased creativity and fear. Good at making you feel very alone. Monsters are relentless, and you need to think about what you do and when you do it. The lack of degrees of freedom and arrows in each direction also means you need to be more motivated to complete the adventure. I missed the custom difficulty mode from the start, unfortunately you can lock the progress ability if you’re not careful with fuel (in isolated cases right now), and 2023 locking us to 60fps is a bit dated. Otherwise, it’s the best horror game of the year.
