Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1672 in Digital Video Games
- Brand: ValuSoft
- Model: 40563Amnesia1
- Released on: 2010-09-08
- ESRB Rating: Mature
- Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP
- Format: Download
Amnesia [Download]
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
113 of 115 people found the following review helpful.
By Leonard Ferrucci
Amnesia provides a much-needed break from today's omnipresent first-person shooters (Halo, Call of Duty, etc.). Not only is Daniel, the unfortunate dude that you as a player get to control, unable to go trigger-happy with an assault rifle, he is incapable of defending himself altogether. This creates an entirely new type of game, one which I find just as, if not more, entertaining.Amnesia's most redeeming quality is its atmosphere. This is without a doubt the scariest video game I have ever played. A few years ago I bought Doom 3 in hopes of being legitimately scared while gaming. Doom was slightly nerve-racking at times, but I always found myself comforted by the fact that if anything came at me, I could fill it with lead, plasma, or the teeth of a chainsaw. Amnesia provides no such comfort, which is what makes it so fantastic. Another difference is the way in which the game affects you. Doom 3 achieves its scariness via dismembered corpses, splattered viscera and gore, flickering lights, evil laughs, and enemies that spawn right in front of your face. Amnesia has a much more psychological effect, one that fills you with a cold, palpable sense of dread that makes it difficult to reach for the next door handle.Playing this game in a dark room with earphones and a real desire to be filled with terror and apprehension (as twisted as that may seem) will immerse you in a world unlike any you have experienced. Within the first 15 minutes of playing this, I found myself clenching my teeth in fear, inhaling deeply before entering each new room. Unlike during a horror movie, you are in control, and you must react to the sudden breathing from around the corner, the horrified shrieks of an unnamed woman, or the shadowy menace smashing through your makeshift barricade.To cut to the chase, I love everything about this game. All of its components, the limited oil for your only lantern, for example, make it one of the most amazing PC games in a while. The product itself is flawless also. It comes in a typical DVD case with a cover, and installed on my computer within minutes without a hitch. If you are in for a highly entertaining scare, I strongly recommend that you purchase this game.
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
By Lisa Shea
A puzzle-horror game, "Amnesia" eschews combat and action in favor of immersive terror-based gameplay."Amnesia: The Dark Descent" casts the player as Daniel, who is (appropriately enough) an amnesiac. He's trapped in a dark, abandoned castle, and must navigate it and find his way out. The main gameplay is puzzle-centric, with a few features that make it stand out. The first of these is the use of light: if Daniel is not standing in the light, his sanity meter drains, eventually causing panic and hallucinations. Light can be generated in two ways: either using a tinderbox on a candle or torch, or using your lantern. Both tinderboxes and lamp oil are limited, so the player can't always be in the light.Adding to this is the presence of monsters of various shapes and types. Unlike some "survival horror" games, there is no way for Daniel to defeat the monsters. Instead, they must be avoided. This is most commonly done by hiding in the shadows - but the above problem presents itself, forcing the player to choose between their safety and their sanity. This adds to a sense of actually being hunted - monsters aren't just there to be easily outsmarted or defeated, they're plausible threats that the player has to deal with.The puzzles aren't anything special - they're just sort of an obstacle. They're probably the least-notable part of the game. The whole "light and dark" thing gets a lot more attention; puzzles are just a way to occasionally break up that mechanic. One neat thing about the game is that your character "interacts" with objects: he picks them up (with ghostly invisible hands) and can throw them, rotate them, and so on. Doors aren't just slammed open, the player's invisible hand grips the doorknob and pushes or pulls on it. While this is kind of a neat touch, the fact that "Daniel" doesn't actually have a model makes it kind of weird - you can't see your body, so it's just sort of floating in front of you.Overall, "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" wasn't perfect, but it had some neat ideas. It's atmospheric and it does a lot with illumination, which is something that a lot of games don't care much about. Other than its main mechanic it's kind of simplistic, and might not hold the player's attention if they get bored of "stay out of darkness except when monsters are around", but if you can deal with that then it's pretty good.Rating: 8/10.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
By Matthew Buckley
Positives:+ Great sound design that will make your hair stand on edge+ Excellent "insanity" mechanic that forces you to play the game afraid to succeed+ Value easily supersedes its $20 price tagNegatives:- Dated visuals- A little shortOne thing is for sure: The folks at Frictional Games sure do know how to scare you.The small-staffed indie developer had already flexed its survival-horror muscles with the Penumbra trilogy spanning 2007-2008. So when they said that Amnesia: The Dark Descent would be scary, many were inclined to believe them. It's doubtful that many knew it would be this scary. Here is a game that legitimately requires courage to complete.From the onset, the game explains that it is not meant to be "played to win," but rather played to be immersed in its atmosphere. Don't worry, as truly there is no way to avoid being immersed regardless of the approach taken. The game also suggests that it be played in a dark room with headphones rather than separate speakers to aid in the immersion. I didn't have the guts to play it that way, and even after having finished the play-through and knowing what to expect from it, I still wouldn't do it.The game begins in a castle and, as expected, with the protagonist stricken with amnesia. The narrative kicks off with a letter found close by that was written by the main character prior to becoming amnesiac, identifying him as Daniel. One line sticks out immediately: "I choose to forget." Questions are bound to result: So Daniel gave himself amnesia somehow? How would he have done that? What was so horrible that he voluntarily wiped his memory clean to forget it? These questions and more will beg to be answered throughout the entirety of the game. To provide any more specific explanation of the plot-line would spoil the experience, but trust that while this approach to a prologue may seem trite at first, it is fleshed out wonderfully, and ultimately integral to the narrative.The remainder of the storyline is explained through texts found throughout the game world in the form of diary entries from Daniel himself, as well as historical logs that serve to fill out the back-story, similar to the method of narrative delivery found in the original survival-horror title, Alone in the Dark. The placement of some of these excerpts will seem nonsensical at times, but they do well to keep the forward momentum of the game intact. There will be moments where you may ask yourself, "Why am I here? Why am I going this way?" Thankfully, most of these questions are answered quickly, with just the right amount of curiosity looming. The ongoing narrative of the game is assuredly interesting, and is seemingly held to a higher-standard of storytelling that was more commonplace in the heyday of adventure games rather than the "action-makes-up-for-story" approach often found in popular games today.However, none of this explains just what makes the game so frightening. While the story is compelling, the gameplay itself is what makes Amnesia: The Dark Descent such a unique experience. Where most games give the protagonist some sort of unnatural strength and courage to blindly traverse into the darkest caverns and find a way to participate in some form of hand-to-hand combat with its inhabitants, our main character Daniel is utterly human. He is scared of the dark, scared of the creatures in the castle, and completely defenseless. This leads to another way the game inspires fear: To succeed, the player must play the game as if afraid. There is no success to be found in throwing caution to the wind.Light, or the lack thereof, plays an important part in the flow of the game. If Daniel is in the dark, he will gradually lose his mind. This is evidenced through visual cues such as the field of vision slowly morphing and moving, blurring, colors bleeding into others, and occasionally imaginary(?) bugs crawling across the screen. There are also audio events that are potentially even more disorienting. Even while "sane," there are screams, moans, and footsteps peppered throughout the game that are specific to each area, garnering a consistent uneasiness. But if Daniel is scared, this will be accompanied by a very eerie scratching noise that will be all-too-easily recalled well after the game is over. These "fear" evidences are also triggered by frightening experiences Daniel may have, such as supernatural occurrences, or simply seeing one of the inhabitants of the castle.To explain the nature or origin of the creatures roaming the castle would be too much of a spoiler. Suffice it to say that when you're scared while playing this game, these creatures are what you are scared of. There is no defense against these enemies, so when they show up, Daniel has no choice but to run and hide or die. This can lead to a chain reaction of frightening events. One of these creatures could be unexpectedly seen when turning a corner. The sight of them instills fear in Daniel, triggering the appropriate visual and audio cues, while you as the player attempt to collect your own wits and run, looking for a place to hide. You then run into the nearest room, slam the door shut, and find a dark corner to hide in. Now there is another problem, as Daniel is in the dark, continuing his descent into insanity. You face the corner to avoid seeing the creature and hope to preserve some of Daniel's sanity, but behind you, it can be heard entering the room and slowly looking around. All that is left to do is hope that it leaves. But at some point, the decision has to be made to turn around and see if it is still there, and then peek around the door to check outside again. You may find that simply following through with this decision is easier said than done.This brings to light another game mechanic that deepens the experience: the physics. There is no single-click command to open drawers or wardrobes looking for items and clues, or even to open doors to explore new rooms. Instead, these items need to be dragged open while clicking and holding the mouse button, and they will move as quickly as the mouse is moved. This may sound minor, and at first, it feels like simply a nice add-on detail. However, when you're being chased and you slam the door behind you, returning to slowly crack open the door to peek out, that's when the importance of this mechanic truly sinks in.One of the only major detractors from this game is the visual quality. There is an overall dated look to the character models, textures, and lighting. Though, as a small-budget, small-workforce development, this is ultimately forgivable. The quality of the audio and the visual events triggered by the fear mechanic will overshadow most of the basic graphical inadequacies.The length of this game is quite the variable. Some have stated that there is little more than six hours of gameplay, while others have logged more than ten hours on a single play-through. This is the result of varying approaches to the game, as well as varying successes with the puzzles therein. Regardless, at $20, there is plenty of gameplay in this title, and it ends at just the right time. Monotony is not given a chance to develop, while there is relief that the experience is complete.If you are a fan of horror games, or if you are curious as to whether or not a game can scare you at all, Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a must-play. While the visuals are dated and the game is on the short side, it is well worth the $20 to experience the best haunted house you've visited to date. I've heard skeptics in the past say that there is no way a video game can be truly frightening, but I defy any one of those people to play through this game and make that same statement. Indie developer Frictional Games has definitely shown the big boys how to make a scary game.Score: 9/10Review from www.bowlingotter.com
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