AMNESIA: THE DARK DESCENT

It was when I heard about a promising game called SOMA that I first came in contact with Frictional Games and their radically shocking concepts of making games; No weapons, exploration, hiding in the dark, insanity, and so on. Since SOMA will not be available for quite some time and I haven’t played a game like this before, I wanted to try it out. I wanted to see, if a game from Frictional could really be as scary as everyone was telling.

I decided to go with Amnesia: The Dark Descent, mainly because a close friend recommended it to me directly and I knew about the sequel A Machine for Pigs (released just a few months ago). I wanted the full spook program; I started to play in the evening, I turned off the lights, I was alone, I pumped up the sound of my computer and I also put the gamma and contrast settings of my monitor where they’re actually supposed to be. Retrospectively, I departed on a journey - truly, a dark descent, that I am to this day not sure what I should make of it.

The game is from 2010, so naturally I wasn’t expecting too much regarding graphics or even gameplay. However, both turned out to be quite good! The graphics felt very appropriate and were consistent with the theme and setting, while the gameplay was kind of new to me. - Ok, not too new but at least very refreshing and a good change of pace from this modern FPS and action flood. The focus is clearly put on exploration and survival, the items are scarce and some of the puzzles are more demanding than one might expect. It all comes down to you and your lantern, how good you are at creating a map of castle Brennenburg in your head and how much anxiety you can really take. I actually estimated this game will have about four hours of playtime… it turned out to be around twice as long as that. I thought I could finish the game in one, maximum two days… it took me more than a week! Why is that? - Due to the psychological stress it unleashed upon me. Seriously, I hardly could get myself to play the game more than one hour per day. Don’t get me wrong, this is not because everything was so spooky and I wet my pants all the time, it’s just that to me that game felt like a burden I put on myself. Not that it wasn’t fun and a nice experience within a great atmospheric environment but the themes of the game are rather dark and twisted.

"PAINT THE MAN, CUT THE LINES..."

Torture, for example, plays a central role in the game, and you know what? - I hate torture… I guess every sane person hates torture and cannot stand watching somebody being brutally tortured, yet alone being tortured themselves. But still, in some way it’s damn interesting, isn’t it? What sick torture devices were there in the past? How could someone do that to another person? After this game I spent easily two more hours on YouTube watching all kind of torture device documentaries and clips while trying not to vomit… and THAT… is exactly how the game felt to me. Why do I watch that? Why do I play that? If it makes me uncomfortable and I feel like I am suffering through this game, then why the hell do I play it? It’s not that there is a ghost and something spooky or shocking is happening… it’s just a sick story about torture and pain. After the really nice and spooky beginning of the game, after I realized how the game is working, I basically had only one goal: Get out of there, finish the game… fast! But the game didn’t let me. Every new puzzle began to feel kind of tedious and every encounter with an enemy became frustrating and annoying to say the least. - In that regard, please note that there are a lot of scripted events in that game, but sometimes the main monster that chases you seems as random as it can get. And sorry to say it like that, but if there are situations where there’s only one corridor that you have to pass and the monster keeps lurking just in that one corridor, I don’t give a damn! The monster might not react on any distraction and as soon as it spots you, you are dead! After the game resets you, you might get lucky and the monster is no longer in that certain area, so you can go on with the game.

"PLEASE! WHATEVER YOU WANT! ANYTHING YOU WANT, I DO ANYTHING..."

I think you can see I still have mixed feelings about this game; On one side it was just disappointing, on the other it was an interesting experience, sometimes it felt exciting but most of the time it came across as solely disturbing and annoying. I liked the voice acting, the music and the sound effects but not necessarily the story. I think the game offers some great puzzles and scary events, but on the other hand the spook seems to get lost pretty fast and all that remains is frustration.

Like I said, during this game I felt torn between “I don’t want to play that anymore” and “It’s interesting, so let’s continue”. I don’t know if that’s what the creators wanted or if it was just my fault, given how I approached this game. After this game I just have to ask myself if all that disgusting and crazy stuff is really necessary in order to frighten people. Is there nothing but blood, torture and twisted thinking that induces fear? I certainly don’t want to put the game in a bad light for you and I suggest you try it yourself, but for me I think it will be best to let this game or rather "genre" rest for now. I am sorry for Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, but I don't feel in the psychological state to play it now. I will also skip a Penumbra part for the same reason. Depending on its release date I will however play SOMA most definitely!

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