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Amnesia: The Dark Descent
There was a demo thread (demo can be found here), but now the game is out.
You should purchase this game if 1) you like horror 2) you like adventure games 3) want gaming studios to take chances.
For fans of horror games, Amnesia has been described as "the Shalebridge Cradle, but as a full game." If you don't know what the Cradle is, you missed out on the scariest level ever made in a video game (but you own more clean underwear than the people who played it, so props buddy).
If you didn't see my awesome demo thread, here's what this awesome game is all about:
In Amnesia, you wake up in some creepy deserted castle with amnesia (a shocker, I know), having no memories other than that you are Daniel. Shortly after the beginning, you will find a letter explaining why you're there and what you must do. I'm spoilering it just in case, but it's not much of a spoiler (especially since you find this within the first few minutes) and it's rather vague.
The game then, consists in trying to accomplish that goal, and piece together who you were and what the hell is going on. Knowing their previous games, none of that is going to be nice. At all.
The gameplay is basically that of an adventure game in first person. You explore the castle and manipulate the environment to solve puzzles. It's all very physics based, and it's really quite neat. For example, to open drawers, you click and pull. To open doors same thing. It sounds a little gimmicky, but once you start playing, it feels incredibly natural. The physics are well done enough that things have proper weight and interact as you would expect, the puzzles generally being quite logical as a result (none of the usual "combine rubber duck with toothpaste to open door" adventure game puzzles). If it's anything like Penumbra, they won't be particularly difficult, but that's not the main appeal of the game.
As the game will tell you the first time you launch it, you have no weapons and when things go bad (and they will), your best bet is to run and hide. Exploring the castle and accomplishing your goal is made more difficult and creepifying by the fact that Daniel's mind is not exactly all there. Staring at unsettling things will make you go insane, hearing disturbing things will make you go insane, and staying in darkness will drive you totally bonkers. This complicates things, because when you start going insane, your controls start freaking out, your vision blurs and stretches, you hear strange noises, you breathe heavy, see things, and if you go really horribly insane, you'll only be capable of crawling along the floor like the mad retard that you have become. You will learn to loathe the crunchy sound (in a good way).
On the other hand, staying in the light will help you regain your sanity, as will completing puzzles and making progress in your quest.
Balancing these two things is the main challenge in the game, seeing as there will be a lot of disturbing crap in this castle. Hiding from some horrible creature becomes pretty tense when you can't look at it for fear of letting out a yelp that will alert it, and hiding in a dark corner slowly makes you go bonkers.
All in all, it should be good, scary fun. The kind of fun that makes you stop playing and look at hello kitty stuff for 30 minutes just so you can go to sleep.
It's $20 for about 8-9 hours of gameplay, which seems pretty fair to me compared to recent games. They went with quality over quantity, and given the nature of the game, it's something you play slooooooooowly.
Here's a very dark gameplay video. I mean that literally. The game itself is also quite dark, but generally you'll see more than in this video.
Here's a bunch of reviews. If I have miraculously convinced you to buy the game, I'd suggest not reading them as they contain mild spoilers (especially the Rock Paper Shotgun one), but it's not too bad.
If I have not convinced you, play the demo (A note about the demo - the sanity effects have been amped up. You don't go insane quite as fast in the full game).
If that still hasn't convinced you then you, sir, are the scum of the earth.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent review : PC Gamer
Amnesia: The Dark Descent Review - PC Review at IGN
Amnesia: The Dark Descent PC Review - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Wot I Think: Amnesia – The Dark Descent | Rock, Paper, Shotgun
These guys have gotten steadily better with each game, and Amnesia is their third. So far, every review seems to think it's brilliant. I'm sure it's got its flaws, but even with some irritating bits, the Penumbra series managed to suck you in and creep you out. This game should have most of the irritating bits gone although there may be new and exciting irritating bits; seeing the jump in quality and design from Overture to Black Plague, this game should be pretty stellar. They've been honing their craft for a while, and this is their horrible mutant baby.
I am pimping the hell out of this because these guys are a small studio (like 6 people) with no money, and all they've done has been great and getting better. They really deserve to hit the home run on this one, and hopefully some big studios take notice that you can actually make money with innovative gameplay and design (or nobody buys the game and you prove to them that gears of war 39 is what you want).
Cliffs:
- Indie studio makes awesome games. This is their last game, which is the pinnacle of their awesomeness.
- This game will make you crap your pants.
- You have no weapons, and your character is prone to going horribly insane.
- Buy it because it's awesome and they're awesome and need your awesome money to continue to be awesome.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
There was a demo thread (demo can be found here), but now the game is out.
You should purchase this game if 1) you like horror 2) you like adventure games 3) want gaming studios to take chances.
For fans of horror games, Amnesia has been described as "the Shalebridge Cradle, but as a full game." If you don't know what the Cradle is, you missed out on the scariest level ever made in a video game (but you own more clean underwear than the people who played it, so props buddy).
If you didn't see my awesome demo thread, here's what this awesome game is all about:
In Amnesia, you wake up in some creepy deserted castle with amnesia (a shocker, I know), having no memories other than that you are Daniel. Shortly after the beginning, you will find a letter explaining why you're there and what you must do. I'm spoilering it just in case, but it's not much of a spoiler (especially since you find this within the first few minutes) and it's rather vague.
Spoiler
The game then, consists in trying to accomplish that goal, and piece together who you were and what the hell is going on. Knowing their previous games, none of that is going to be nice. At all.
The gameplay is basically that of an adventure game in first person. You explore the castle and manipulate the environment to solve puzzles. It's all very physics based, and it's really quite neat. For example, to open drawers, you click and pull. To open doors same thing. It sounds a little gimmicky, but once you start playing, it feels incredibly natural. The physics are well done enough that things have proper weight and interact as you would expect, the puzzles generally being quite logical as a result (none of the usual "combine rubber duck with toothpaste to open door" adventure game puzzles). If it's anything like Penumbra, they won't be particularly difficult, but that's not the main appeal of the game.
As the game will tell you the first time you launch it, you have no weapons and when things go bad (and they will), your best bet is to run and hide. Exploring the castle and accomplishing your goal is made more difficult and creepifying by the fact that Daniel's mind is not exactly all there. Staring at unsettling things will make you go insane, hearing disturbing things will make you go insane, and staying in darkness will drive you totally bonkers. This complicates things, because when you start going insane, your controls start freaking out, your vision blurs and stretches, you hear strange noises, you breathe heavy, see things, and if you go really horribly insane, you'll only be capable of crawling along the floor like the mad retard that you have become. You will learn to loathe the crunchy sound (in a good way).
On the other hand, staying in the light will help you regain your sanity, as will completing puzzles and making progress in your quest.
Balancing these two things is the main challenge in the game, seeing as there will be a lot of disturbing crap in this castle. Hiding from some horrible creature becomes pretty tense when you can't look at it for fear of letting out a yelp that will alert it, and hiding in a dark corner slowly makes you go bonkers.
All in all, it should be good, scary fun. The kind of fun that makes you stop playing and look at hello kitty stuff for 30 minutes just so you can go to sleep.
It's $20 for about 8-9 hours of gameplay, which seems pretty fair to me compared to recent games. They went with quality over quantity, and given the nature of the game, it's something you play slooooooooowly.
Here's a very dark gameplay video. I mean that literally. The game itself is also quite dark, but generally you'll see more than in this video.
Here's a bunch of reviews. If I have miraculously convinced you to buy the game, I'd suggest not reading them as they contain mild spoilers (especially the Rock Paper Shotgun one), but it's not too bad.
If I have not convinced you, play the demo (A note about the demo - the sanity effects have been amped up. You don't go insane quite as fast in the full game).
If that still hasn't convinced you then you, sir, are the scum of the earth.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent review : PC Gamer
Amnesia: The Dark Descent Review - PC Review at IGN
Amnesia: The Dark Descent PC Review - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Wot I Think: Amnesia – The Dark Descent | Rock, Paper, Shotgun
These guys have gotten steadily better with each game, and Amnesia is their third. So far, every review seems to think it's brilliant. I'm sure it's got its flaws, but even with some irritating bits, the Penumbra series managed to suck you in and creep you out. This game should have most of the irritating bits gone although there may be new and exciting irritating bits; seeing the jump in quality and design from Overture to Black Plague, this game should be pretty stellar. They've been honing their craft for a while, and this is their horrible mutant baby.
I am pimping the hell out of this because these guys are a small studio (like 6 people) with no money, and all they've done has been great and getting better. They really deserve to hit the home run on this one, and hopefully some big studios take notice that you can actually make money with innovative gameplay and design (or nobody buys the game and you prove to them that gears of war 39 is what you want).
Cliffs:
- Indie studio makes awesome games. This is their last game, which is the pinnacle of their awesomeness.
- This game will make you crap your pants.
- You have no weapons, and your character is prone to going horribly insane.
- Buy it because it's awesome and they're awesome and need your awesome money to continue to be awesome.
