Horror game Amnesia is back, bringing open-world mechanics, player-controlled gameplay and weapons to the spooky hit Steam. Soma and Penumbra developer Frictional Games presents us The Bunker, his new, terrifying vision of the First World War.
Playing as a lone French soldier during World War I, Amnesia: The Bunker throws you into a "semi-open world" where you must survive against an enemy constantly pursuing you by exploring, solving puzzles and making decisions that will affect the gameplay.
For the first time in the Amnesia series, you have a weapon - a creaky old revolver with one round in the chamber. Apart from this, your only tool is a dilapidated torch powered by a dynamo. Threats and obstacles change with each playthrough, with Frictional promising "almost no scripted events" coupled with "emergent gameplay."
Your intuition will tell you that adding a pistol or any other weapon to Amnesia can ruin the monster's horror and sense of threat. Likewise, a sandbox where you are free to make choices seems to be able to undermine the atmosphere, unravel the cramped claustrophobia that made previous Frictional Games scares so well.
But if the game is linear and takes you level by level, you inherently know you can do no wrong. The worst thing that can happen is to die and start over. An open world with choice offers the opposite situation, where you can make a decision and later regret it. This adds tension and the possibility of real consequences.
Likewise, in horror games where you don't have a weapon, you know you'll never have to confront a monster. The game won't force you because you don't have a weapon. But a rusty revolver with one cartridge is already a dilemma. You may have to fight this terrible creature, and it won't be easy.
Slow and oppressive, the first trailer for Amnesia: The Bunker, combined with all these first details, holds a lot of promise. Game Amnesia: The Bunker will be released in Steam and on the Epic Games Store sometime in 2023.
In the meantime, check out the others 15 best horror games made with RPG Maker и Top 10 Creepy Doll Horror Games.
