Amnesia: the Dark Descent

[Milkyway64]

Anyone hear of this game? If so, probably from Zero Punctuation. It's an indie horror game on Steam priced for 20 bucks, putting it lightly.

Putting it as it should be, it's only the scariest game I've played in my life so far. It's -good.- There's no combat, or any intensely challenging segments of platforming, or really much that you find in your usual game, but that's not what it was aiming to do. It aims to scare the hell out of you, and it does this very, very well. I don't want to spoil too much, and while your mileage may vary, the last I've played of it gave me a PHYSICAL REACTION. I couldn't think, I had a slight headache, and my pupils were allgedly big according to my friends that spectated, and that's not even touching into the fear that was going on as I played. When properly emmersed (dark room, loud volume, etc) this game is about the best you'll get in the horror genre. I've been hardened and jaded from the likes of Silent Hill, (old) Resident Evil, newer games like Dead Space, Doom 3, the Condemned series, so on and this game still scared me to a squeaking little unmanly mess in the company of 3 friends.

CHECK IT OUT. That is, if you have money and love horror games. It is rather short (It's an indie game) and it can use a tad more polish (I found a glitch that involved clipping out of the normal boundaries, and I was stumped by a badly designed puzzle needing a very specific spot to click, leading you to believe you're doing something wrong when you are on the right track) so it maaay be a tad overpriced, but the scare factor is unmatched by any full priced game I've played yet. At the very least, none other so far has left me walking away with blurred vision and unable to remember my own email address.

So go research it. Play the demo if you'd like. If you have cash to burn and like what the demo has (I dunno what's actually in it, so it may or may not accurately show what to expect) buy it. It may not be for everyone, but for those of you that like being helpless and terrified, I don't think you can go wrong.

[Sabre]

There is also a quick look on giant bomb. I heard of this game through their previous work, Preumbra or whatever.

I'm also a horror veterain, for me the biggest scare was in Condemned 1 with the balcony. My heart was like a chest burster.

Me, I hated this game. It breaks one of the first rules of horror which is you don't have your character act scared. The fact the guy was afraid of the dark was a pain in the arse. I played the demo, and what I played didn't scare me because the gameplay was annoiying me to much.

You can pick up fear for £10 these days. Get that instead.

[Milkyway64]

Me, I hated this game. It breaks one of the first rules of horror which is you don't have your character act scared. The fact the guy was afraid of the dark was a pain in the arse. I played the demo, and what I played didn't scare me because the gameplay was annoiying me to much.

You can pick up fear for £10 these days. Get that instead.

Eternal Darkness did it and under the same circumstances (sanity meter) and people still love it. And I already said I wasn't sure about the demo, so it may in fact BE boring. The first hour or so of the full game is too, as it's one of those games that try to not have monsters coming at you and giving you a pistol to fight them off with.

I already said that it broke the mold. Sure, the gameply may be annoying in that your strongest weapons are the movement keys, but it's still got a lot to offer later on. Or so I thought. Having played F.E.A.R myself, I can also say it's scares are nothing compared to what Amnesia's done.

[Sabre]

The difference is that game was fun.

I think the demo is different from the full game. In the giant bomb quick look the rooms are different after the intro. In the demo, you follow the pink goo, get your lamp, then are given a wine rack puzzle where there may or maynot be a guy in the room with you. However, anger > fear in that game.

I don't like the excuse 'the first hour is boring'. It's not like Freedom Fighters where there are alot of loads early on because it's teaching you how moving between areas works.  Even if I accept your hour argument, that still doesn't stop the mechanics being annoiying, the character being a coward, and the whole thing making making me angry.

[FoxMcCloud]

I just watched the video, and that scared me a little.

I'll be getting the demo to try it out.

[Milkyway64]

I'm beginning to agree with Sabre but for different reasons. I hate this game. I dread playing it and most of the time I do I want to stop or stall. Just means it's doing it's job, I guess.

I also started noticing a little bit of that frustration, namely in a pipe puzzle later on in. I still dunno what Sabre means by gameplay being annoyinging, it's basically your average Source game without a gun, but sometimes these puzzles will stump you to the point of being irritating. The only other thing I notice is being in the dark draining the sanity meter, and that means your vision starts going weird and ends up looking like you are underwater. Having the character be scared isn't that bad, I never even noticed it past when it actually effects gameplay (empty stamina = nerve shot character, who pants and gasps and generally makes noise that can give you away.)

And yes, sounds like the demo might be different. There wasn't a wine rack puzzle anywhere near acquiring the latern, least I don't remember so.

[Sabre]

I dont like this "so scary I dont want to play it" argument. I've heard it a few times, its the opposate of "My balls are big, nothing scares me" argument I also don't like. When a horror game get's to scary I turn on the light, and that's it.

I thought that when your guy loses all of his sanity he dies? Also tinderboxes and oil are so limited that you have no option but to stumble around in the dark.

[Milkyway64]

I dont like this "so scary I dont want to play it" argument. I've heard it a few times, its the opposate of "My balls are big, nothing scares me" argument I also don't like. When a horror game get's to scary I turn on the light, and that's it.

I thought that when your guy loses all of his sanity he dies? Also tinderboxes and oil are so limited that you have no option but to stumble around in the dark.

Turning on the lights is for the unmanly.

And nope, not directly. It's a hell of a lot harder to hide on empty sanity and stuff like bugs crawling on the screen and random noises happens, but yes, oil is pretty limited. Tinderboxes not so much. I have about 50 in stock right now.

[Sabre]

At least I dont have to stop playing.

EDIT: Played some more of the demo, and I can see how it would be scary if your into that, but you can't look of the monsters, how stupid is that? Also my guy keep freaking out at nothing.

"OMG! A flag!" *you sanity is now dangerously low. I gave in when he was fliping out over a barrel.

[Milkyway64]

At least I dont have to stop playing.

Rrrrnnnf! T-touche.

EDIT: Played some more of the demo, and I can see how it would be scary if your into that, but you can't look of the monsters, how stupid is that? Also my guy keep freaking out at nothing.

"OMG! A flag!" *you sanity is now dangerously low. I gave in when he was fliping out over a barrel.

Well as Yahtzee himself said, Amnesia understands that a monster stays scary the less you see of it. As for the protagonist freaking out over barrels, that stops after a while. Early game is full of WOOOO DOORS BLOWING OPEN and BOO, HERE'S A SUPERNATURALLY MOVING BOX that drains sanity, but those have long since disappeared. Now it's mainly the darkness and monsters themselves that drain sanity.

[Sabre]

Rrrrnnnf! T-touche.

Well as Yahtzee himself said, Amnesia understands that a monster stays scary the less you see of it. As for the protagonist freaking out over barrels, that stops after a while. Early game is full of WOOOO DOORS BLOWING OPEN and BOO, HERE'S A SUPERNATURALLY MOVING BOX that drains sanity, but those have long since disappeared. Now it's mainly the darkness and monsters themselves that drain sanity.

Just because you want monsters to stay scary is no excuse for a stupid mechanic. It's just as reasonable to say "Developers releaise the thing people often hate in horror films is characters action like idiots." In the case of the barrel, it didn't even move. It might have been the patch of blood on the floor in the same room, but he turned to the barrel. The controls become a pain in the arse which is why I quit. Oddly, I did find a health potion despite having not being attacked.

[Xortberg]

You occasionally take environmental damage, as well as sometimes getting hit by a monster or two.

And it's not really a stupid mechanic. If you were looking directly at some abomination of nature hell-bent on ending your life in a very painful manner, would you be able to keep your cool staring at it? I definitely wouldn't. As for freaking out over a barrel, meh. If your sanity is low, then you're... well... insane. Maybe he thought the barrel was going to kill him or something.

[Sabre]

You occasionally take environmental damage, as well as sometimes getting hit by a monster or two.

And it's not really a stupid mechanic. If you were looking directly at some abomination of nature hell-bent on ending your life in a very painful manner, would you be able to keep your cool staring at it? I definitely wouldn't. As for freaking out over a barrel, meh. If your sanity is low, then you're... well... insane. Maybe he thought the barrel was going to kill him or something.

It was the barrel that made him crazy though. I bet he doesnt work in a brewry.

I disagree. In the demo the monster is a zombie man, not that scary. Even so, let's say you get attacked by a spider and you hate spiders, you don't look away. You might freeze in place, but you don't avert your eyes. Just seems like a dumb contrivence to me.

[Xortberg]

It was the barrel that made him crazy though. I bet he doesnt work in a brewry.

I disagree. In the demo the monster is a zombie man, not that scary. Even so, let's say you get attacked by a spider and you hate spiders, you don't look away. You might freeze in place, but you don't avert your eyes. Just seems like a dumb contrivence to me.

Maybe he just went crazy because he was in the dark? That happens. If you were in the light, then I dunno. Maybe the demo's just retarded, because I've been watching Milky play and I never saw a barrel drop his sanity.

And maybe you react that way, but I still cling to the somewhat childish belief that if I can't see it, it can't see me. There's a bit of truth in the belief, though - if you can see it, it definitely can see you. I think this game was playing somewhat off of people subconsciously holding on to that belief. Maybe not, but that's what it seems to me.

[Sabre]

Maybe he just went crazy because he was in the dark? That happens. If you were in the light, then I dunno. Maybe the demo's just retarded, because I've been watching Milky play and I never saw a barrel drop his sanity.

And maybe you react that way, but I still cling to the somewhat childish belief that if I can't see it, it can't see me. There's a bit of truth in the belief, though - if you can see it, it definitely can see you. I think this game was playing somewhat off of people subconsciously holding on to that belief. Maybe not, but that's what it seems to me.

In that case, why is he scared of the dark because that would make him invisable?

[Xortberg]

It doesn't really make him invisible, just easier to miss if the monster glances his way. And I assume he's afraid of it for the same reason I begin to freak out on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night when no one's around/awake: his imagination runs wild. Again, I dunno about you, but my imagination goes totally nutshit in the dark sometimes.

[FoxMcCloud]

It doesn't really make him invisible, just easier to miss if the monster glances his way. And I assume he's afraid of it for the same reason I begin to freak out on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night when no one's around/awake: his imagination runs wild. Again, I dunno about you, but my imagination goes totally nutshit in the dark sometimes.

Same here : I hate being afriad of the dark, but sometimes its the Human Psyche that takes over even the best of individuals

[Sabre]

There are various reason why I am occationaly afriad and not afraid of the dark. As the saying goes "There are 2 kinds of people. Those who feel safer in the light, and those who feel safest in the dark." so if Im feeling agressive, I like the dark. It's the difference between Batman and ...something thats scared of the dark.

I did a quick test today. Now I know all the solutions, I can't run through the demo in under 5 minutes. That's short enough that Fraps won't go out of sync, so I'll do a lets play of the demo for you and post it here. Maybe that will give a better idea of why I don't like it as well as the differences.

[Milkyway64]

I did a quick test today. Now I know all the solutions, I can't run through the demo in under 5 minutes. That's short enough that Fraps won't go out of sync, so I'll do a lets play of the demo for you and post it here. Maybe that will give a better idea of why I don't like it as well as the differences.

Sweet. =D

There are various reason why I am occationaly afriad and not afraid of the dark. As the saying goes "There are 2 kinds of people. Those who feel safer in the light, and those who feel safest in the dark." so if Im feeling agressive, I like the dark. It's the difference between Batman and ...something thats scared of the dark.

And yes, this is very true, however in this game, you're the latter. You the guy being HUNTED by the batman, you have no way of attacking or defending yourself.

[Guest SCoatiH]

meh, I don't like these kind o' games. In horro' there are 2 types:

*Buil'-your-weap's-until-you-can-kill-anything-o'-sight

*you-run-'n-run-'n-run-'n-run...

So meh. I woulda rather try a FPS.

For special effects... I watched da video review. I hav' ta agree on that: It IS scary. But meh, if you've played a survi'al horror gam', you've played it all.

[Milkyway64]

meh, I don't like these kind o' games. In horro' there are 2 types:

*Buil'-your-weap's-until-you-can-kill-anything-o'-sight

*you-run-'n-run-'n-run-'n-run...

So meh. I woulda rather try a FPS.

For special effects... I watched da video review. I hav' ta agree on that: It IS scary. But meh, if you've played a survi'al horror gam', you've played it all.

Well, it IS first person, and again, not really. It's quite a bit different from Resident Evil.

Here's a "trailer" for it. It's basically gameplay showcasing the sort of game it is in it's own contained situation (that area nor specific situation shows up in-game, but it is still a good idea of what to expect.)

It's first person, but if you want to BATTLE the horrors then this will disappoint. It's a different sort of horror from the norm.

[Guest SCoatiH]

Well, it IS first person, and again, not really. It's quite a bit different from Resident Evil.

Here's a "trailer" for it. It's basically gameplay showcasing the sort of game it is in it's own contained situation (that area nor specific situation shows up in-game, but it is still a good idea of what to expect.)

It's first person, but if you want to BATTLE the horrors then this will disappoint. It's a different sort of horror from the norm.

Yo, you're right man. My style is mor' like fire-da-guns.

But still, I could giv' this one a try... I'm allways for new stuff.

[Sabre]

I did that let's play but the sound didnt record, I'll try again later.

[Sabre]

It's done and uploaded.