Start Time: 3:36
Amnesia: The Dark Descent opens with a simple splash page which, in unadorned text, asks that players not play "To Win", but rather to try to take the game as an experience. Talk about hedging your bets, but having finished the game, the sentiment behind it is clear. Taken as a game, Amnesia is somewhat lacking: interaction is limited, its puzzles are easily solved, there is not much room to explore and no real way to lose. Clearly Frictional Games was aware of this and bluntly tells the player how best to enjoy their time, focusing them on their perceived strengths. Unfortunately, its gameplay problems go on to adversely affect the story it is trying to tell and the atmosphere it attempts to foster.
There is something to be said for meeting horror halfway. Just as watching The Descent in broad daylight, surrounded by friends would mute its power, so too should games be played in the context they are intended. However, even wearing headphones, alone in a cold, dark room, Amnesia's spell did not last. The game starts well enough, as both protagonist Daniel and the player attempt to get their bearings. At this point anything is possible and there is no telling what sorts of nasty surprises the game has in store. It admirably draws out this period of unease, refusing to go for cheap jump scares in favor of building tension. However, things start to go wrong once credible threats are introduced. During an early chase scene, for example, it is very easy to get lost, cornered and killed. After this happens twice, the monster will not spawn again until reaching the very end of the scene, providing an almost leisurely stroll through what had been the most intense section thus far. This appears to happen with every enemy encounter.
It is easy to understand the thought process that led to this decision. Nothing ruins magic like repetition and forcing endless replays on players is a quick path to making them approach it analytically rather than viscerally. However, this is not the best way to compensate for it. Even without consciously pushing the boundaries of the ride, players are likely to encounter this quirk and realize that they are posed no actual threat or challenge.
Even worse, the game takes a page from Bioshock and keeps the world in its state after dying. That means that any items found while engaging in "risky" exploration will be kept even if they are killed. In order for tension to work players must stand to lose something, whether resources or progress. In Amnesia, with its frequent checkpoints, abundant supplies and non-reseting world, there is no incentive to play carefully or even believe its threats.
Item usage in the game is another sticking point. Ostensibly, tinder boxes and lantern oil are used to stave off insanity, but in reality there is no real reason to use them. Darkness causes sanity to drop, but players are rarely asked to stay in an unlit area for any reason. Puzzle rooms tend to be lit already and it is rarely makes much sense to light hallways that are only passed once or twice when the illumination doesn't stretch very far and makes it easier for enemies to see. Add to that the fact that lowered sanity is basically inevitable due to scripted events, and that its overuse early on lets players become acclimated to the creepy audio cues and vision tricks before they can actually be effective and there is not much incentive to spend resources to avoid it. Health restoration items fare even worse player condition restores with time and death holds little menace, as noted above.
This is not to say the game is completely without merit, but it shoots itself in the foot every time. The direct mouse manipulation is a fun twist for building tension under pressure, though under-utilized in practice. Robbing players of information by penalizing them for looking at enemies is a great idea, or would be if there was any lasting consequence for it. The story is solidly Lovecraftian and decently written, but it is very strange to have Daniel so vocal in his journals and nearly mute as an avatar. The level design does claustrophobia very well, but that is almost its only note and the different areas of the castle quickly feel like reskins of each other. Ultimately, while it is can be enjoyable, Amnesia feels like a shadow of what it could have been with less forgiving design.
Finish 4:36
Amnesia: The Dark Descent opens with a simple splash page which, in unadorned text, asks that players not play "To Win", but rather to try to take the game as an experience. Talk about hedging your bets, but having finished the game, the sentiment behind it is clear. Taken as a game, Amnesia is somewhat lacking: interaction is limited, its puzzles are easily solved, there is not much room to explore and no real way to lose. Clearly Frictional Games was aware of this and bluntly tells the player how best to enjoy their time, focusing them on their perceived strengths. Unfortunately, its gameplay problems go on to adversely affect the story it is trying to tell and the atmosphere it attempts to foster.
There is something to be said for meeting horror halfway. Just as watching The Descent in broad daylight, surrounded by friends would mute its power, so too should games be played in the context they are intended. However, even wearing headphones, alone in a cold, dark room, Amnesia's spell did not last. The game starts well enough, as both protagonist Daniel and the player attempt to get their bearings. At this point anything is possible and there is no telling what sorts of nasty surprises the game has in store. It admirably draws out this period of unease, refusing to go for cheap jump scares in favor of building tension. However, things start to go wrong once credible threats are introduced. During an early chase scene, for example, it is very easy to get lost, cornered and killed. After this happens twice, the monster will not spawn again until reaching the very end of the scene, providing an almost leisurely stroll through what had been the most intense section thus far. This appears to happen with every enemy encounter.
It is easy to understand the thought process that led to this decision. Nothing ruins magic like repetition and forcing endless replays on players is a quick path to making them approach it analytically rather than viscerally. However, this is not the best way to compensate for it. Even without consciously pushing the boundaries of the ride, players are likely to encounter this quirk and realize that they are posed no actual threat or challenge.
Even worse, the game takes a page from Bioshock and keeps the world in its state after dying. That means that any items found while engaging in "risky" exploration will be kept even if they are killed. In order for tension to work players must stand to lose something, whether resources or progress. In Amnesia, with its frequent checkpoints, abundant supplies and non-reseting world, there is no incentive to play carefully or even believe its threats.
Item usage in the game is another sticking point. Ostensibly, tinder boxes and lantern oil are used to stave off insanity, but in reality there is no real reason to use them. Darkness causes sanity to drop, but players are rarely asked to stay in an unlit area for any reason. Puzzle rooms tend to be lit already and it is rarely makes much sense to light hallways that are only passed once or twice when the illumination doesn't stretch very far and makes it easier for enemies to see. Add to that the fact that lowered sanity is basically inevitable due to scripted events, and that its overuse early on lets players become acclimated to the creepy audio cues and vision tricks before they can actually be effective and there is not much incentive to spend resources to avoid it. Health restoration items fare even worse player condition restores with time and death holds little menace, as noted above.
This is not to say the game is completely without merit, but it shoots itself in the foot every time. The direct mouse manipulation is a fun twist for building tension under pressure, though under-utilized in practice. Robbing players of information by penalizing them for looking at enemies is a great idea, or would be if there was any lasting consequence for it. The story is solidly Lovecraftian and decently written, but it is very strange to have Daniel so vocal in his journals and nearly mute as an avatar. The level design does claustrophobia very well, but that is almost its only note and the different areas of the castle quickly feel like reskins of each other. Ultimately, while it is can be enjoyable, Amnesia feels like a shadow of what it could have been with less forgiving design.
Finish 4:36
