"My name is Daniel ..."
When you wake up from a mysterious numbness in a dilapidated room of a castle apparently abandoned and the memories almost zero, cling to the only fragment of memory intact, the only glimmer of reason in a innaturalme and threatening, may already be a starting point. In fact, Daniel does not know it yet, but soon will have to appeal to every bit of their sanity to wait because there will be a descent into the dark heart of an ancient evil and unspeakable, in a journey that will see him face monstrous threats and resurface with pieces of the past that would have been better delivered once and for all to oblivion.
With Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Frictional Games has renewed its partnership with the terror brilliantly inaugurated with the Penumbra trilogy. The Swedish independent software house, good strong feedback obtained from the saga debut back to disturb our sleep with a new survival horror first-person, which the hellish journey where we accompanied Philip passes through the darkest depths of Greenland, promises as the spiritual heir and successor of the determined and innovative philosophy carried out by the development team. Just who is recovering from Penumbra, it does not find it hard to identify in Amnesia some continuity with the past: the new creature of Scandinavian home again from all those ideas that three years ago they did breathe a nice breath of fresh air to a genre (tutt 'today) in the grip of a certain "identity crisis" that is to say the first person view, physics as part of puzzle solving and the gameplay itself, the slow pace at levels deadly and stealth component applied in a anything but simplistic.
In particular, we see at once how the emphasis of the new nightmare weblog Frictional falls primarily on the side "adventure": most of our stay in the spectral Prussian castle, it will be tasked with collection of objects, looking for clues on how to and where to use them, and in fact, to solve the many puzzles which stand in our way. Game environments have a considerable degree of interactivity, much of what we see can be collected and manipulated, so we would do well not to ignore anything the environment around us. As mentioned above, all, or almost all, revolves around the capabilities of the physics engine, even the simplest actions like opening a door or turning a valve is simplified in a single click, we will have to make the physical movement necessary using mouse, get used soon to think about a game world rather than "concrete." We need to jam a mechanism? It will be better to go in search of an object strong enough to throw between gears and lock. Have collapsed the stairs that should bring us back upstairs? Do not panic, some crates stacked it properly can be an effective remedy. This setting only appears to be particularly challenging (thanks to an inspired design that is able to carry out these ideas for the entire duration of the game without that you may feel stale air), but manages to be a solid brick on which to build a healthy involvement who is in front of the monitor, which will hardly feel than ever in the game world.
On the other hand, to be overshadowed nell'ecomonia of Amnesia, are action and combat. Indeed, if we want to be precise, of fighting properly defined there is not one track: Daniel can not cntare of any weapons, conventional or improvised as it is, is a man completely helpless and without any hope of coming out alive from meetings with the horrors in turn, if not giving themselves to flight, and especially hiding in some dark corner. And here comes a speech, something must be a real stroke of genius that the developers have pulled out of the hat: the unfriendly tenants of the castle will prove to be less than willing to put eyes on him, plus keep your eyes focused on the enemies, the greater the possibility that being aware of your presence and whiz on the unfortunate Daniel to make a stew. So, try to imagine the situation: you're huddled in a makeshift hideout, you know that wanders around a monstrous entity, you can even smell his breath getting closer, but you know that you can not afford to turn around to check how close it is or if there has identified. And the bad thing is that the mind of our protagonist tends to make bad jokes on these occasions: as you can to stay safe, you will continue to experience the threat (translated into a sound accompaniment that you will soon learn to recognize and fear) at least until which forsake your refuge and perlustrerete the area to make sure they were - momentarily - for themselves. The everything is exactly as distressing sounds, if not more so.
And with that, it's finally time to talk about the dish of the house: Amnesia is a game truly frightening, indeed, we feel we can say without reservation that a lot has been one of the most terrifying ever tried so far with a video game, stuff would seem any Resident Evil a trip to Disneyland. Well, almost, anyway. To relive suggestions comparable to those experienced with this game, we should probably go back to the chilling Forbidden Siren, which in fact is one of the survival horror more "approachable" in concept to The Dark Descent. Rather than focus on "cheap thrills" cutting film and blazi chair, Frictional Games relies heavily on the construction of a more subtle fear and sharp, specimens of which have their roots in the work of two giants as Poe and Lovecraft, but having a few horror opening more modern and "carnal" in which Clive Barker as a leading exponent. "Voltage" is the watchword, and you can be sure that this time they really did that: there is a moment where you can feel truly safe, Wander every step in complete uncertainty and fear you have of each new room, every corner to turn, each corridor shrouded in darkness where v'imbatterete.
The level of care poured in tricks to put you at ease bordering on sadism encounters enemies are far from common, but unpredictable enough to keep you on your toes, but there is much more, for example, a bit like already seen in Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth or in Haunting Ground, is, next to the canon level of health, an indicator for the sanity of our alter ego, falling below the alert level will lead to side effects as seen clouded, difficulty moving, and in the most critical cases we will fall to the ground gasping (can you imagine if this happens at times when it is better to be snappy or silent ...). You will not need to witness disturbing events-even though you will find in abundance-to trigger this panic reaction, even in the dark-Long stay can undermine the reasoning of Daniel, and here come a couple of new problems. First of all, the light is a limited resource and to be used sparingly: we light candles and torches in the environment using the inventory pistols that from time to time we will pick up, or alternatively, we can take up our lantern, which, however, has dramatically limited autonomy, except for having kept a good supply of oil to spare. Walking to clear a luxury that you can not always afford, and one side is better this way: a surprise visit to a monster near your location, and you will discover on your skin like a brightly lit corridor can be a death trap.
The light, then, is a source of salvation, but it can be both a premature departure from this world. You will end up also wary of the one element that should reassure you, and it is in this that the development team focuses the lens dramatically: In Amnesia you can find yourself wandering for a long time with no action taken, but will not be able to let your guard down even for half a second. Then add a sound design to say the least perfect for it all, and you have one of the most grueling and stressful video games (in a good way!) Ever, that in all likelihood will force you to take a break every so not to wreck the your nerves (an eventuality that programmers seem to encourage, with a rescue system that automatically records your progress whenever you forsake the game, and only in that circumstance). I challenge you to find a survival horror game that has managed to bring so extreme the style of the genre, in the end, even the aforementioned Siren has been able to dare so much.
But really it all works so perfectly? In fact some difettuccio is not hard to see: as far as the graphics, for example, the HPL Engine 2, a direct evolution of the proprietary engine that moved Penumbra, demonstrated its ability to manage with ease key aspects such as lights and shadows, but pays the side of too few bugghettino and an aesthetic that, between polygonal models and textures, proves definitely functional, but that is certainly no miracle, it still forgivable since we are talking about a stand-alone product and with a budget not likely stellar, so how can we turn a blind eye on a location (text) does not always state of the art. Rather, we move a few notes on how narrative, especially related to flashbacks and the notes that we find throughout the castle.
The plot was interesting, but perhaps too nebulous, and assimilation anything but immediate, since we are often so "taken" from the gameplay will not be easy to find the ideal concentration to put together the pieces of plot that gradually reveal.
Another thing that might not appeal to everyone is a degree of challenge rather special, not so much for the longevity itself (the cuin 7-8 hours Estimated representing a value completely satisfactory, especially in relation to the average bond this type and with the price), but the consequences of (not) fighting been wasted. Save in exceptional circumstances, in fact, if you end up under the blows of an enemy, you resume the game a few steps from where you kicked the bucket, with your executioner disappeared completely from circulation. Dying has never been so little detrimental in a survival horror game, though perhaps the explanation may be the desire to set Amnesia purely as an adventure game, with all the challenge entrusted to the exploration and puzzle solving, and where the sequences' action are just a distraction and a device for supplying the atmosphere rather than a key element of the game structure.
However, the overall assessment is very positive, very positive. Quite frankly, even with all the optimism arising from Penumbra good we would have expected a quantum leap so sudden, and instead, with Amnesia: The Dark Descent we can really speak of an indie gem with all the papers in order to deal with production most noble, and if fear what you are looking for the modest sum of 15 € you risk seriously be looking at a new benchmark. That said, we can not renew with pleasure to congratulate Frictional Games (of which we see already time to keep an eye on future projects), and wish you all nightmares gold.
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Amnesia is a wonderful surprise for all fans of survival horror, that they will get their teeth with one of the most terrifying games ever. Add to this a wealth of found and puzzle solving creative and exciting, we feel authorized to speak for half indie masterpiece, that will do you absolutely regret the money spent. The more emotional they should stand aside, for all the others, purchase definitely advisable, to which we add the recommendations made by the developers: expect to arrive the night, spegnate all the lights in the room, plug in headphones and set off down the dark that Frictional Games has in Serbian for you ... Rest assured you will never forget this experience ...
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