Menu
It’s no secret that competitive gaming is huge right now. The goal of every game publisher and developer is to make the next big eSports game. Given that the scene is overrun with well-known titles like DotA, LoL, CS: GO, and Valorant—a perfect fit for the fastest-growing spectator sport of the modern era, eSports—the competition is fierce. It’s even possible to wager on competitions for the aforementioned video games not only at sites accepting cryptocurrency but also at well-known operators that feature the biggest eSports offers, which include their biggest events, and operators from developing betting markets reviewed here, such as Africa. But, beyond competitive gaming titles, there are those created for “ordinary” gamers. These belong to genres such as horror.
With Amnesia: The Bunker, the developers tried to escape from the established gameplay and tried to come up with a completely new concept, based on the already-known first-person gameplay, with some modifications. But some of the changes implemented won’t necessarily appeal to everyone who plays this title, which launched in June for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Xbox Series X and S, and Microsoft Windows.
What’s the new Amnesia, is it worth buying, and how good is it, read below in the review.
The New Amnesia May Be Even Scarier Than All the Previous Game Installments
What is it about in brief?
Amnesia: The Bunker is a highly atmospheric first-person horror game that represents the third sequel of the Amnesia series.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent launched in 2010 and was one of the scariest games of its time. The way the monster stalked you when you made the tiniest sound and cornered you still brings back terrifying memories. Later in 2020, Amnesia: Rebirth arrived which had all the terrifying beats of the original with new improvements to physics-based mechanics and a deeper narrative experience. Now we have The Bunker and, although shorter in length, this game breaks new ground with a semi-open world and less linear experience giving you more freedom to explore.
The action game takes place during the First World War. The main character, a soldier of the French army, Henri Clément, by chance, finds himself in an underground bunker together with other soldiers. After a while he’ll be alone… well, not quite alone. Together with him in the bunker, there’ll be an unnamed evil force that wants to decapitate him, and in order to survive, the player will have to show courage and ingenuity.
We don’t want to go into the details of the plot because we don’t want to spoil even the smallest segment of the story. Suffice it to say: A deadly creature stalks the corridors of the bunker, looking for its next meal. However, the creature isn’t the only obstacle that Henri must face. The bunker is a veritable maze, full of traps and other dangers. The bunker itself is large, with many rooms and corridors to explore. This is where Amnesia: The Bunker shines the most – in the exploration. If you’re looking for a horror game where the main emphasis is on exploring the environment and carefully weighing the ratio of investment and gain when it comes to exploration, then this is definitely the game for you.
This is because, as it usually happens in any decent horror game, in order for the player to discover new things, not only those that are important to the story but also other things, exploring will be needed, but more on that a little later. The exploration itself at the beginning is simple, with one BUT. You’ll need some time to navigate the game and to “grasp” the mechanics of the game, as well as avoid entities that want to throw you to the “Game Over” screen. For some, this may be a bit too complicated, especially the mechanics of the lamp and the generator, but we’ll talk more about that a little later too. Another segment that may turn some players away from this game, but other players won’t particularly mind, is the fact that the story is told through various documents that are scattered around the bunker.
You’ll Mostly Learn About the Story from the Documents That Are Scattered Around the Bunker
Almost the entire story is told through notes, which you will (or won’t, depending on how much you explore) find in different rooms. In them, you won’t only learn advice on further actions, but you’ll also learn information about the life of soldiers, various incidents, and the first appearances of monsters. Some of the notes are a little silly and will make you wonder if this should be in the game at all, but the vast majority of the notes will actually help you figure out what’s going on in the bunker.
That being said, it’s recommended that you explore as much as possible to find as many hidden notes as possible. The closer you get to completing the game, the more it will become clear to you that the game has more than one available ending. We don’t want to spoil the story in any way, we’ll just say that the developers made an effort to tie Amnesia: The Bunker with other games from the series.
The Sound and the Oppressive Atmosphere Add to the Quality of the Horror Elements
New Amnesia is truly one of the scariest and most stressful video games we’ve ever played. The sound background adds to the horror element.
The sounds are excellent and absolutely do a great job of creating a sense of dread. There’s also the ambient, unusual hum of the bunker itself, punctuated by the squealing of rats, the occasional screams of beasts, and the concussive blows of German artillery; because there’s an ongoing war on the surface above you after all.
Without a quality sound background, there’s no quality game, and Frictional Games was well aware of this when programming this title. Although we don’t have the quality of Silent Hill or Fatal Frame here, Amnesia: The Bunker will scare even the bravest, which is definitely a plus.
Can a Flimsy Pistol and Shotgun Save You from the Evil That Dwells in the Bunker?
Unlike previous games in the series, Amnesia: The Bunker offers you several weapons at your disposal. You start with a pistol, later you find a shotgun, although the bullets are few. You can find flares and grenades, medical packs, but the resource of critical importance is gasoline, which you use to power the generator in the central area of the bunker, which somehow serves as your base.
Due to the way the game is designed, it can be said that Amnesia: The Bunker uses a Metroidvania way (a subgenre of the action-adventure game platform that is mostly two-dimensional) of exploring the environment, in which you don’t progress linearly toward new areas, but gradually open deeper and deeper areas of the bunker. Your goal is always to find dynamite and a detonator, so you can move on to new, unexplored areas, while always being able to return to the main, central area.
Mind the Light. Always Mind the Light…
As we said before, one of the most important mechanics in the game isn’t bullets, it’s not so much healing items. No. It’s GASOLINE. If you run out of gas and your flashlight goes out, you’re in trouble. Likewise, a monster that’s chasing you and actively looking for you in the bunker’s voids (something like Mr. X from Resident Evil 2 Remake) will see you more easily if you have a light on. Despite that, you should have the light on often.
This creates a great interplay between safety and danger because even as you tackle the bunker sections, if you’re not careful, your light could go out and then you’re in big trouble. To make matters better (or worse, depending on the type of player), it’s often very difficult to distinguish sounds. Sometimes you’ll think you heard something around the corner, but it will actually be the background sound of an explosion. In another situation, you’ll think okay, I’m safe, it’s just background noises, only to take a few steps and realize that behind you is your devoted pursuer that you need to run away from.
The Puzzle Concept and Their Solving Also Contribute to the Survival Horror Elements in a Very Good Way
Certain critical path puzzles require the power to be on, for example, and your fuel consumption is limited not only by the random placement of items in the bunker, but also by limited inventory and storage space; which all together adds to the survival-horror element, which will surely appeal to many fans of classic horror games, such as Silent Hill 1-4, classic Resident Evil titles, and the like.
More precisely, as you play the game more and more, you’ll see that the whole game looks like a carefully calculated puzzle. For example, blowing up a door will get you where you need to go quickly but be aware that noise attracts a monster. Endemic mutated rats, which feed on corpses, the same corpses that have in their pockets the combinations necessary to open the lockers, can be driven away with various sources of fire, as well as poison gas and grenades; but again, doing all this consumes resources and further attracts the monster. It’s the same with weapons. Besides the revolver being very slow to reload, the bullets you find are extremely important.
Besides shooting the monster away for a period of time if and after it finds you, those same bullets can come in handy later in some situations. For example, you have seven bullets and a monster is nearby. What to do? Try to hide from him and take your chances or face the monster, fire all of your bullets into the monster, and be safe for a certain amount of time. What if you need bullets later when you come to a padlock, for example, which you could destroy with a bullet (if you have them)? The game will require you to make smart and quick decisions in many situations, as well as to think for later.
To Conclude: The Latest Amnesia Will Appeal to Fans of Horror Games
When all is said and done, it can be concluded that Amnesia: The Bunker will appeal to all those who are looking for a survival-horror game and players who don’t mind that it’s a first-person game and that it uses some irritating mechanics. Some of the mechanics that might bother players are the use of the inventory, which is very limited, but again you can drop items where you want, and reload the revolver, as the way the flashlight is used.
Personally, we aren’t fans of first-person horror games. We’d rather give a chance to Resident Evil 2 Remake, say. But it can’t be said that the new Amnesia isn’t a good game. Far from it. If you’re a fan of the genre, you won’t only find the new Amnesia a good game, but it’ll also provide you with hours and hours of fun as you wander through dark corridors, listening to ambient sounds and looking for objects, while making sure the light doesn’t go out.
