Every so often, I like to try a horror game to see if my palette for them has changed at all. This years was a long awaited go at "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" with the PS4 re-release that was a Playstation Plus game a few years back. Though I can see the quality of the game, it's just not one for me.
Awakening in a seemingly abandoned stately home, you play Daniel, who has amnesia and must explore, finding notes that fill in the details of what has occurred there. Solving simple puzzles along the way, Daniel is increasingly psychologically attacked by unseen noises and movement in the dark - with only candlelight or a lantern to provide the release of the truth. Soon though, Daniel discovers that he is not alone in the catacombs.
There was a lot to like about "Amnesia: The Dark Descent". Though I didn't play it as the developers intended, i.e in the dark, with headphones on, I did get a sense of the superlative sound design that makes the game so compelling. Visually the game was fine, using a basic engine to generate the house and its contents and with enough physics to allow you to throw the items around. I liked the visual effects that occur as Daniel takes psychological damage, with the screen becoming blurry and distorted until you can find some light, it reminded me of seminal Gamecube game "Eternal Darkness". The puzzles were basic stuff, mostly fetch quests or combining items like in a point and click adventure.
Where the game lost me though, was in the encounters with the creatures. I gave up at the second major one, which I understand is about halfway through the game. The first, using water to show where the creature was at least made sense, (as in, I could see where my goal was). The second just ended with me blundering into the creature over and over again and getting killed. It wasn't fun and soon moved from scary to frustrating. At my age, I don't have enough free time to not make progress with a game, each time I play.
Undoubtably well-made and atmospheric, I feel like the problems are more with me than with the game.
