Random_Taffer on 10/9/2010 at 18:12
Played the demo the other night. It was decent enough. Some really teeth-gritting moments.
Turning the wheel to open a door while something unseen approaches you steadily in knee-deep water from behind.
*shudder*
Gabucino on 10/9/2010 at 19:35
I didn't like the rushed demo, but discovering the full game's unfolding storyline is much more rewarding. The ambient sound is good, and it's always well-paired with the graphic effects. In retrospect, the overall feeling of the game controls is actually quite Thief-like (with not so much hiding), which is something.
Some gameplay description/hints follow, nothing that is not explained/experienced in the first 5-10 minutes.
There is a crucial difference: in Thief, one runs from shadow to shadow, spending as little time in the light as possible. In Amnesia, it's all backwards. Due to the character's fragile mental state (described in the story), more than 30-40 seconds in darkness will slowly cause madness. In order to avoid this, the character collects lamp oil, and tinderboxes. With a little expertise this soon becomes really easy to resolve, and with clever management, there will never be a shortage of either object.
Actually I think this implementation is flawed, as the skillful player will practically run through the darker levels with quick on/off switches of the lamp (with what?!) every few seconds, therefore really looking like an idiot. One can't just creep fearfully in dark corners, because the character would get insane very quickly.
The middle part of the game introduces less darkness and more puzzles, which I hate in a game. Fortunately, any half-assed taffer can solve these, so I didn't get too annoyed either. Still don't like them, why waste my time thinking, when I could fear instead?
Enemies. Not much variety (practically two, and one of them is an invisible trans-dimensional race), and there are few of them - but they are pretty much deadly, especially because you can't fight back. Ever. But who would do that? Anyway, the story does not mandate more types, so this is quite OK.
Enemy AI is non-existant, and they also do these spawn-walk-disappear-spawn again cycles (sometimes not even respawning), so there is no need to craft evasion plans, just hide and wait a minute until the "scary music" stops. And you can't look at them for more than 2-3 seconds (not even at distance) or the character becomes insane.
There are a few "run for your life" scenes (like the one mentioned above), which are quite good.
While the game is very good in the first run, it was designed to be completely linear in every possible aspect, I see no reason to replay it.
Nephthys on 11/9/2010 at 04:01
worth the 15 dollars?
Chiron on 11/9/2010 at 06:42
Quote Posted by Nephthys
worth the 15 dollars?
If you like those kind of games definately yes. Good game for a very fair price.
I recommend to try the demo !
shadowrevan on 12/9/2010 at 22:16
i played the demo and thought it was good , i may buy it
Eye on 18/9/2010 at 05:43
just took a break from the game (my nerves are a little rattled) and thought i'd tell some folks to check it out. i'm obviously a little late :thumb:
it's like thief in some pretty significant ways, and it does several things i haven't found in games since TDP and TMA.
i dig it.
I think it just took a year off the end of my life, though.
kamyk on 20/9/2010 at 08:47
I just started playing the full version, and so far I have to say it's a winner. I haven't seen a decent new horror game in a while, and this one is certainly atmospheric.
Thanks for pointing this out Digi, I appreciate the find.
MoroseTroll on 20/9/2010 at 14:43
I wonder: what if Frictional Games would have created a Thief-like game?
