Amnesia: The Dark Descent – The Greatest Horror Game Of All Time?
Two years on from the justly-notorious PC chiller’s release, Mark Butler celebrates an inspired indie creation that musters unparalleled levels of video game terror – and puts the increasingly uninspired theatrics of mainstream horror to shame.
(Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Culture, Frictional Games, PC)
I hate it when people use 'The Greatest' or 'The Best'... Why must one game in a genre have to eclipse all other games in a genre? There are always a lot of wonderful games in a genre, all with their own personal twists on the formula. Sure, it's definitely one of the defining games of the horror genre, but it's not the only one.
That being said, I can't wait for A Machine For Pigs, but first I still gotta beat the first one haha.
I'm about 50% through Amnesia, and actually find it kinda boring. It feels like a rather monotonous dungeon crawl. I played Penumbra a few years ago and recall finding that game more enjoyable and inventive (at the time, at least).
Yeah I really didn't find this game scary. It was menacing yeah, but it wasn't exactly a very jumpy game. I was pretty unsettled playing it, but at no point was I too scared to continue. It IS an awesome game just for it's atmosphere and how it gets under your skin, but I wouldn't call it frighteningly scary. Just creepy and grotesque with a few intense moments.
It's kind of scary in the same way Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth is. That game got under my skin a bit more though I think.
But yeah, really looking forward to A Machine for Pigs nonetheless.
I'll take psychological horror over "jump scares" any day. Jump scares don't scare me anymore. I just sort of expect them now...no matter how well it's timed.
I like all those little short games that seem to be getting made recently, like SCP and Slender. They mix that seething menace with the jumpiness and it's just pure terror. I want a full game like those. Not sure I'd be able to play it though...
I think your idea of "scary" is a lot different than a lot of people. I, for one, don't find jump scares frightening. An unsettling atmosphere is way more effective.
I agree, I much prefer mysterious and menacing atmospherics, but they don't "scare" me so much as they sort of intrigue me / unsettle me / get under my skin. That to me ain't the same as being frightened or scared. Amnesia's more of an unsettling, grotesque game to me. Like I said, at no point was I afraid to progress for fear of what might come next. I just found in my playthrough that a lot of the tension that got built up didn't get released.
It's a great horror that not only took tried and true conventions to the next level but I think it's release came out at the right time which Ill leave it at that. Branding things "the best ever" in such a volatile industry is not my cup of tea especially after playing Afraid Of Monsters and Cry Of Fear........
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That being said, I can't wait for A Machine For Pigs, but first I still gotta beat the first one haha.
It's kind of scary in the same way Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth is. That game got under my skin a bit more though I think.
But yeah, really looking forward to A Machine for Pigs nonetheless.
No.
The answer is no.
Not by a loooong shot.
REmake is the greatest.