Amnesia is a first person survival adventure horror made by Frictional Games, that mainly focuses on survival and puzzles, instead of mindless gore and aliens jumping down at you from the ceiling. The game features an unarmed protagonist exploring a dark and foreboding castle, while avoiding monsters and other obstructions as well as solving puzzles. The game was critically well received, earning two awards from the Independent Games Festival and numerous positive reviews. Originally released independently as a download, the game has since been published in retail by 1C Company in Russia and Eastern Europe as well as THQ in North America. A collection of five short stories set in the world of Amnesia, written by Mikael Hedberg and illustrated by the game's concept artists, was also made available. In addition, the game's soundtrack is available for purchase and a free content expansion called "Justine" has been released as well as several fan made expansions and stories.
Gamplay:The player is unarmed except for a lantern, his hands and his wits, and he must use these to avoid and hide from monsters that roam around, their sole purpose to dispatch anything that moves. This can be hard, because once a monster sees you, he can destroy all sorts of obstacles to get to you. They can knock down heavy iron doors and falcon punch a stuffload of barrels out of the way to get to you. You can barricade doors, but the monster will eventually get through.
The player is also afraid of the dark. Standing in darkness, and looking at monsters, will cause your 'sanity' to drain. Strange things start to happen when your sanity is low, such as doors randomly slamming in your face and randomly passing out during a critical moment. Use your lantern to stay out of the darkness, but be weary, because it has limited fuel. You can alternately use tinderboxes on stationary lights.
Story: (possible spoilers)
Set in the year 1839, the game casts the player in the role of Daniel, a young man from London, who awakens in the dark halls of the Prussian Brennenburg Castle with little to no memory about himself or his past. All he can remember is his name, that he lives in Mayfair and that something is hunting him. Shortly after awakening, Daniel discovers a note written to himself. His former self tells him that he deliberately erased his memory, and that he needs to descend into the Inner Sanctum of Brennenburg Castle to kill a man named Alexander.
Daniel's exploration of the dark depths of the castle is also a journey into his own erased past, as he discovers not only notes and his own journal entries, but experiences visions of past events that took place within the castle's countless chambers (including memories that are not his own). While he unravels the mysteries of Brennenburg Castle, he also finds himself hunted by a dangerous evil presence that manifests itself both as corruption that is slowly destroying the castle, and as bizarre, frightening monsters against which his only defense is to run and hide in the darkness.
The dark truth about Daniel's past gradually becomes clear. Before arriving at Brennenburg Castle, Daniel was part of an archaeological expedition to Africa. He came across a strange, mystical "orb" buried within the ruins of an ancient temple after finding himself trapped, and takes the broken pieces of the orb back to England where he successfully assembles them. But he finds himself plagued by nightmares, and worse yet several of the people who came across his path and the Orb die horribly at the hands of the "Shadow" that that appears to dog his footsteps. Desperate and despairing, he receives a strange letter from a Prussian Baron named Alexander, who promises Daniel that "I can protect you" if Daniel will come to his castle. Daniel immediately departs.
However, Alexander's promise of salvation is a lie. He is actually a strange, other-worldly being who has spent centuries masquerading as a series of Prussian Barons dwelling in Brennenburg, where he has pursued dangerous and deadly experiments involving the extraction of a mystical substance called "vitae" from human prisoners through the use of torture. All of his efforts and research, as well as the vast steam-powered machines that underlie all of Castle Brennenburg, are bent towards finding a way to open a "gate" back to his world. But in order to complete the ritual to open the gate, he needs not just vitae, but a usable Orb.
When Daniel arrives, Alexander tricks him into serving as his personal torturer, replacing the mercenaries that he poisoned within Brennenburg's wine cellar. He tells Daniel that they need the vitae in order to perform a ritual to banish the "Shadow" forever. Daniel initially embraces this role, particularly when Alexander tells him that the humans he is seizing are vile criminals. But as the experiments continue, Daniel's faith in Alexander is shaken, and finally shattered when he murders a little girl in cold blood following her escape from a prison cell. Despondent over what he has done, and furious at Alexander for his betrayal, Daniel chooses to erase his own memory so that he might be able to act without crippling emotional trauma.
Characters and Monsters:Daniel
The main protagonist of the game. Apart from his English nationality, not much is known of him except for the diary pages that suggest that he is an archaeologist, his sister Hazel had a sickness growing up, and his father was an artisan who beat him. Daniel was, according to in-game text, bullied during primary school by a boy named Henry Bedloe. In the African desert on an expedition with his friend Herbert, Daniel discovered a tomb containing the mysterious Orb. From then on, a "shadow" had been hunting him, killing almost everyone he had contact with. He sought the help and refuge of Alexander of Brennenburg. Alexander told Daniel that he could ward off the Shadow only with the use of mystical vitae extracted from tortured prisoners. Desperate to escape the Shadow, Daniel complied, convincing himself that his victims were worthless criminals who deserved no better. After Alexander abandons him, Daniel swears revenge and, suddenly filled with remorse over his deeds, drinks the Amnesia mixture at the start of the game to purge his horrible memories and seek redemption.
Alexander of Brennenburg
The main antagonist of the game. Alexander is a being who has been masquerading as a succession of Prussian barons during his centuries-long life. He gathered as many of the Orbs as he could find in hopes of opening a portal, possibly to reunite with his long dead wife or to his original homeland/world. He tortured captured victims to extract a mystical "vitae" from them, with which to perform mystical rituals in order to achieve this goal. Alexander displays a sociopathic level of cruelty and manipulativeness. He manipulated Daniel into helping him with his horrific experiments, promising him protection from the Shadow in return. However, as soon as Daniel's work was complete, Alexander sealed himself in his Inner Sanctum and abandoned Daniel. It is worth noting that he is not a completely evil character; in his notes he expresses some remorse for Daniel's corruption and of the things he has done.
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa - The infamous German occult writer and supposed magician. Not much is known about his relationship with Alexander, aside from the fact that they were working together and researching the Orbs. Alexander keeps him imprisoned in a dead husk of a body so that he could use his knowledge to perform rituals involving the Orbs.
The Shadow
An unseen force that is hunting Daniel. Its sole purpose is to guard the Orb that Daniel took from the burial chamber and has killed numerous people to achieve that end. While it is not seen as a physical being, it is described as a huge sluggish mass of darkness and leaves behind a fleshy damaging substance over anything it touches. One note hypothesizes that it is the will of the universe seeking to catch up with and contain the unnatural force of the Orb itself, but this might only have been colorful speculation.
The Gatherers
The main enemies of the game. They are Alexander's servants who were deformed when they drank wine poisoned by Alexander, and are seen as monstrous humanoids with deformed facial and bodily features. These enemies come in two variations, Grunts and Brutes, and patrol parts of Brennenburg Castle, attacking Daniel if sighted. Since Daniel is weaponless, they cannot be killed and have to be avoided. Grunts are horrifyingly disfigured monstrosities which have had their hands cut off and replaced with iron claws. Their offset eyes resemble those of a reptile. They appear to have had their lower jaw severed, and it now flops out over their chest. Brutes are malformed humanoids wearing overalls and with frankenstein-esque bolts and nails jutting out of their flesh. They attack with a blade on an iron pole sticking out of their arm. An interesting note on the possible origin of the Gatherers can be found in the Wine Cellar, where a flashback Daniel has depicts a group of Alexander's men having horrific bodily reactions to wine they consumed, saying things such as "I feel like my chest is going to burst!". One particular note, however, states that they are deserters of the Thirty Years' War, who got lost in the forests around Brennenburg, forced to forever haunt it, dragging with them anyone unlucky enough to venture in. These creatures cannot be killed; however if an object such as a rock or barrel is thrown at one, it will become momentarily immobilized, leaving the player a small window to escape.
If a monster spots Daniel, it will chase him until he's out of sight. If Daniel gets out of their line of sight they will proceed to search for Daniel for a time, but will eventually leave and vanish. At several points in the game, they are required to advance, as they will tear down a problematic obstacle in their path.
Other:You can make your own stories for Amnesia. Read up on that here:
http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=164091.0You can modify game files in Amnesia, resulting in some whacky stuff. Read up on that here:
http://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=164437.0Media:
Discuss this game.
