The art direction and world building alone is enough for me to give this game a 10/10. I want to explore every corner in Black Mesa and just listen to all the conversations that the employees are having. It's genuinely so enjoyable riding the tram and just seeing all the life and character the opening chapter has. Crowbar Collective have done a phenomenal job introducing me to the world of Half-life 1. I wish everything didn't blow up.

Amnesia: The Bunker is a survival horror game set in, you guessed it, a bunker. You play as a french soldier, Henri Clément, fighting on the Western Front in World War 1. The introduction/tutorial starts you in No Mans Land running for a trench whilst being guided by your friend and fellow soldier, Augustin Lambert. This section involves lots of moving things and shooting a few Germans, then you get gassed. Because chemical warfare is still a thing, as if whats next wasn't horrible enough. After a few more cut scenes, the game tells you that you are on your own now, survive.

You wake up in the bunker, where you find yourself in a dark infirmary all by yourself. As you stumble through the dimly lit halls, you find a flashlight, but not your run of the mill torch, it's a wind up light that is insanely loud to charge in an otherwise silent bunker. And you have to pull it three times to get a whopping, 15 seconds of light. Fun stuff. Soon you'll come across the mess hall to find a voice. Another soldier in the bunker who is badly injured. He's leaning against a box covering a hole in the wall. He asks you to take his revolver and kill him. He says there's ammo in the pantry behind you. As you get the ammo and return, the box breaks and he's dragged away screaming through the walls. This was your last friend in the entire bunker. You are alone now. Soon after, the power goes out. The only way to progress is to shoot a lock on a metal door, which would leave you with one single bullet to defend yourself from whatever killed him.

You shoot the lock, swing open the door and mad dash out of the dark hallways as the creature screams and gives chase. You run to the first room you see, and it happens to be a metal door with a deadbolt, where the creature cannot break through. You find yourself in administration, lit only by a gas lantern hanging from the ceiling. There is a map on the wall, where only about 20% is filled out, some basic supplies like cloth and fuel, and the generator that just went out. There's text on the wall behind it, "Keep the generator running, the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ hates light." Next to it is a pocket watch which will become your best friend right after the revolver. You fuel the generator with what little you have, this takes the fuel gauge to about halfway, which is roughly 30 minutes of light. You set the watch accordingly. All that's left to do is explore the bunker, find an escape route, and keep the lights on. That's the end of the tutorial.

The Bunkers gameplay involves a lot of resource and time management. While searching more thoroughly will sometimes mean finding more supplies, the clock is always ticking. Fuel is finite. If you run out, the bunker is pitch black. Not being able to see is not the problem here. The creature stalking you is, and it moves freely in the dark. It can see much better than you can. The best part about the light is that it keeps the beast in the walls, where you can only hear and see the dust it kicks up as it moves through the tunnels. But don't think you're safe because the lights are on. If you make too much noise, like running, setting off traps set by your dead friends, shooting or anything will cause it to stir. Make too much noise at once and it'll come out. If it finds you, it's generally a 1 hit kill.

You aren't defenseless however, you still have a bullet in your gun, more if you've been scavenging carefully. Shooting the beast, blowing it up with a grenade, hell, even gassing it will ward it off long enough for you to get away, but it only ever retreats, you cannot kill it here. And remember, all supplies you use fending it off might be what could have saved you later. Hiding is always the better option. Under a table, in a cabinet, behind anything to break line of sight. Stay dead silent if it's near, any noise, will draw it over. If you're bleeding? You leave a blood trail it'll follow right to you. If it doesn't follow the blood, the mutated rats will, and it'll follow them.

I've been a fan of Amnesia since the first time I saw it back in 2012, when the first game, The Dark Descent was big on Youtube. I played it a few years later, and despite how much of a cowardly child I was back then, the game always felt amazing to play. The engine while most consider dated, I find myself right at home in. Amnesia's physics, which are an integral part of the game, is tied to the framerate, so the game is capped at 60 fps. This isn't problem to me, I play most of my games at 60 fps, but say what you will. You can pick up, rotate, throw objects, block doors with heavy boxes or barrels. The game has real weight to it that has always been insanely satisfying to me. Chases are tense and feel heavy, because movement in this game is tight and responsive, that immerses you in the world.

On top of that, sound design in this game is next to flawless. Every sound echos through the halls, the creatures breathing being heard right behind a dark hole in the wall, any bottle you knock over rolls and rolls making noise as it clangs against anything. There were a few audio bugs here and there, but nothing that took away from the experience. Firing a shot, which is mandatory at some points to progress, or blowing up an explosive barrel will leave you shell shocked, not being able to hear anything for a brief moment. But the beast heard it, and it is gunning it to the exact location of the noise, which is right next to you. Planning is crucial when you have to make noise, always have a way out.

The biggest problem I have with this game is the length. It's quite short, taking me about 5 hours or so to complete on my first playthrough on normal difficulty. I enjoyed every minute of this time playing, only dying a handful of times while I was learning the games mechanics. But it left me wanting more, a few more puzzles at the end, one more section to complete. So I jumped back in. The game itself is different every time you play it. And by this, I mean the codes and item placement are different, besides key items, which are always in the same spot. My second playthrough took me about 3 hours or so, loading a bit here and there to get achievements that I missed. I found myself with a literal stockpile of fuel left right before the point of no return, so some balancing might be needed, but I was moving pretty quick.

The devs, if I'm correct, made this a game about speedrunning after the first playthrough. Now that you know the areas of the bunker and what you need, how quick can you get out without making too much noise. I like this idea, but I did a third run in an hour, and a fourth is 30 minutes or so. I've 100% the game at the time of writing and I have barely more than 11 hours in the game, and I was taking my time with my initial play through. There is a hard mode, I tried it for a few minutes, but it felt more like a test of courage, as supplies are incredibly scarce and the generator guzzles any fuel you put in it. It's not for me, but definitely adds value to the game, even if it does feel a little artificial. The $25 price tag might be steep for some, and I would understand completely, but I think it's worth it. There's a genuine quality game here that isn't really seen nowadays, and I'm all for more interactive, survival horror like this.

All and all, I loved this game, even though I would have liked it to stay longer. There's care and detail put into the world building, and you feel genuinely bad for characters trapped in this nightmare. If you pay attention to little details and learn the truth of it all towards the end, it hits pretty hard. A terrible story that started with a harmless prank, and ends up in literal Hell inside Hell. I'll return to play any custom stories, DLC or alternative modes the devs release, but the main game I've had my fill on. It's a horribly tense game, I recommend it completely at $25. but a sale at 20% off would be a steal imo.