Category: First Person
Steam Release: Sep 2010
Usual Price: £12.99
Hours Played: 4
Controller Compatible: Yes
Rating: N/A
GAMEPLAY
Games that use first-person view often make me nauseous but Amnesia
got my attention due to its unique blend of puzzle-solving elements and
the absence of the necessity to button-mash like a
maniac. Your first-person adventures take place in a grim, disused and
dilapidated mansion consisting mainly of dark corridors, abandoned
cellars and old rooms of various kinds. You carry no weapons but are
able to pick up items and interact with your environment. You generally
need to find your way out of the area you are in and move onto the next
one by doing various tasks like finding items, pulling levers, gathering
boxes to climb out of places, jumping around and clicking switches etc.
The
environment is extremely dark so you also need to keep picking up
tinderboxes to light candles and also oil for your lamp that you carry
around with you.The game is quite atmospheric and is known for being one
of the scariest around but for this here reviewer, the game has not
really shaken me up or given me the jolt that I've been expecting. I
really haven't got a kick out of the fear-factor that this game is
supposed to bring to the table. Sure, there is plenty of sharp intakes
of breath by the protagonist and lots of heavy breathing on top of that -
and I've seen a fuzzy, mysterious being lurking in the distance - but
I'm still waiting for that certain something to grab me (pun intended).
The puzzle-solving elements of the game are fine but I would have to say
that overall, Amnesia remains an overrated title in my estimation. 
DESIGN & PROGRESS
The game goes for a very direct and simple approach with its dark and creepy menu screens. From the title-screen you'll mostly simply be hitting Continue but you'll also get to change the profile if you wish - always a good thing. Inside the game you have notes and diary entries etc with an inventory that is a little confusing at first but which does gradually make itself more coherent as you go. There is no progress bar to speak of so you never know how much of the game you have completed and there are no stats regarding health, yet you can check on your heart's condition in the inventory screen. Why the conventional gauge or meter wasn't used I do not know.
CONCLUSION
As a non-fan of the first-person genre, Amnesia was always going to be a game that was going to have to pack a pretty powerful punch to win me over. Having a personal preference of game types does count for a lot after all but its text-heavy content also does nothing to win any favours. Finally, as an older gamer, scarey games just don't do it for me. Maybe I'm just not part of its target audience after all but in the meantime I consider it an average game at best.
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