Introduction
Amnesia: Rebirth is a single-player survival horror game developed and published by Frictional Games, and is the long-awaited next instalment of the cult classic Amnesia franchise, serving as a sequel to the awesome 2010 hit Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
If you are a horror fan, you’re gonna wanna play Amnesia games. Their formula works. And it is done well. They are atmospheric, tense, they will take you on unusual and interesting story journeys, you will face unnerving encounters that do not just rely on the cheap tactics of numerous jump scares that so many second-rate horror games depend on; and you will have moments of heart pumping dread in equal measures with other moments of quiet uncertainty where you are never quite sure if you are safe or not, lastly the otherworldly visuals of certain scenes will leave you mesmerized yet bizarrely unsettled. Like I said, this formula works, to create a great game.
Trailer:
Storyline
This game for me had more emphasis on an emotional story journey than previous instalments. Yes, there are still many horror elements involved, but I felt fully invested and captivated by this poignant and quite heart-wrenching story.
You play as Anastasie ‘Tasi’ Trianon, A pregnant French archaeologist on an expedition in Africa. Trauma instantly hits in the intro as your plane comes crashing down in the desert, all crew-mates missing or dead without a trace, leaving you all alone. Distraught and desperately wanting to find your husband and friends your search takes you into the depths of a cave system, where everything just begins to get stranger and stranger as you unwittingly uncover a strange ancient alien artifact, enabling you to traverse worlds and enter otherwordly dimensions…
I won’t give you too many more spoilers now other than this brief explanation of where the game begins and the crazy journey that you can expect it’s going to take you on, I will leave you to experience and enjoy all the turns of this ambitious story for yourself. But I will lastly say, as Tasi is still mourning the loss of her previous child, her current pregnancy and how the game revolves around that becomes quite a powerful and impacting aspect of the story… It is called Amnesia: Rebirth after all 😉
Gameplay
Like the other Amnesia games, this one is played in the first-person perspective. The gameplay is linear chapters where you go through the desert or the very dark dimly lit caves and ancient tombs, forever searching for the whereabouts of your missing companions, with some mild puzzles to solve along the way to progress the story.
To slightly aid your incredibly limited sight in this classically dark horror game you can find matches, to light the torches or candles that you will find scattered around the environment, however, she must have incredibly small pockets as you can only carry 10 matches at a time, fortunately, there are quite a lot around to find and pick up so you will probably never really fully run out. So I do recommend often using these matches as like the previous game’s interesting feature your fear level will gradually build up the longer you are in complete darkness, which can ultimately result in your untimely insanity-induced demise. Later on, you will find and add a lamp to your arsenal, and again you can find oil to fuel this lamp to make your visibility ever-so-slightly more manageable.
There is no combat system. You have no weapons. Your only choice is to silently hide in the shadows, helpless and defenseless where you can only but pray to be overlooked by the nightmarish creatures stalking you. The classic horror way!
And lastly in your arsenal is the interesting new feature of the ancient alien amulet, which reacts when there is a possible portal nearby. Here’s a picture of this snazzy amulet and its powers, and also just for fun a picture of a handsome fellow I found along my journey lol 🙂
Graphics
With Amnesia Rebirth coming out in 2020, you can of course see a big difference in visual quality compared to the graphics of the 2010 Amnesia game. Technology has come a long way in a decade! I feel there is still some room for improvement graphics-wise, but I was still very happy to see this sharper-looking more polished new game. It looked good. Starting the game in the blistering sun of a desolate desert was a good move, to really show off the capabilities of these visual improvements, before entering the classic dread-filled darkness that these games are known for.
Replayability
Like a good horror film, I will likely come back to rewatch/replay Amnesia: Rebirth. It has a lot going on and is a very worthy horror release. This game has 3 different endings too which is another good reason to replay. Another good reason to return is if you enjoy collecting trophies, in order to be rewarded with the platinum for this game the developers invite you to complete a speedrun of the entire game in a very challenging time (of I think about) 2 hours 15 minutes. You may be replaying this game a lot simply in the quest to beat this devilish speedrun trophy!
Summary
Personally, I loved every moment, every step, every heart thump, every scream.
But what I liked the most is that this is not a mindless shit your pants horror that are 10 a dozen, yes Amnesia has many classic horror elements to make that spine tingle but this is a more intelligent game, a well-crafted more gentle horror that opts instead to put its emphasis on toying with your mind, and take you on one hell of a bizarre but brilliant journey right out of the twilight zone. For that I applaud it. It was undoubtedly a unique and fantastic gaming experience. I enjoyed it immensely, and I will wait again with great anticipation for the next addition to the iconic Amnesia franchise 🙂
Author
Amnesia: Rebirth
$29.99
Pros
- Horror excellence!
- Great atmosphere
- Great story
- Fun but not too challenging puzzles
Cons
- A little room to improve on graphics quality
- Having to regularly soothe your unborn child.. Some of us don't have that natural motherly instinct! 😛
- Gnarly as all hell speedrun for the trophy hunters!
