Amnesia: The Bunker marks an evolution for one of the best horror series

in his book vimy ridge, British journalist and military historian Alexander McKee described how deafening sounds could be registered as touch. Of experiencing the bombardment during the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917, he wrote, “I felt that if I were to lift a finger I should touch a solid ceiling of sound.” “Dulce et decorum est” echoes a similar experience after three weeks at the Somme in 1916: “I didn’t see anyone dead. I’ve done worse. In the chilly air, I’ve felt it, and in the dark Have done.

Amnesia: The BunkerThe latest first-person horror story from Frictional Games, puts you in the muddy boots of a French soldier during World War I. As well as previous games in the Amnesia series, Frictional shadow And Mon, you are forced to escape from the cat and mouse chase in trap-like locations. However, this time the structure is not linear. The Bunker is a labyrinthine nightmare, combining free-roam navigation with streamlined immersive-sim elements. Importantly, as innovative Alien: Isolation, a creature hunts you throughout the journey. All it takes is one miscalculation of time or one wrong move to get its attention.

In bunkerThe sound is as annoying as it is helpful, signaling danger before you turn a corner. You can hear grumblings and rumblings above your head and inside walls, and in holes that only your hunters can access – the better to ambush you. It took me hours to actually see the monster for the first time, and even then, it was a fleeting glimpse before it swiftly killed me.

orderly, bunker Structured around a safe room and a generator, it serves as the central hub and starting point for roguelike-esque journeys into the bowels of the concrete complex. The generator provides power to most of the rooms (after you manually toggle the switch), and tends to keep the signature monster at bay. But it burns fuel faster. As you desperately search for the fuel cans, a stopwatch displays how long the lights will stay on, each needle underlying your decision-making process with a bed of general anxiety.

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Image: Friction Games

Parts of the bunker are spread over large underground areas, often infested with rats and tripwires. Since you can only refer to the map in designated safe rooms, it’s important to gather as much information as possible during each visit, memorizing the layout or, if you’re lucky, finding dog tags and notes from soldiers that will guide you to your next trip. point to the destination. Over time, I quickly learned that abandoning these missions halfway through wasn’t always the best option – even if the alternative meant moving forward in complete darkness. There are only so many fuel cans to find, and wasting them going to locations over and over again means you’ll need to travel more, possibly losing the light much earlier in the process.

Ultimately, your goal is to find the dynamite and clear the only way out of the titular structure to escape. But the gradual exploration takes time, and there’s minimal hand-holding following the tutorial. Plus, your limited inventory space forces you to make tough decisions about what to bring and what to leave behind. You can store essential items such as stopwatch in the safe room (if you do not know the Absolutely when the generator runs out of fuel) in exchange for valuable crafting materials or equipment related to progress.

There are pocket bags you can find to bulk up your inventory, but never enough that I felt truly and safely equipped for whatever awaited me ahead. After being cornered by the creature several times, you can use the wrench (which opens vent covers to access otherwise closed rooms) or the lighter (a cool light source that can ignite fire and also light a torch). Will think twice before stealing. on future trips. alive in bunker Means constantly balancing the uses and drawbacks of each item.

Image: Friction Games

The Mechanical Torch is an infinite light source, and is, theoretically, one of the most useful items in the game; But you need to wind it loudly to ensure extended illumination, and the monster is attracted by noise. It’s even more stressful to use grenades or your pistol because of their echo will become, These risks are often necessary, though: shooting a padlock or clearing a corridor blocked by vermin can create vital shortcuts to the inevitable backtracking. As defensive measures, attacking the monster directly only takes time. Hitting it causes the creature to flee momentarily, which is enough for a quick escape. Once it returns, it will act more aggressively, as well as gain resilience against subsequent attacks. During the encounter, one bullet was enough to scare him. In the next, the monster just faced shot, and I ran out of ammunition, which I needed twice as much.

These moments rival those of the best stealth games, when even the slightest sound can mean revealing your position to more powerful enemies. Friction has made a name for itself by creating these moments from elegant yet terrifying systems. bunkerThe extraordinary achievement, then, is creating a non-linear sandbox where you are constantly learning from your bad habits. I’ve never been so conscious of how noisy everything around me is in the digital space, entering rooms carefully to avoid kicking an empty wine bottle or flashlight when I knew a monster was near. was activating. As McKee describes it, it’s your mundane actions, in conjunction with the raw and hostile setting, that create a solid ceiling of sound – one that only thickens the longer you stay in the bunker.

Amnesia: The Bunker was released on June 6 on Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. The game was reviewed on the Series X using a pre-release download code provided by Double Fine Productions. Vox Media is an affiliated partnership. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find Additional information about Play Gamez’s ethics policy here,