Home » Amnesia: The Bunker Review (Xbox Series X|S)

Amnesia: The Bunker Review (Xbox Series X|S)

by Ethan Marley
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Frictional Games’ Amnesia collection has been one of many premier horror franchises in gaming over the previous decade plus. The group’s first Amnesia sport, The Dark Descent, burst onto the PC scene means again in 2010 and is now famend for being one of many spookiest video games on the market. We’ve had just a few oblique sequels since, and whereas these fall roughly in keeping with what that first sport tried all these years in the past, none of Frictional’s follow-ups have ever been as downright terrifying as that debut entry. While that is principally true of Amnesia: The Bunker as nicely, this can be a title that positively harkens again to the collection’ roots, and in consequence, that is completely the scariest Amnesia sport for the reason that unique.

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If you are unfamiliar with these roots we’ll provide you with a fast abstract right here. Amnesia is a first-person horror collection that focuses extra on what might be lurking at the hours of darkness than what’s really there. The collection often falls nicely underneath that ‘strolling sim’ class as you do little or no combating more often than not; you are often creeping, hiding and puzzle fixing to attempt to discover your means out of a horrific state of affairs. The first sport was extra freeform and imprecise in its strategy to degree design and storytelling, whereas sequels Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and Amnesia: Rebirth turned extra linear and centered. The Bunker is rather more like the unique in its total strategy, and this new title really marks the primary ‘open world’ entry within the franchise.

Right, housekeeping out of the best way, let’s get to it – Amnesia: The Bunker is a bloody scary first-person horror title. The sport begins out within the trenches of WW1 earlier than just a few quick gunfights and shut shaves push you deep beneath right into a labyrinth-like bunker. You’re then tasked with, mainly, escaping stated bunker – though one thing absolutely-not-human is lurking round within the shadows down there. Lovely.

You’re fast to grasp that Amnesia: The Bunker largely leaves you to your personal gadgets as soon as underground, and we fairly preferred this strategy to start with. You have a central hub the place a fuel-thirsty generator retains the lights on, a helpful map that particulars the explorable sub-sections of the bunker, and an overhead lamp that gives a spot to save lots of your progress. Once we would lifted the bunker’s lockdown — which is an early sport goal — we went on our means, looking for any bits and items which may assist us escape.

Much of the sport’s development, clues and story beats are informed by notes scattered in regards to the place – some voice acted and a few not. It’s positively in your finest curiosity to scour each nook and cranny of the bunker, even should you’d want to keep away from the shadows for apparent causes. Notes are key to progressing, and fortunately, the sport provides a helpful little crimson pin onto the vital ones in your stock. Generator gasoline and different sources are tremendous vital too, so yeah, it is positively price taking your time to search out what you want.

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One change of tempo on this new Amnesia title is the addition of weaponry. Ammo is extraordinarily scarce and revolver photographs, grenades and the like can solely serve to beat back the monster – you may’t outright kill it this fashion. Still, that slight sense of energy offers you a bit extra confidence to discover, though we would advocate you solely train your proper to shoot firearms in essentially the most obligatory of conditions.

Frictional being Frictional although, they provide you fairly just a few different methods to make use of your new-found firepower and this was one of many highlights of the expertise for us. You can blast your means by picket doorways, set off traps from vary, and simply usually interact your atmosphere by weaponry. There are nearly at all times different methods to deal with these aims, however the world tries to use logic as finest it might probably and the dev group has been eager to emphasize that should you assume you are able to do one thing in a sure means, you in all probability can. This system does present its limits afterward, the place the sport introduces extra scripted occasions, however early on we discovered ourselves proclaiming fairly just a few ‘a-ha!’ moments as we scrambled to search out methods to progress.

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As we alluded to earlier, you may deal with most of Amnesia: The Bunker in any order with the tip of the sport finally simply requiring you to search out the suitable bits of kit to get out. We preferred this strategy because it actually did really feel pure to wander round and play by, though we did run into just a few uneven bits of development as the sport went on.

Early on we got here throughout just a few crucial notes that mainly informed us the place we would have to go to flee, so naturally, we made a beeline for that space of the bunker fairly rapidly – solely to grasp that we would skipped just a few steps and needed to circle again to different, unexplored components of the bunker to get what we wanted to flee. We get it, the group seemingly desires gamers to completely discover and spend extra time enjoying, however we would have preferred the sport to be a bit extra daring in its freeform nature. It’d be kinda cool to simply come upon the suitable notes & gear and discover the quickest technique to escape early on, proper? Missing sections on a primary playthrough would assist encourage replayability too.

And it is right here the place Amnesia: The Bunker journeys over itself just a little bit. The sport desires to permit the liberty to discover and for gamers to deal with aims as they see match, however it nonetheless desires you to comply with a sure path and spend a sure period of time in every space of the bunker. 2020’s Amnesia: Rebirth was rather more scripted however it felt pure in that extra linear title, whereas The Bunker feels a wee bit caught between being actually freeform and funnelling you down a sure path.

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If you are into your scares although, Amnesia: The Bunker completely nails it. Again, it is in all probability not fairly as scary as The Dark Descent, however that is the closest Frictional has acquired since and we have been fairly tense all through our total playthrough. The means the developer utilises gentle and darkish is masterful, and what you may’t fairly see down there within the bunker actually does play along with your thoughts.

We should additionally give the group one other shoutout for Amnesia: The Bunker’s audio. Whether it is the rackety rumbling of the central generator, the creeping and screeching of the monster searching you down, or simply the useless air silence when little or no is occurring, Frictional has carried out a fantastic job within the sound division. Audio is extremely vital in horror video games, and the sounds of the bunker did an excellent job at immersing the participant and including to the general stress of combating to flee.

An space the place issues aren’t fairly so easy proper now’s within the sport’s normal stability. We got here throughout a number of crashes throughout our playtime on Xbox Series X, and a few brought on misplaced development because of the sport’s guide save system. The efficiency is fairly good elsewhere — outdoors of hitches if you first enter a brand new part of the bunker — however should you’re enjoying at launch it is positively price saving as a lot as doable in case of crashing. The group says that it is conscious of sure crashing points and has been engaged on a patch to sort things up, however we’ve not seen any updates go dwell throughout our evaluation course of.

Conclusion

Amnesia: The Bunker is Frictional Games’ scariest title for the reason that group made a reputation for itself with 2010’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent. The sport’s new strategy to an ‘open world’ type atmosphere is welcome in enabling participant freedom, even when we would have preferred the group to push that design precept even additional. You do not get as direct of a storyline informed right here as you do in Amnesia: Rebirth, however the sport is actually spookier on account of its new setting and its transfer to free the participant of any linear shackles. We reckon followers of the unique — or horror sport aficionados basically — will very a lot get pleasure from exploring this monster-filled bunker on Xbox Game Pass.

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