Horror games can be a tough sell, because it's hard to tell someone that a game is sooo scary without raising their expectations so high that they'll never actually be scared. Thus, I'll try to stick to the facts when I talk about Amnesia: Dark Descent.
It's out on September 8th, and was developed by Frictional, who also made the Penumbra games, which were scary enough to be included in the Humble Indie Bundle. It's a "survival horror" game in a truer sense of the word than has been applied to the likes of Resident Evil and Dead Space, which of late have been more about the shooting-dudes stuff than the being-scared-out-of-your-wits stuff.
It's also got a demo, which you can download from many sources here. It'll be available on most of the digital distribution-type places, and preordering gets you a discount off the already-low price of $19.99. And it's available for PC, Mac, and Linux.
So go. Try it and get it. Or check out a trailer below. Low risk to everything but your sanity. Mwahahahaha!
@epic-koryuken: Did you even watch the trailer? it was creepy as fuck and it didn't even show an enemy, just really damn well built tension, i'm definitely interested.
Tried the demo. Not big into survival horror but I was digging this. Also the catch that you can't really fight back really makes it a unique game. Probably going to buy it
Dear Destructoid crew:
Been trying to reach you with a review copy, but not sure you got it. So doing an attempt to get some confirmation here :) Can contact us here:
http://www.frictionalgames.com/site/contact
And hope all liked the gameplay trailer! Our poor artist Marc had to play through the sequence 50 times or so before his evil boss was happy.
The trailers I've seen are interesting, but they're so damn dark that I can't even see what's happening in most of it. It reminds me of the good parts of Dark Corners of the Earth, though. Y'know, the entire first portion before they decide to arm you. I'll give the demo a shot later and hope the visuals are a little more...visual.
The Penumbra games were awesome, and with real survival horror titles being so few and far between these days (not be confused with action-horror, a la Dead Space and RE5), this is a total day 1 purchase for me.
The fact that the doors open inwards scares the fucking shit out of me. I'm not being sarcastic or anything, I get absolutley terrified during chase scenes.
I pre-ordered months ago because I wanted it but also to get the commentary on there. :-) I don't want to see any more media on this because I want all the thrills and chills all to be fresh when I play this week!!! Frictional has HANDS DOWN the best atmosphere in gaming these days. SO many other devs spend tons and add all sorts of extra ridiculousness to a formula that Frictional makes look elementary. Genius.
Anyone using the word 'generic' doesn't know what they're talking about and should be ignored.
Whether you like their games or not, Frictional are doing something that is unique, sadly, in gaming today. They make true horror games. I would take out the "survival" part, as that has too many connotations.
Their games are all about atmosphere. You know the feeling you got when telling scary stories around a campfire as a kid? That's not it. It's the feeling you got AFTER having heard those stories, then being alone in the woods at night.
Great stuff, Frictional. Just preordered, can't wait till the 8th. Keep it up!
Hey Frictional, any chance this gets ported over to 360/PS3/Wii (even)? My poor 6-year old laptop can't take it anymore (and I am saving up for some other sweet stuff).
The Penumbra games were a masterepiece, I barely kept playing due to me being an easily scared pussy. However, I loved the world, and gained real respect for the developer. This game looks nothing short of amazing, and the demo is also certainly creepy.
*turns brightness to max*
Woah that looks pretty... intense. I've never played the penumbra games, but I like what I'm seeing and reading in the comments.
Oh yeah and I only play horror games in broad daylight. I dunno how that'll affect my enjoyment.
I played the demo for this and almost shit myself. SO fucking immersive and scary,
to get the full experience you really gotta turn the lights off and wear some nice headphones.
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Contest:
5:00 PM on 09.04.2010
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Been trying to reach you with a review copy, but not sure you got it. So doing an attempt to get some confirmation here :) Can contact us here:
http://www.frictionalgames.com/site/contact
And hope all liked the gameplay trailer! Our poor artist Marc had to play through the sequence 50 times or so before his evil boss was happy.
The trailer was absolute crap! It was someone running in water while hearing "BOOM" occasionally.
Come on, I'm easy to scare. And if you can't scare me, then you really suck.
Insta-buy!
That said I can't play this game. Frictional games scare the fuck out of me. I can't take the atmosphere.
So I'll probably pass
I wish this team all the best though.
Frictional, I hope you make loads of money. You're making better horror games than any of the big-name companies are right now.
Whether you like their games or not, Frictional are doing something that is unique, sadly, in gaming today. They make true horror games. I would take out the "survival" part, as that has too many connotations.
Their games are all about atmosphere. You know the feeling you got when telling scary stories around a campfire as a kid? That's not it. It's the feeling you got AFTER having heard those stories, then being alone in the woods at night.
Great stuff, Frictional. Just preordered, can't wait till the 8th. Keep it up!
NEED.
Woah that looks pretty... intense. I've never played the penumbra games, but I like what I'm seeing and reading in the comments.
Oh yeah and I only play horror games in broad daylight. I dunno how that'll affect my enjoyment.
to get the full experience you really gotta turn the lights off and wear some nice headphones.