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| What could possibly be offensive about this? |
Story
AMFP definitely has one of the darkest stories I've ever experienced in a game before, almost on par with The Dark Descent but minus the more supernatural elements prevalent in the first game. The story this time around is more grounded in reality, for better or worse, and your character Mandus must face the shambling abominations crafted by a mad man. The game opens with you waking up in your bed, which strangely has large metal bars around it. You soon come to realize that your two sons are missing and have likely gone under the manor to the dark tunnels below. What follows is a harrowing tale of human imperfection, scientific experimentation, a clever spin on class warfare, and one man's longing for redemption past the horrific atrocities he has committed. The story is the strongest aspect of the game, though I would have expected no less from the developers of Dear Esther, however the rest of the game suffers because of it. There is a singular focus on story and atmosphere here, with gameplay being kept bare bones to better convey certain overarching themes to the player. I'm not going to sugar coat this: Mandus is a terrible terrible person who has done things so vile that redemption should not even be possible for a monster such as himself, yet the game deposits you in his shoes and lets you experience this twisted world from his eyes. Scattered throughout the levels are notes, gramophones, and creepy humanesque telephones that let you discover a bit more about just what the hell is going on. These shed much needed light on Mandus' intentions and reasons for the crimes against humanity he has committed, revealing that he was once a sane man who succumbed to insanity due to crippling despair. Mandus is an effectively tragic figure, a man who wants nothing but the best for mankind, even though his actions are bringing about the damnation of the human race. The creatures in TDD were amazingly well-crafted and legitimately terrifying; you saw so little of them but encountered them so frequently and randomly. Keeping your monsters hidden from the player is an important necessity when crafting a survival horror game, something that the first Amnesia understood. AMFP throws this out the window a few times, providing prolonged, well-lit glimpses at its grotesque pig men. Though there is no doubt that they are disturbing and unsettling to behold, these monstrosities could really benefit from not being around so many light sources. This overexposure to them detracts from the terror they are supposed to instill within the player. The more I learned about them, the more I began to sympathize with the poor wretches, who were more victims of circumstance and poor luck than a supernatural affliction. To me this hurts the game, which carries "Amnesia" in its title. If it weren't for the title then I would only have thought that this was a game inspired by TDD, as the scare factor has been dialed down considerably and is now more akin to an extremely creepy haunted house tour. Another thing I must note is how damn impressive both the written and spoken dialogue are. The voice actors and writers have really outdone themselves in selling this ghastly world to the player, and the performances are definitely worthy of some awards if you ask me.
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| I'd be pissed too if I had to live in a glass container. |
Graphics
AMFP nails its immersion factor almost perfectly right from the start, only growing more eerie as the player progresses. Thechineseroom have crafted an extremely bleak, horrific world where you feel as if something could be stalking you at all times. Lighting was one of the strong points in TDD, and it continues to be a strong point of its successor, with a multitude of light sources spread throughout levels, slicing through the darkness that pervades most of the game. I was also impressed with the texture work and SSAO on display here, which is a definite step up from TDD. Various machines of infernal design are scattered throughout Mandus' macabre world, their intricate workings visible to the player upon closer inspection. Rust and blood coat much of this world, a testament to the subject matter presented to the player while at the same time increasing the immersion factor. Remember, this is not supposed to be a clean, sterile world. Animations are passable whilst enemy models are quite detailed and mortifying to behold. There was one strange glitch I ran into though; for whatever reason turning up the gamma ratio causes a blue haze to appear. This haze gives textures and lighting an extremely "washed out" appearance and detracts from the scare factor immensely, however I was able to circumvent this by simply adjusting the gamma in my Nvidia control panel. Overall thechineseroom have done an excellent job in creating the visual aspect for their new Amnesia game.
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| So realistic you can almost feel the eyes staring at you through that mirror. |
Gameplay
This section oddly enough might be rather short compared to some of my others. Thechineseroom has stripped out many key gameplay components that were integral to the first game, while ramping up the ambient horror and linearity. The game practically leads you from location to location by hand, throwing all manner of jump scares at you along the way. Even the lantern has been dumbed down considerably, no longer requiring tinderboxes or oil to be kept lit. If anything the lantern acts more like a flashlight, with a large, conical beam illuminating the environment in front of the player instead of around them. Most troubling of all is the exclusion of the sanity meter altogether from this installment, which really added to the sheer terror experienced in TDD. No longer will your vision blur when looking upon a mutilated aggressor, allowing you to fully gaze upon them instead. I don't know about anyone else, but having to actively avoid looking directly at enemies in TDD is one of the reasons the game was so suspenseful. You wanted to look at those monsters, the developers knew you wanted to look at their monsters, but they added a penalty for it that only helped strengthen the main theme of madness. Now what I'm about to say might influence your decision on whether to purchase this or not: You will die very rarely. The game seems to go out of its way to help you towards the climax of the story, with monster encounters being few and far between. Even the creatures you do encounter are usually ridiculously easy to bypass, merely requiring you to hide in the shadows and let them pass. The sense of impending dread is replaced all too often with a much more subtle sense of unease and hesitation, a definite step down from TDD where several times I refused to even walk down a hallway or open a door lest I discover something awful lying in wait. Puzzles have also been considerably reduced in their complexity, mainly now just requiring the player to fetch an item that is laying a few feet away and fitting it into the right slot. Ultimately everything feels a bit too streamlined and rushed now, as if the developers forgot they were making an Amnesia game.
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| Not what you want to see when walking into a new room. |
Sound
I tip my hat to AMFP's composer Jessica Curry, who has crafted a masterfully haunting soundtrack that will not soon leave me. This, along with the story, is the most well-designed aspect of the game. Everything has been brought to life with an ambient score that had me turning on a heel on more than one occasion to make sure I wasn't being stalked by something unseen. The pig men's ghastly squeals and grunts will definitely put you on edge, as will the hellish sounds of the machines running non-stop, going about their grisly duties as if they were alive. Worth mentioning again is the absolutely stellar voice acting which is backed up by a phenomenally well-written script. That is what really made the characters believable; how each line of dialogue was delivered with plenty of heart and soul. Thechineseroom have definitely matched TDD in this department, leaving me duly impressed and wanting to hear more of this dark world.
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| Hope you've had a Tetanus shot. |
Conclusion
What thechineseroom have crafted here is a bit of a paradox: A cut down, bare bones, strictly linear, overly simplistic Amnesia game that somehow still manages to impress with its deep pseudo-philosophical storyline, well-written characters, excellent dialogue, great writing, and sickeningly filthy atmosphere. While not what many fans were hoping for in the end, AMFP still manages to be both thrilling and horrifying enough to warrant a playthrough. Mandus' tale is one that needs to be experienced, for his madness is what dwells within every man. AMFP will show you the terrible things that desperation can cause, how all it takes for us to crack is just a push in the wrong direction under the right circumstances. Thechineseroom have revealed that locked deep inside a corner of the human soul, where are darkest secrets and desires are kept, we are all pigs inside. 7/10 (PC version available only)
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