One of the most (and only) truly horrifying games ever made, Amnesia taps into the science behind terror.
The Good: Amazing sense of immersive, eery atmosphere; awesome sound and visual effects keep you looking over your shoulder; unique delivery of story; thought-provoking puzzles
The Bad: Graphics are a little dated
If there's one thing Amnesia could have done better, it is the graphics. Because it is an indie game (Frictional Games is made up of five people!), we can forgive them that much. The static textures don't look bad, but other things don't stand up as well, such as the character's hand and the few other character models encountered. However, there are some really cool visual effects that you will experience. A huge part of the game deals with lighting -- if you stay in the dark for too long, you will begin to lose your sanity and will eventually collapse. You will find a limited number of light sources throughout the game, as well as your own oil lamp (which also has a limited amount of oil), which you can use to manage your sanity. Amnesia does its best (successfully) to make you as the player feel as insane as your character when you remain in an unlit hallway for too long. You will rejoice at the scattered shafts of light from broken parts of the ceiling piercing the drifting fog. You'll traverse a number of different locations inside the castle that the game takes place in, from the expected dank hallways to sewers, from the dreaded prisons to even a morgue. There are plenty of environmental puzzles that encourage you to keep your eyes peeled, and you'll have to use your experience in past adventure games as well as some basic physics to solve the puzzles that may not always be clear at first sight.
Many games (Alan Wake, Resident Evil) are incorrectly given the label "survival-horror," when really they would fit much more appropriately into an "action with monsters" category. Terror is a thing rarely captured, much less reproduced, but Amnesia gets it right. They've tapped into the science behind terror, which is at its core helplessness. Instead of giving you an entire armory's worth of weapons like Resident Evil, Amnesia gives you absolutely nothing to defend yourself from the monsters that will stalk you on your journey. These hideous creations will plague you often enough that you fear their coming constantly, and your only choice when they do arrive is to run and hide in a dark corner.
If you haven't deduced this already, Amnesia is a very disturbing game. While there's no crude language from which to shield younger ears, the visual effects, and even the sound effects, can be quite alarming. And of course, let's not forget the enemies, which, if you're seeing them close-up, you're probably on the verge of death anyway, are gruesome characters themselves. As you travel through haunting locales such as a morgue, expect nudity and frightening adventure-related events, from cheap scare tactics to more scarring, story-based actions.
Although it plays like a standard adventure game with some intensely heart-pounding moments, Amnesia's story is told in a unique way, through flashbacks and scattered diary entries found throughout levels. The voice acting is well done (primarily by two characters, Daniel and Alexander), and the tone of the script is haunting enough to set the mood and further the flow of the immersion. You are fed elements of the story piecemeal as you continue, and though there's not much direct relation of the recited story with the active adventuring (except toward the end of the game), you will still be very captivated by the mystery to find out exactly what happened and why you don't remember anything except what you find out yourself. The team at Frictional Games does a pretty good job of leading us by carrot and string in both story and gameplay, although the latter can become somewhat repetitive toward the end as it settles into some less diverse maps and as you develop a pattern for circumventing your stalkers. In addition, much of the story is still left to you to procure for yourself from subtle hints, even after the credits roll. But it stills sees an enjoyable conclusion with multiple endings.
Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Story: 8.5/10
Sound: 9.5/10
Presentation: 9/10
Value: 7.5/10
Tilt: 9/10
Overall Impression: 8.8/10
After all is said and done, Amnesia will go down as one of the greatest horror games of all time and undoubtedly as one of the first games to actually capture the spirit of the elusive "survival horror" genre. The fact that this small team of passionate developers can trump most other, higher production titles is what is most impressive to me. Games like Amnesia don't come around very often -- but it's with a near perfect sense of immersion into terror, as well as a healthy dose of well-thought-out, patience-trying puzzles and some spectacularly haunting sound effects that Amnesia: The Dark Descent succeeds. Do yourself a favor -- turn the lights off, put your headphones on, and experience this excellent horror title for yourself.