Amensia: Rebirth Gameplay Video Teases The Terrors Players Will Face

Amnesia: Rebirth is Frictional Games' upcoming sequel to the highly popular horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent. In a gameplay video, players got the chance to see a preview of Rebirth's graphics, mechanisms, and tools. Set in the Algerian desert--a marked difference from The Dark Descent's gloomy castle--the protagonist, Tasi Trianon, explores a broken-down tank in a dusty outdoor setting and a corpse-laden indoor area.

We see the inventory system in action as Trianon grabs a key in the tank. The lighting actions present in The Dark Descent are also here in Rebirth, but with a twist. Trianon makes her way through dark rooms and corridors with matches and needs to quickly light lamps placed in rooms. It also appears that Trianon eventually finds a handheld oil lamp, which certainly makes running away from monsters easier.

As Frictional Games shared on PlayStation's Blog, the developers wanted to keep the players' ability to light torches and candles in dark areas in Rebirth, but felt that the tinderboxes in The Dark Descent didn't fit in the context of Rebirth's 1930s setting. The change to matches, though slight, does make a difference in gameplay.

"For instance, when you are in a dark tunnel, players need to choose whether to use their precious matches in order to easier find your way or save it for a light source further ahead. Matches will also blow out faster if you move quickly, so the player is forced to slow down and think hard about their next move," Frictional Games stated. "A match might also go out at the wrong moment – just when you hear menacing footsteps approaching."

Additionally, instead of The Dark Descent's sanity system in which darkness and certain visuals made the character collapse and attract monsters, Trianon has a mysterious disease that afflicts her. The more afraid she becomes, the worse the symptoms become. Regarding her disease and the storyline associated with it, Frictional Games said they drew on their experience creating SOMA and exploring in it the human consciousness and what it means to be human.

Amnesia: Rebirth will release on PC and PS4 on October 20. It will be the second Amnesia game developed by Frictional Games and indirectly follows Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, a game developed by The Chinese Room in 2013. Ahead of the release, you can also read our interview with Frictional Games on Amnesia: Rebirth to learn more about it. If you're interested in playing more spooky games in honor of the spooky season, you can check out our guide to the best horror games for this Halloween.