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OK, I'm proper scared. I've just been stalked through a sewer by something I can't see, let alone fight.

The only thing that gave it away was the languid ker-splosh of its footsteps as it ranged around after me. Every time I lost my footing on the narrow path of tottering crates and other detritus and landed in the drink, a flurry of intense sploshing rose sharply in volume as it made for my meat. It was utterly, panicinducingly horrible. I made errors in judgement, I missed jumps, I clenched. When it was all over, I nearly had a little cry.

Amnesia does Lovecraft in the purest sense: it understands that the imagined far outweighs the known in its psychological punch, and it gives you enough audio and visual cues to imagine a very carnival of horrors. From the twisted brainpipes of Frictional games, the guys behind the Penumbra series, this is every part the worthy successor, with considerably higher production values, bags more atmosphere, and a deeper exploration of the parallel themes of horror and insanity. While these screenshots shout FPS, it shares more with point-and-click adventures than shooters. There's not a weapon in sight: it's all about the puzzles, exploiting the neat physics engine, combining items to apply to the environment, and hiding when the nasties come.

The story unfolds from a locus of zero knowledge, aside from one fact: your name is Daniel. You wake in a medieval castle, and finding a note you'd previously written for yourself, you discover you're here for a reason. In fact, you've been here for some time, and as the plot expands through further diary-notes and flashbacks, the unsavoury purpose behind your presence becomes apparent. You're also just a bit afraid of the dark. The whole place is graveyard-dim, but you collect tinder-boxes to light torches and candles, and oil for your lamp. Keeping the shadows at bay is a constant – and necessary – struggle. (
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Spend too long in the gloaming, and madness beckons. As Daniel's sanity starts to stutter, imagination plays merry hell. Insects skitter across your vision, the input-lag between mouse-gesture and action goes to hell, the ground lurches sickeningly, and you'll hear things – whispers, cries and horrid noises, one of which can only be described as someone pulling crabs apart.

Against this background, you learn of the unspeakable experiments that happened here, and your involvement with them, as something hideous dogs your steps. It's hard to talk about certain specifics without spoilers, but suffice it to say, there are scenes you'll recoil at. One area of the game is devoted to revealing the psychological and physical specifics of medieval torture methods; fascinating in a horribly suggestive way, and all, somehow, tied to your past. When it's not breathing down your neck, lurching after you or trying to eat your face, Amnesia shows you bad things and makes you feel dirty.

And that's its triumph: one of grisly atmosphere over genre convention, with tension and release in keen balance. It seems rude to pick holes – some of the vocal delivery, for example, lacks the credible touch, and occasionally, you'll have no idea what the puzzle you're working on is meant to achieve; you just have to keep trying things out. But it's well worth it, and a snip at £12.95. Despite its title, Amnesia remembers what the blockbusters of survival horror seem to have forgotten: how to horrify. (
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Hug!

This one indie game escalated the genre to the point of it being somewhat emulated by both indie and AAA studios to this very day.

Only thing missing is "Workshop" support on "Steam".

Its really a crying shame there aren't any movies being made these days that give me a deep sense of fear and trepidation like Amnesia The Dark Descent and so am eternally grateful to the game developers who continue to push the boundries of the horror genre.

A great many games have been released since this game was iniatially launched and yet few stack up to its standard, as old as the game is its graphics don't fail to impress not a moment went by that I didn't take a moment whilst hiding in a dark corner or ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ myself in a wardrobe to take in the ambience of the dark, twisted environments my poor character had the gross misfortune to find himself in.

The pure malevonance of the castle I was trapped in was only further imbued by terror due in no small part to the downright twisted ambient music flowing through my Turtle Beaches and into my head causing me to proceed more cautiously and with a sense of pure anxiety that had me sweating so much it felt as though I would slip right off my chair at any moment.

With a non-invasive UI that didn't take away from the gameplay and an easy to use inventory system the only problem I found was rationing my supplies as to not get caught in the dark without a light source or a rapidly diminishing mental state, which would leave my character crippled with fear or worse.

For those who like fast gameplay and linear storylines, this game is not for you if however you love a solid story that plumbs the very depths of human darkness and surviving my the skin of your teeth, not to mention quaking in terror at an effective horror title then step on in and enjoy the ride, I promise you, you won't be disappointed.

Pro Tip: Be sure to wear brown pants while playing.

I really liked it, it was scary and immersive.

This game is amazing! A lot youtubers grew they channel by playing this, and it's scary and fun to play alone, but i scream a lot xD This one is good...

I really liked it, it was scary and had immersive. It had a great story and just the right feel to it. Worth buying it.

A truly amazing psychological horror game, a pretty short but very well crafted storyline makes this game worth it. Even better, is at a perfect price range for what you are getting. But what really stole hours of my life away from me are the mods, this game has a very very active modding community, even now. Get it for the main story, stay for community-made stories.

since amnesia came out,everybody said that this is one of the best horror games in years and............no,just no
not that its a bad game,its really good game,but overrated as hell

lets start with story-you wake up on a floor in a gothic castle and (surprise) you have an amnesia.after little walk around you find a note from yourself to yourself,that says that you mist find and kill alexander and that there is some kind of shadow that haunts you

story slowly revealing itself through the flashbacks (which is i admit actually pretty good and original) and flashbacks shows that you wasnt always a nice person.

gameplay-can be compared to penumbra series-solve puzzles,hide from enemies and read notes,but in amnesia you have new mechanic-fear meter-if he gets too scared,yore fu**ed,that means-you cant look on enemies too long or you cant stay in darkness too long,you can find tinder boxes to light candels around or oil to your lantern,but oil wont last forever so dont use always the lantern
game has really great puzzles that are actually better than in penumbra series

scares in this game are ok-now,i cant get why everyone was saying that this was the scariest game ever...atmosphere is great,but enemies in the game arent that scary-there are two type of enemies-grunt and brute
first named just looks stupid(atleast from my point of view) and brute...is actually good-his design isnt the best ive seen,but lets face it frictional games werent always best at making monster designs,i mean best monster design they could gave us was naked zombie pervert from black plague,
and there are also jumpscares like doors opening itself and thats just too clishé to be affraid of
game has effective scares (for example some flashbacks can be very uneasy)

also there is some pretty good voice acting and music is good,not good as lets say resident evil 4,but still great

overall,yeah i think game is overrated,but its still pretty good game,i would reccomend it for its great story and its storytelling,which (lets face it) isnt a reason why everybody loves or knows this game,which is a shame

I've owned this game for some time and although I do not have a lot of time playing it, I heartily recommend for anyone to play. I never liked horror movies or games, but I've enjoyed playing this one a lot. In fact, this game made me want to try several other horror games. It's beautifully made and easy to grasp. Plus the story is actually really interesting and the way the developers decided to make the main character have, you guessed it, amnesia is actually really cool and ties in the player really well.