The Amnesia franchise has long been a cornerstone of the survival horror game genre.
The newest installment Amnesia: The Bunker, which will be released by Frictional Games, appears to be both reviving the cherished series and profoundly changing the genre as a whole once again!
At first sight, Amnesia: The Bunker might not appear to be significantly different from the iconic portrayal of nightmare inducing, first person horror, but upon deeper inspection, it appears that this soon to be released journey may be just as exciting as it is frightful.
This point in time is significant for Frictional Games since it heralds the release of the sequel to Amnesia: Rebirth.
The game was narratively in line with its predecessors, wrapping up some loose ends left behind by The Dark Descent’s tale.
Despite Rebirth’s comeback following the much less well received Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, it was not quite as appreciated n terms of gameplay, with some gamers feeling that it departed from the concept and spirit of the franchise too much.
According to what is currently known about Amnesia: The Bunker’s gameplay, the series will once again be venturing into unexplored terrain while maintaining its core values, however so hopefully, history won’t repeat itself.
Amnesia: The Bunker will be made available on May 16, 2023.
The game was initially slated to release in March, just a few months after its announcement in December of 2022, but Frictional Games announced its postponement in a Tweet in early February, citing the small team’s experience with “a plethora of sicknesses” that drastically slowed down production.
Even if the game’s release date was delayed by a couple of weeks, Amnesia: The Bunker will benefit from the delay in the long run since Frictional Games promised fans in the same Tweet the extra time would be used to make the game “the best it can be.”
— frictionalgames (@frictionalgames) February 1, 2023
Amnesia: The Bunker will be accessible for the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, as well as PC.
Although the PlayStation 5 has not been officially mentioned by Frictional Games as a platform that will support the game, users should still be able to experience Amnesia: Rebirth’s new scares thanks to backward compatibility.
Amnesia: The Bunker’s unique aspect is that it will grant players firearms for the first time ever in the franchise.
This is a significant improvement over earlier games when players had little choice except to flee or hide in order to live, establishing a constant sense of dread that has come to be associated with the franchise.
In The Bunker, on the other hand, Henri will be armed with a handgun, grenades, and more such weapons.
To avoid underestimating the threat posed by the Beast, these weapons will be constrained because they are far from infallible defense systems.
Players will need to use the revolver very carefully, for instance, as IGN explains in a YouTube video. Instead of reading a UI visual, users will need to inspect inside the cylinder to see how much ammo is loaded.
Not only will weapons need long preparation but Henri’s flashlight will also require manual operation before each use.
The gameplay of Amnesia: The Bunker will be distinct from that of its predecessors not only in terms of the powers of the protagonist but also in terms of in-game and map design, as it adopts both open world and randomly generated aspects in a horrifying way.
Previous Amnesia games had somewhat linear gameplay, with each run producing the same, though nonetheless terrifying, horrors.
Players won’t have this privilege in The Bunker since the semi-open-world map, randomly generated locations for useful materials, and largely unscripted monster behavior patterns will always need them to remain alert, regardless of how much they know about the game as a whole.
Even worse, Amnesia: The Dark Descent gamers will not even be free to become accustomed to their constantly shifting world.
Risk analysis and cautious resource management will be at the center of The Bunker.
Henri will need to use the little resources he discovers wisely in order to advance if he wants to keep the bunker lighted and keep the Beast at bay.
In other words, before his resistance against the monster wears down and his safe journey becomes a life-or-death situation, he will have a very small window of time to explore the map, find objects, and set off events.