AMNESIA: REBIRTH

Frictional Games wrote modern horror game history, first with the gothic Amnesia: The Dark Descent and then with the sci-fi SOMA. This year the company returns with the long-awaited "official" sequel to Dark Descent (since A Machine for Pigs was from a different studio) and the question on everyone's lips is the obvious one: Can the developers amaze once again?

No. Sorry for the abruptness but managing expectations is essential in order to talk about Rebirth on a realistic basis. In my opinion, Frictional's new game can't reach the level of either the first Amnesia in terms of pure horror, or SOMA in terms of script and story that makes you think. Rebirth is actually a mixture of the two aforementioned games, and as a result the middle space it occupies between horror and adventure doesn't yield total satisfaction for either. But that doesn't mean that, judged solely as a standalone product and without considering its "legacy", Amnesia: Rebirth doesn't have its own significant value. It's just necessary for the player to treat it as such, which is admittedly difficult when we're talking about a sequel to one of the top horror games.

The story's connection to the previous game in the series is relatively loose but very real. This time we take on the role of Tasi, a young archaeologist who heads to Algeria with her husband for an excavation that has revealed important findings. Unfortunately, on the way to the excavation site, the plane crashes and the protagonist wakes up among the wreckage with no memory of what happened. Her husband and several of the passengers are missing, so Tasi sets out to find out if they are still alive and where they fled to. Chronologically we are set in 1937, almost a hundred years after the events of the first Amnesia, but the location and various events clearly echo the horrific events that took place at Brennenburg Castle. Tasi's mental and physical fortitude will be tested to the fullest extent as she finds herself at the center of events that will decide the fate of entire worlds.

The gameplay doesn't stray much from what we saw in The Dark Descent. The action unfolds in first-person and involves a lot of exploration, discovering information about what's going on, sporadic puzzle solving and moments of horror where you have to show off your enemy avoidance and stealth skills as there's no way to attack your opponents. Lighting plays an important role in the game because many environments are dark, Tasi's mental health slips when she is in the dark for a long time and your only "weapons" against her are a few matches scattered around the environment and an oil lamp if you can supply it with the necessary fuel.

The puzzles could be described as generally accessible since the developers made sure to provide the player with enough information to understand the general idea of each puzzle. The story progression is good, with proper ramp up to avoid fatigue or extensive confusion, but the design of the horror/stealth set pieces I would say is a step below their counterparts in The Dark Descent and SOMA. While some of the sequences are interesting and extremely scary, there are others that are completely linear and pointless or designed in such a complex way that they end up annoying instead of scaring. And the evolving story clearly wants to result in something as grand and imposing as SOMA but fails to have the same impact.

Overall, then, Frictional's new game is placed one step below the company's previous games in terms of quality, but I must stress that being only one step below them is a remarkable achievement in itself. Dark Descent is for me personally the top horror game I've played, while SOMA clearly belongs in the hall of fame of sci-fi games in terms of story, twists and atmosphere. Amnesia: Rebirth doesn't reach those heights but it remains a strong choice in the genre because Frictional even on its mediocre day produces quality.