Developer: Frictional Games
Publisher: Frictional Games
Release Date: November 22, 2016
Platforms: PS4
Fear may be a subjective feeling, but it certainly can’t be denied in the release of 2010’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent. It shook the nerves and minds of even the most fearless players with Frictional Games successfully renewing the concept of restlessness in video games, thanks to terrifying atmosphere and the right dose of anxiety. Upon its release, The Dark Descent was greeted with enthusiasm by a vocal community of horror enthusiast, and was immediately hailed as a new benchmark for the genre. The next release from Frictional Games which, unfortunately, garnered more of a lukewarm response was the aptly named A Machine for Pigs. This sequel, entrusted in the hands of The Chinese Room team who created Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, was a less chilling title but still capable of causing genuine fright. For a long time, these two horror mainstays were exclusively for the PC, at least until now. The Amnesia Collection is making its debut on the PS4 with a collection which contains not only The Dark Descent and A Machine for Pigs, but also the fascinating Justine DLC. Now, even console players can get lost in the nightmares which will make you jump, scream, and make you think you are going crazy.
Losing All Sanity
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is clearly the highlight of the collection and the main reason why many of us wanted this for the console. Set entirely in a dark Prussian Brennenburg castle, the game puts you in the shoes of Daniel, a character who has lost his memory, and we are responsible to rebuild the pieces of his fractured memory and the castles history to find out why he is imprisoned in this gloomy castle. Uncomfortable truths will surface over the course of the story, which is rich in esoteric nuances and heavily inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Fortunately, this adventure is very well-balanced; able to combine stealth phases, exploration, environmental puzzles and a story to be discovered recovering inevitable notes scattered throughout the environment. You will soon find the walls of Brennenburg guard terrible secrets, including a series of threats which form of monstrous creatures.
To complicate matters there is a unique formula to the game, focusing on the balance between light and darkness. The protagonist suffers from nyctophobia, the fear of the dark, and is responsible to keep acceptable levels of a value called Sanity. If Daniel remains in the dark too long, his view and the same movements will be compromised by a series of disturbing artifacts arranged on the screen to highlight the wavering despair. To avert the dreaded consequences you should be in the light, and the only way is to rely on an oil lamp or lighting the candles placed in various rooms. In both cases the resources are limited, with low availability of oil for the lamp and Tinder for candles.
If your Sanity drops too far, you will have to worry about the monsters coming to find you. These deformed creatures, sometimes invisible, are terrors you must scrupulously avoid, as you are completely helpless to their attacks. In the early parts of the game, Frictional Games introduces them with a surprising delay, leaving you time to get used to the controls and exploration, all with an atmosphere which is truly exemplary, despite the horror classic mold. While the main game has a few jump scares, the main draw of the horror is the masterful use of sounds and location aesthetics. The result is a title which can cause a morbid type of distress and despite being out six years ago still manages to preserve its strength in psychological horror. It also should be commended how Frictional Games cleverly uses physics for solving particular puzzles, or to overcome seemingly impossible sections, which defines the undisputed talent of the developers.
The Nightmare Continues
The expansion Justine is not what most people expect. Further developing upon what was established in The Dark Descent, the emphasis is placed more on the puzzles or tests, inspired, according to its creators, in the Saw movie series. If in The Dark Descent the staid rhythm moves in association with a narrative which predominates the suspense, in Justine the new timing of the story imposes a speed increase in gameplay. Much darker and merciless: the evidence of our psychopathic jailer puts us front and center against the horror, forcing us to think quickly to avoid the monstrosities and to pass the test without dying. The presence of permanent death also increases by far the oppressive weight of any error.
A Machine for Pigs closes the trilogy with a chapter set in London during the Victorian era. The official result is no longer maintained by Frictional Games, but, as stated earlier, by The Chinese Room, and unfortunately this is not always a positive. Compared to the original, the control scheme is much more simplified, removing the Sanity meter, the lamp never runs out of fuel, the interaction is significantly reduced, and everything is organized on a flatter structure. While somewhat inferior compared to the first chapter, A Machine for Pigs point does incorporate a well-told story, grotesque, disturbing and full of allegories on the industrial revolution as a symbol of human degradation. Not lacking in well-chosen moments and some fear, but in general it is a product which offers a different experience compared to the horrors of The Dark Descent and Justine.
Unfortunately, while The Dark Descent and Justine have a stable frame rate of around 60 fps, the same cannot be said for A Machine for Pigs, the most recently released game of the collection. The horror The Chinese Room tries to illicit does not always maintain the same fluidity in all circumstances, and some inexplicable drops in frames will occur during the exploration of these spacious halls of the London villa. The porting of the three titles on PS4 is a bit dodgy, considering these are older titles, but overall Blitworks did a good job keeping all the games at 1080p and 60 fps. Also, controlling can become a problem for precise movements when you want to just pick up a small item in the environment.
Final Thoughts
Frictional Games has brought over these cult classics to the PS4, and this collection is a must play for anyone who is even remotely into horror titles, representing some of the best horror thrills of this generation. The Dark Descent and Justine alone are worth the price of admission, but also the inclusion of A Machine for Pigs is a welcome move for those who want a different, more straightforward experience, although some bugs and framerate issues occur. This is definitely one series you will want to lose sleep over.
