Amnesia: The Bunker (Multi)
By: Frictional
BEING a Swedish studio, Frictional's horrors are soaked in bleak nihilism, and while fourth time around for Amnesia is another oppressive, Lovecraftian yarn, the Scandi scare-mongers have finally shelved hide 'n' walk gameplay in favour of a non-linear sandbox.
Set in a First World War bunker where ancient evil is causing a fuss, fans of classic survival horror will get a kick out of this lean fright machine's tight five hours.
When French soldier Henri Clement is ambushed by Germans, he awakes in the titular bunker with a bad case of amnesia. Deserted and sealed up with a cave-in, players slowly piece together what happened through scribbled notes.
Your goal is simply to blast a way out, though finding the dynamite and detonator won't be easy. And, if Henri thought the krauts were bad, wait till he cocks an eyeful of the clawed mutant roaming his sinister shelter.
No Resident Evil-style zombie-busting here – players must instead use their smarts and resource management to outfox the monster. Right from the off, The Bunker tells you that "if you think something seems possible, it probably is", and there are myriad ways to tackle its brain-ticklers.
Want to get past that padlocked door? Either find the key, shoot or smash it with a nearby brick, though the latter will attract the attentions of the monster. Scarper and Henri's hobnails will alert his foe, as will cranking the old-timey flashlight or firing off a pistol.
Unlike previous games, players have more tools at their disposal than simply running and hiding, with guns, grenades and flares taking it to the big bad in-between trips to the admin office safe room, and all the while keeping its generator juiced with fuel to ensure the leccy – and lights – stay on.
The Bunker's vermin can be distracted with fire or a slab of old meat, and, though its creature can never truly be defeated, a few bullets in the kisser will at least buy Henri valuable seconds to either hide or run.
The Bunker's constant backtracking can be a chore, while its deliberately clunky tools – including glacial gun loading – will put off hair-trigger types.
Visually it's all solid enough, though far from blockbuster, and on PS4 there are loading hitches aplenty when entering new areas. The sound design, however, is excellent, with pulse-raising cries from the beast when nearby piercing the constant thumps of German shells above.
A lean, mean horror without a shred of fat on its bones, The Bunker is Amnesia's best since the original, even if is all a bit far-fetched – I mean, a brave French solider?
