Just in time for Halloween, Amnesia: Rebirth has finally launched on PC and PS4. The long-awaited follow-up to Frictional Games’ previous survival horror titles, the game can be considered a direct sequel to Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Amnesia: Machine for Pigs, because a bit of exploration by intrepid players will uncover the answers to mysteries remaining from those games.
The protagonist of Amnesia: Rebirth, Tasi Trianon awakens in the Algerian desert of 1937 with, of course, amnesia. Days have passed and, as the player character endeavors to discover what has happened and piece together the fragmented memories of her past, Tasi spirals downward into an eldritch world that in many ways is stranger and more foreboding than that of Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
With Amnesia: Rebirth, developer Frictional Games promises a first-person horror experience as deep and troubling as its predecessors and, depending on how quickly one solves the puzzles that halt progression, the game can be beaten in approximately 7 to 10 hours. This suggests an experience on par with The Dark Descent and a few hours longer than Machine for Pigs.
The survival horror gameplay of Amnesia: Rebirth is little changed from the first game, with the return of a sanity (this time called fear) meter that must be carefully managed whenever Tasi ventures into the dark, observes troubling images, or encounters monsters. Once again, players will be constantly scrounging for oil for the handheld lantern and matches to light torches and candles. Whether this return to the tried and true mechanics of The Dark Descent is redundant or a welcome throwback will ultimately be up to the player to decide.
Unlike its predecessor, however, which took place essentially in the same dark and claustrophobic Brennenburg Castle over the course of protagonist Daniel’s adventure, Amnesia: Rebirth introduces a range of ominous environments. Players can expect to explore underground caverns, ancient ruins, and forgotten villages, all filled with puzzles that must be solved in order to advance in the story.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent was considered groundbreaking in many ways when it released in 2010, with critics and players declaring it essentially “the most frightening game ever” in one way or another, and the game received review scores that reflected that sentiment. For a good year at least, the title filled the channels of horror game content creators on YouTube and, so far, reviews for Amnesia: Rebirth seem to consider it a worthy follow-up.
Amnesia: Rebirth released on October 20 for PC and PS4.