For those who love horror games: Check out "Amnesia"

[TheGreatCthulhu]

For all those who love a good horror game, I'd like to introduce you to this gem that came from an indie developer called Frictional Games. (Penumbra series, anyone?)

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

It's, IMO, a must have adventure/horror game that focuses on immersion and an creating an emotionally rich experience. Despite the title sounding cheesy, this is not your average scary game. The reviewers all gave it high scores (80, 85, 90+, refer to the bottom of this post), and all call it the scariest game in past 5 or so years. And so do the players.

What this game is:

Good
Adventure/exploration based/puzzler/scary as hell
Immersive
Innovative in some aspects
Mature
Spiritual successor of Penumbra-games.
Not too long, 8 hours or so.

What this game is not:

It's not the so called "survival-(so called)horror" such is Resident Evil 5, it doesn't throw hordes of raving zombies/lunatics/monsters at you and give you a gun/machete/superpowers expecting you to have fun eliminating them. In this game you are absolutely defenses.
It is not for the ones who don't expect a game to be more than a finger-exercise.
It is not for the faint of hart.
It is not a brain-melting puzzle game - the puzzles are more or less realistic, and only challenging enough to give you the feeling of being smart.
It is not expensive.

What you need to know:
This is a game of psychological horror, and as such, both visuals and sounds play a major role in delivering experience, so don't start this game with Winamp playing your favorite song in the background.

The best way to play is without distraction, in a dark room, headphones on. Everyone says that the games doesn't fail to deliver, and the tension builds up as you progress.

The game features the "play" of light and dark - you play as a bit mentally unstable man, and long exposure to dark leads to negative (audio/visual) effects on your sanity, so try to stay in the light. Except that, in the light, you're exposed to the threats of the game, with the dark being your only refuge. The system is surprisingly well balanced. And the light is a limited resource in this dark game...
The lost sanity is restored by progression and problem (puzzle) solving. There's no HUD, though, the game has other subtle ways to hint your current state (except when it's really bad, when it's not so subtle).

An interesting feature is the physics-system, that is maybe not revolutionary, but is rather innovative. To open doors or drawers, you don't simply click on them and wait for things to happen. You need to grab the handle, and pull the mouse back. Simple enough thing, but adds greatly to the atmosphere.

Frictional has put a loot of effort in exploring ways to increase player immersion and produce quality horror games, and I'd like to think that I contributed with an occasional comment at their excellent development blog.

Reviews:

"An unforgettable survival horror experience."
- IGN (85&#37

"Amnesia shows us by example that gaming has entirely new realms to explore."
- Game Informer (9.25/10)

"I think it is safe to say that Amnesia is the most successfully frightening game to have been made."
- Rock, Paper, Shotgun

"Rich in atmosphere and big on scares, Amnesia: The Dark Descent goes where survival-horror fears to tread."
- PC Gamer UK (88%)

"If you love horror, there's no two ways about it: you must play Amnesia."
- Neoseeker (90%)

"The gameplay, graphics and sound all coalesce into a perfectly-paced, unforgettably terrifying experience."
- Adventure Gamers (4.5/5)

If you like games like Silent Hill, Fatal Frame / Project Zero, or Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, than you'll love this.

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P.S. If anyone played, I'd love to see some comments.

P.P.S. If moderators find this post to be a bit too advertisement-like, just edit it to be less so.
I'm excited about this game so I couldn't help the tone, but I'd really like to share.