Amnesia: The Bunker Reviews
Amnesia: The Bunker is a meaty package that keeps giving each time a new game starts. The world feels lived in, the horrors don’t ever let up, and no matter how much players try to farm fuel for the generator, they’ll never feel safe. It’s short enough to be finished in an evening, but I expect fans to play this game for years to come. Analyzing the way The Beast behaves, the intricacies of the randomization mechanics, and the unrelenting setting that portrays just an iota of what it must have felt like to be a soldier on the front lines.
Amnesia: The Bunker is a thrilling horror game that makes fantastic use of its setting to keep players tense, scared, and desperate to keep the lights on.
While 'Amnesia: The Bunker' is a brief, albeit very replayable experience, we’d wager that even the most grizzled survival horror veterans will be clenching their sphincters as they navigate Frictional Games' masterclass in terror. The overhauled gameplay loop is a welcome change, though 'The Bunker' does fall victim to the same shortcomings as its predecessors, which makes it feel somewhat dated in places.
Frictional should be commended for at least trying something a bit different when compared to their previous offerings. As the studio continued to evolve and iterate on their linear experiences, there is a hope that they will continue to learn and iterate on this idea of a semi-open world horror experience. Perhaps in a few years' time we will see Frictional create a title that again hits the highs of Soma but with the added freedom to explore and experiment in the game world. It would be nice to look back in a few years at The Bunker as being a steppingstone to something greater, but right now it's hard to see it as anything other than a short, "merely ok" game from a studio that has crafted much more compelling releases in the past.
Amnesia: The Bunker is one of the most terrifying horror games ever made, but those looking for Resident Evil 4 levels of length and replayability are going to be left seriously disappointed.
Amnesia: The Bunker sticks a little too close to what Frictional Games has been doing for over a decade now, but with a more free-form approach to gameplay, the team is back on the right track again. Coupled with an excellent setting, Amnesia: The Bunker represents a vast improvement over its predecessor. You'll still encounter the same stumbling blocks of old, but this horror experience comes recommended.
Amnesia: The Bunker is excellent, offering the dread and terror you'd expect along with engaging new mechanics. Some technical issues occasionally break the immersion, but Frictional's approach to frightening and challenging you still offers its best thrills.
Amnesia: The Bunker has a fantastic dynamic involving light and power management, as you explore an atmospheric WW1 bunker and avoid a monster with a keen sense of hearing. Despite a lack of puzzles, a bland story, and a few monster quirks, it packs enough good horror to keep players on edge.
Beyond just claiming the title of the best Amnesia game to date, it's also one of the best survival horror experiences of recent times, and a perfect entry to spearhead the franchise's future into a new direction.
Frictional Games reinvigorates the series that made it famous with its scariest game in years.
Amnesia: The Bunker felt like it was somehow different from its predecessors. The puzzle-heavy horror game and a hint of resource management give the anxiety of suddenly plunging into danger. I felt like the franchise made a different approach but in the end of the day it’s worth the adventure.
There are lots of ideas in Amnesia: The Bunker that are truly intriguing. I love the World War 1 setting as a backdrop for a horror story, especially the way it intersects with technology of the era. But the way gameplay elements are introduced as friction meant to induce tension simply feel overtuned. I often felt like I was fighting the game just to get around, which was frustrating in a software kind of way rather than an atmospheric enhancement. I wasn’t scared because I was too busy squinting or yanking on the flashlight’s pull cord just so I could pull on doors and latches. No amount of spooky ambiance in the background could bring me back into the experience.
Even without revolutionary additions, Amnesia: The Bunker does not disappoint in the horror department. The darkness of the underground is really scary and fills you with anxiety, but, despite not being something necessarily negative, the new game in the franchise brings more of the same without being especially striking. For lovers of the genre, however, the experience is quite satisfying, and it will be even more when the technical issues are resolved.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Amnesia: The Bunker is a step down from Amnesia: Rebirth. New release from Frictional Games is visually boring, lacks atmosphere and can get on your nerves with constantly teleporting stalker enemy.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Amnesia: The Bunker feels like returning to the roots for Frictional Games, with its strong emphasis on gameplay and cohesive mechanics.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Amnesia: The Bunker is a more guided experience than it claims, where ingenuity and improvisation are replaced by tedious resource management.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Amnesia: The Bunker is an essential horror game and an inspired next step for the series.
Amnesia: The Bunker introduces a brilliant gameplay with many new features for the series. It is a real survival horror with a great atmosphere and a superb concept. Too bad for the randomic encounters with the creature, often not well balanced.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Amnesia: The Bunker is a heart stopping horror that constantly leaves you in fear, but it's all the better for it.
Amnesia: The Bunker is a bold new direction for the series, and it chiefly pays off with brilliant scares and disempowerment of the player. The bottlenecked level design can be frustrating though, as can the nature of do-overs with the beast hot on your heels.