When I first dived into the latest Amnesia, I thought about an FMV game that launched a few years back, also known simply as ‘The Bunker’.

Similarly to this FMV adventure, there’s a sense of peril, suspense and terror as you traverse dark corridors of this Amnesia, relying on a lantern you continuously need to keep charging and minimal ammunition to protect yourself.

Set during World War 1, the game starts out like some of the more recent Call of Duty titles with you evading gun fire and diving into cover on the frontlines, but this is definitely less of a shooter, more of a stealth and puzzler as the game slowly introduces some of its interesting mechanics to you, like moving planks of wood out of the way, twisting and turning them to suit, and throwing items at barricades to break them apart.

While trying to survive and help allies, though, the odds eventually become insurmountable and you soon find yourself rendered unconscious, waking up in a seemingly abandoned bunker. But in true Amnesia fashion, you quickly learn you’re not alone.

Therein lies the key is that this is still wholly, undeniably Amnesia. The game you’ve been playing for over ten years in various different forms. The difference is that Frictional are experimenting with setting, making it more uneasy and nervy.

You’re making more use of your environment by picking up items and combining them, like pieces of cloth or using a gas canister to fill a generator. The big change here is that this is less of a walking sim as others have been and more interactive and puzzle-solving in nature.

Players have an inventory they’ll need to tend to, make sure it doesn’t overstock, with a chest you can use to store overflowing items, adding a bit of management which adds a whole new spin to the series.

That’s a smart angle for Frictional to approach as you try to escape the clutches of horror, stay alive and find a way to counter a lack of ammo. As mentioned, there’s regular barriers in your way, so you’ll need to throw bricks at them to break, lob grenades to explode or even let the monster attack and break them down for you.

It’s a great way to create organic anxiety in a familiar environment. Rather than pre-determined events, things can play out very differently in every playthrough. And this is further expanded upon by having multiple endings and procedurally generated codes to unlock rooms so you can’t just memorise a route.

And even the game’s use of discovery through a map in a set location rather than letting you just carry one around helps play into that, as well as the fact you have to manually save the game by lighting lanterns in set rooms, similar to typewriters in Resident Evil.

This is a great way to modernise horror while also making sure the game stays authentically Amnesia but with new twists.

Of course, fans will be well aware Amnesia games have potential to be brief, and this one can be clocked in just over two hours. Less for speedrunners. As mentioned, there’s multiple ways to play and get around, but it doesn’t change the fundamental core loop, nor the fact that the game is a quick snack rather than a main course.

Still, with the smart ideas at play, the new use of setting and environmental detail, as well as a more action-centric approach, this is one of the best Amnesia games to date.

Verdict

Amnesia: The Bunker is a well-designed, short sharp episode in the award-winning horror series. The setting is suitably tense, the new inventory management and puzzle-solving philosophy feeds into the suspense, along with the limited resources, and the multiple endings do add replayability. Short length and some interactivity issues aside, this is another memorable Amnesia game and one of the best to date.

Pros

+ Tense environment open to exploration
+ Inventory management and puzzle solving is smart and feeds wonderfully into the suspense
+ Multiple endings encourage more playthroughs