Amnesia: Rebirth is a work of mastery, and as such it reflects the artistic ability of the developers as well as their mental schemes. It has one main problem: It comes as an indirect sequel of a legendary game, The Dark Descent. In this sense, making a hit is always both a benediction and a curse, as all the titles Frictional made and will make after it will be compared to it.
Rebirth expands the Amnesia universe by directly projecting the players into the unknown that in the Dark Descent was only suggested to imagination, and it does it very, very well. During the entire story, it's inevitable to feel a sense of hope in contrast with a growing feeling of desperation.
The Good:
- Wonderfully designed in every aspect.
- Great story that drags into a storm of emotions and doubts.
- Superb voice acting and well crafted dialogues.
- Immersion is well achieved.
- Frightening. Not as much as other Frictional's games, but a must for horror enthusiasts.
The Bad:
- Some enemy encounters feel frustrating and unfair.
- Dealing with enemies is much less interesting than in other Frictional games.
P.S.: Amnesia: Rebirth is great, but it reflects the modern times' tendency to exasperate and exaggerate things a little too much, with a partial loss of the beauty that older games have.
Rebirth feels like a celebration of the series, with great ideas and terrifying moments that reminds us why the fathers of the new wave of survival horror remain undefeated.
Despite some boring locales and an over-reliance on the darkness just for the sake of it, Amnesia: Rebirth is an excellent horror game with some fun puzzles, well-written characters, and genuinely terrifying moments.
Amnesia: Rebirth is a game that deserves the name of the series with its gripping story and exquisite design. Anyone who loves horror games should buy and play it.
The uneven storytelling is a shame, because if Amnesia: Rebirth had a narrative as unsettling as its play loop, it might be an all-time great. Frictional’s ability to generate tension and moment-to-moment fear is unparalleled, and SOMA showed that an equally powerful story is within their abilities. Unfortunately, Rebirth doesn’t reach those heights, though it remains a tremendously effective vehicle for scares.
With a tighter script and more polish, this could've been a fantastic game that paralleled the trauma of child loss to the evil enterprise of colonial expansion. Instead, it's one that insincerely mines trauma from a colonizer's perspective... then asks you to do a half-hearted physics puzzle.
I started seen this game at twitch and i didnt enjoy a lot, so i stoped watching. Then I gave it a try, and it was a totally difference experience. In my opinion, this is one of the best immersive horror games that are out there, and the story telling is slow but rewarding if you take the time to read everything and trying to understand what this game want to talk about. The characters feel like actual human beings and I empathize with them a lot more than any other games. In the section of gameplay, the tremendous physic engine allows the devs to create really good puzzles and the suspense and jumpscares feel actually scary and unexpected, that is difficult to feel when you already played a lot of horror games before. I totally recommend this game if you are seeking for a new and different horror experience.
Finally, some kind of sane game_design (in a bad way). Sadly, scripted one-hole journey with non-skippable animations, again. After 3/4 of walkthrough I just wanted it to end.
An extremely interesting lore of the game is revealed in minimal details and in broad strokes.
The development of the environment balances at the junction of the intriguing and the tasteless.
To this part, the Darkness completely turns into a game-design "crutch" and "piano in the bushes". Absolutely exhausted mechanics.
Nevertheless, it's worth playing for the sake of an episode in the fortress with the radio, if you came for horror. And for the sake of the views/moods of a pre-antique parasitic civilization, if you are a connoisseur.
Gameplay:
combat mechanics 1/10
stealth 4/10
atmosphere [very uneven] 8/10
Gameplay as immersive horror (the Fortress only) 7/10
Story [AMAZING lore again, with morbid **** plot] 7/10
Graphics 7/10
Sounds & music [annoying "scratching bugs" sound again!] 7/10
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I just hope that The Bunker was 'based' on the Fortress from here.
A good story and puzzle game somehow but not a horror game. It didn't scare me at all. It first was more a story game and at the end a bit like a puzzle. Walking forward and back finding things, trying to understand how this damn thing works.
As a fan of Frictional's previous games, I was expecting something great after the brilliant SOMA. Sadly, Rebirth falls back on the lamest horror cliches: walking through endless dark hallways, enemies that are basically zombies, spooky images popping out of nowhere. The puzzles are very mundane and frustrating. For example, in one area I couldn't figure out how to progress; the solution was to pick up an object in a dark room that didn't look like it could be picked up and use that. It's never very clear what details in your surroundings are important. The main gameplay mechanic is collecting matches to activate light fixtures, so the protagonist doesn't get too "scared." But unlike real life, you can't use a light source that's already burning to light other light sources. There's also a lantern, but it runs out of oil so quickly and its light is dimmer than a single lit match. So it quickly feels very silly and contrived. The game is fairly immersive, and the voice acting is great. It's just so monotonous to actually play. And as a final slap in the face, you'll probably get the "bad" ending unless you have fore knowledge of what you're supposed to actually do.
If you're curious about this game, just watch it on youtube; it's one of the worst games I've ever played to completion.
SummaryYou can't let out a breath. The creature is only inches away. Its sole purpose - to feed off your terror. And so you crouch in the dark, trying to stop the fear rising, trying to silence what lies within you. "I know you. I know what you're capable of." In Amnesia: Rebirth, you are Tasi Trianon, waking up deep in the desert of Algeria. D...