With every hit your mind takes, the symptoms of madness worsen. The longer you stay in the dark, the more your sanity suffers, until truly upsetting effects start to take place. The monsters aren't your only enemy, however. Your first encounter with an enemy is so unexpected that you can't help but panic, especially considering there's absolutely nothing you can do but turn and run and hope it doesn't follow. The pacing is very interesting, as it starts you off assuming there's something lurking around every corner, then lulls you into a false sense of security by making you believe there's nothing to the game at all beyond racing to keep the lamps lit and gathering the various clues that piece together the story. They're terrifying, but they're few and far between. Often, it isn't what is actually there that is most scary, it's what you imagine is there. As you progress, doors will open and close on their own, draughts will blow out the candles that provide you with light and creaking, groaning, moaning noises will follow you through the darkened hallways. The atmosphere of the game is constantly reminding you that this is no ordinary castle. That's really all there is to interacting with your environment. Right clicking the mouse button will cause the door to slam shut quickly. Holding down the left mouse button and either pushing or pulling a door will open and close it. Right clicking while the object is still in your hand will cause Daniel to fling it across the room. Clicking on an object and dragging it in the direction you want it to go will lead Daniel to pick it up and set it down. The controls are easy enough to get the hang of. All that stands between you and the enemy are a few well-placed doors and a short supply of tinderboxes. First of all, you have no weapons and no way of defending yourself at all. The gist is that there is a very bad man doing very bad things somewhere within the castle walls, and Daniel is the only one who can stop him.ДЇrom there, you simply have to keep moving forward, which sounds easy enough. The story is compelling, and is told mostly through letters Daniel wrote to himself before losing his memory. You begin by taking control of Daniel, an Englishman who has just awoken in a dark, damp castle with no recollection of who he is or why he's there. In fact, they make the game infinitely more unsettling. These factors don't detract from the experience at all, however. The graphics are humble, and the actual game play is relatively simplistic. Amnesia does away with everything we've come to expect from survival horror games, and the result is truly terrifying.ДЄmnesia isn't flashy, nor is it in any way a spectacular looking game. There's no denying that there is fun to be had in games like that, but the 'horror' aspect tends to get diluted when your unlikely arsenal of heavy duty weaponry ensures than any actual fear factor is kept at bay.

These days, 'survival horror' has come to mean 'big guy with big gun waltzes through level after level mowing down hoards of unnamed mutants'. By Kells87 | Review Date: OctoI'm often sceptical of games that are marketed as 'survival horror'.

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