For so long as I’ve been capable of maintain a controller, I’ve had a fascination with horror video games. From the large spider in Uncle Fester’s Quest on the NES to Nonetheless Wakes the Deep‘s unsettling physique monstrosities impressed by The Factor, there’s one thing about being scared whereas gaming that’s been a relentless in my life. No extra is that this true than with Frictional Video games’ Amnesia sequence.

There was a time within the early 2000s when horror gave the impression to be fighting its identification. Resident Evil had misplaced its manner with extra action-based releases and we hadn’t actually had a notable Silent Hill recreation because the third one. Actually, till Lifeless Area arrived in 2008, we just about needed to flip to much less mainstream video games like Deadly Body. Even the outstanding BioShock felt extra like motion with a robust narrative than it did pure survival horror.

Then Frictional got here alongside and – a minimum of for me – wrote new guidelines on tips on how to scare gamers. As such, I really feel it’s my obligation to rank all of the Amnesia video games from worst to finest. This record is predicated alone opinions somewhat than Metacritic scores or gross sales figures. Additionally, calling any of them the “worst” is a little bit of a misnomer. I worth all of the entries, however I simply take into account some to be extra impactful than others.

Amnesia: Rebirth (2020)

Frictional Video games had been away from the Amnesia sequence for a while, having revealed, somewhat than developed, the second recreation and releasing SOMA within the interim. Nonetheless, with Rebirth, it felt just like the studio wished to have one other crack on the universe that helped put it on the indie horror radar.

Sustaining the components that originally made the crew a hit, this third entry unraveled extra of the overarching story and historical past that the primary recreation had set out years beforehand. It was additionally the primary – and solely time, as of this text going dwell – that Frictional had positioned a lady as the primary protagonist.

Rebirth was a advantageous recreation with some good scares, nevertheless it didn’t really feel prefer it was doing rather a lot to actually stand out. By this level, the run-and-hide mechanics of the survival horror style had been improved and – dare I say – perfected by the likes of Outlast and Alien Isolation. Even Resident Evil 7 obtained in on the act, so it felt like Amnesia wasn’t doing rather a lot with the blueprint, save for the Traveler’s Amulet that opened as much as alien worlds.

So as to add yet one more criticism that’s maybe finest saved for one more article: Rebirth‘s determination to have Tasi be pregnant all through felt like low-hanging fruit, so to talk. There’s a complete educational thesis you’ll be able to notice from male creatives using a “being pregnant=horror” cliché that possibly I’m not certified to debate in nice element. I imply, Alien did that one many years in the past. Then once more, the sport is known as Rebirth, so possibly I’m studying an excessive amount of into it.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs (2013)

I discussed Nonetheless Wakes the Deep earlier, which was helmed by The Chinese language Room. Years earlier than that, nonetheless, the studio was a part of a debate surrounding the entire “strolling simulator” style, because of its fantastically written Expensive Esther. I’d performed that and loved the story, even when there’s some argument available about whether or not it’s classed as a “recreation.”

Skip ahead a couple of years and the developer introduced us A Machine for Pigs, the second within the Amnesia sequence. Happening on the flip of the nineteenth century, the sport may be very a lot concerning the horrors of industrialization. Whereas it was nonetheless capable of dole out the scares, there was way more emphasis on the narrative, which, very similar to Expensive Esther, I discovered to be totally enthralling.

Many would maybe not agree with me, and that’s honest. I’ve seen a whole lot of suggestions on the sport and followers appear to really feel that that is maybe the weakest Amnesia entry, possibly owing to its extra strolling simulator philosophy. I can positively see why some could be extra crucial about this if they simply wished extra of what The Darkish Descent gave us.

Nonetheless, I worth A Machine for Pigs for its means to strip again what made the earlier recreation such a landmark horror launch. It eliminated the sanity meter (which does turn out to be a bit tedious within the first recreation), removed the stock – together with the usage of tinderboxes and lantern oil – and solely tangentially linked it to the earlier installment. All this whereas delivering one thing that was not solely visually darkish, however morally as properly, whereas nonetheless wrapped up in an Amnesia overcoat.

Amnesia: The Bunker (2023)

You could possibly say that The Bunker was a return to kind, however I might say this represented one thing completely different from Frictional. Completely different in a great way. Once more, gone is the sanity meter. In its stead, the random placement of significant gear and objects, in addition to the implementation of a single creature that hunts you Xenomorph type. The outcome: a basic survival horror recreation that has replay worth.

That’s not the one cause why I’ve positioned it second. I discovered it to be nearly as unnerving as the opposite video games within the sequence. It additionally manages to create stress in a comparatively small map that requires a whole lot of trekking backwards and forwards with out it changing into tedious.

I used to be somewhat uncertain concerning the determination so as to add in a gun and explosives, curious as as to if Frictional had a shock up its sleeve. Possibly the gun would jam or there’s solely be, like, three bullets all through the entire recreation. Possibly the grenades exploded confetti in all places somewhat than shrapnel. That wasn’t the case, however the studio managed to stability scares with some semblance of safety that gave a little bit of company again to the participant. They usually did it properly.

It nonetheless very a lot appears like an Amnesia recreation, nevertheless it’s been modernized to maintain the components contemporary. In reality, given how a lot I actually loved The Bunker, I’m really stunned I didn’t put it on the primary spot, however there may be kind of a cause for that. And sure, I assume it does must do with nostalgia.

Amnesia: The Darkish Descent (2010)

I bear in mind being at uni, and a good friend of mine described this new horror recreation he’d been enjoying that he was certain I’d be into. I’m paraphrasing right here:

Mainly, you don’t have any weapons, so you’ll be able to’t battle the monsters. You need to run and conceal from them. Additionally, if you happen to have a look at the monsters for too lengthy, your character goes insane. It’s finest to cover at midnight…which additionally makes you go insane.

He was giving me the SparkNotes on Amnesia: The Darkish Descent, and it sounded proper up my Straße; one thing completely different. The concept of enjoying a recreation the place you weren’t probably the most highly effective being and needed to keep away from battle totally whereas being scared right into a non-Euclidean universe appeared like one thing I might be on board with. And I used to be.

The Darkish Descent was not solely a terrifying horror recreation, nevertheless it was one thing of a mold-breaker. If you would like your horror video games to truly be scary (I do know, a radical thought), then taking away any energy and requiring cowardice within the face of terrifying atrocities is the best way to do it. What Amnesia did was rain down a pants-shittingly horrifying expertise that not solely set new boundaries for the style but additionally helped popularize the YouTube “let’s play” phenomenon that’s nonetheless going to at the present time.

True that The Darkish Descent has aged through the years, and its horror recipe has been tinkered with and improved, nevertheless it deserves its prime spot for its affect. Frictional Video games seemingly had no thought of the impression the gothic challenge they have been growing would have on the style. Quite a lot of titles talked about already owe a debt of gratitude to the primary Amnesia, so for that, it goes down as the perfect of the sequence, however solely simply forward of The Bunker.

Honorable mentions

Enthusiastic about it, there isn’t actually a Frictional recreation that I haven’t loved, so it’s value a fast chat on a few of the studio’s different releases. Earlier than Amnesia did its Amnesia factor, there was Penumbra. This was the developer’s first sequence, initially popping out in 2007. However it was 2008’s Penumbra: Black Plague that will set issues in movement for what was to come back. Hiding from enemies, no weapons or methods to battle again: these have been the hallmarks that will have an enormous impact on survival horror when The Darkish Descent would finally launch.

On prime of that, I’ve to present an enormous shoutout to SOMA. Again once I was nonetheless attempting to make a residing as a contract video games journalist (I take advantage of that time period very loosely), I used to be fortunate sufficient to be given a evaluation copy of the sport earlier than it launched. Let me inform you, it instantly turned certainly one of my favourite horror video games of all time. It nonetheless retains its excessive place in my mind.

It wasn’t a lot the scares, although there have been greater than sufficient. It was worry as imagined in probably the most existential manner potential. It was Frictional at its writing finest, mixing deep sci-fi with the deep ocean, creating dread sufficient to shake the concept of what it means to be human to its core. It was Amnesia meets René Descartes, and I’m nonetheless right here for it.

You realize what, possibly this could have simply been a listing of all my favourite Frictional video games, not simply Amnesia. Oh properly.