Frictional Games, the longtime stewards of the iconic horror franchise Amnesia, have today announced the latest entry, Amnesia: The Bunker. The game is an open-world sandbox survival horror set in the oppressive bunkers of World War I, marking a departure from the more linear nature of the previous entries. No firm release date has been announced yet but the game is coming to PC and consoles sometime in 2023, and will also be hitting Xbox Game Pass.
While the Amnesia series, along with Frictional Games’ other critically acclaimed horror outing Soma, were both industry leaders in scripted, cinematic scares, Amnesia: The Bunker sees the team pushing in a new direction. “Amnesia: The Bunker will feature a new kind of horror survival adventure that incorporates emergent gameplay and sandbox elements into the mix.” Frictional said in a press release, going on to explain that “Players will be in total control of their moment-to-moment decisions. Armed with a revolver gun and a noisy dynamo flashlight, players will walk the course of an ill-lighted WW1 bunker on the shoes of a French soldier troubled by his amnesia and hunted by an otherworldly creature.“
The titular bunkers will apparently create something of a semi-open-world environment, full of emergent gameplay possibilities as the game is designed to react to and shift around your choices. The game’s environments will also be unscripted meaning that items, enemies and resources will move between different playthroughs and allow the adaptive horror elements more of a chance to shine than in previous Amnesia entries. Amnesia: The Bunker will also be drawing on the very real horror of WWI but distorting this lone soldier’s story into something more fantastical. As we see in the reveal trailer above, you will be armed and facing down something horrible in the dark.
Amnesia: The Bunker is also boasting some fancy new lighting and looks great for it
Exactly how well Frictional Games can adapt to this new kind of horror experience remains to be seen but the game certainly looks cool. When we reviewed Amnesia: Rebirth two years back we called it a “cruel yet mesmerising experience that goes above and beyond in not only its existential horror but its intuitive puzzles and gripping story that goads you ever onwards“. You can check out that review right here on WellPlayed but are you keen on Amnesia: The Bunkers? Be sure to let us know in the comments below or on social media.
