Amnesia: Rebirth
A crash into the Sahara, missing expedition members and a journey to the past beyond known civilisations, a nice blend of story and horror surrounds this enigmatic experience.
Story
After a plane crashes deep into the desert of Algeria, the central character faces an immediate struggle and a whole host of questions. She has no knowledge of how she ended up there, she is unable to locate anybody from the expedition and she does not know where to go next. She is all alone, isolated from society and miles away from the nearest form of an established settlement. As she begins exploring, she comes across remnants of an ancient culture who use to reside here in the distant past, but she has yet to come across a living being. Then, as the central character learns more and more about the lifestyle of the past, what appear to be mere ‘legends’ slowly end up unravelling to possibly reveal information which may not be based so far off from actual reality…
Character
There are a quite a few members of the Cassandra expedition. The slightly more significant ones include:
- Anastasie ‘Tasi’ Trianon (Alix Wilton Regan) — The central character. She wakes up with Amnesia and attempts to uncover the truth of the expedition.
- Salim Hannachi (Abhin Galeya) — Husband of Tasi. A riflemen. He has left drops of clues to allow Tasi to locate him.
- Alys (Saskia Donnelly) — Daughter of Tasi and Salim. Tasi has regular memories/visions of her child throughout her entire journey.
- James Henry ‘Hank’ Mitchell (John Macmillan) — Expedition leader. He was a seasoned explorer and therefore was a logical choice to employ.
- Leon De Vries (Anthony Ingruber) — A mining expert. He is generally disliked by the other members of the expedition.
- Yasmin Chabani (Lara Sawalha) — Hostess of the flight. She appears to have a deep friendship with Tasi and is generally liked by everyone.
- Dr. Anton Metzier (Nicholas Boulton) — The doctor of the expedition.
Worldbuilding
Its story takes place in 1930s Algeria. It is set in a remote location which is quite far away from the nearest civilisation. It is a game which is designed to be explored as opposed to just reaching the finish line. For this reason, there are a lot of minor details to admire as the story unravels. These include ancient equipment, pottery, writing, painting and also visions. You could somewhat make out how the people use to live in the past, but there is enough ambiguity left to the imagination to make the ancient society feel enigmatic. The tales of the game also blend with real-life legends, such as with the Jinn. The Jinn are a supernatural race of beings which exist in Arabian Mythology and Islamic theology. These entities are made up of a scorching, smokeless fire and are indeed referenced in a certain area of the game. As a player, this belief can be used to justify some of the more deep and fantastical aspects of the video game. Journals and notes are also collected as the story progress, which informs the player of what has happened alongside the central journey. It is these sorts of elements which creates the explorative genre.
Gameplay
The gameplay itself was relatively straight forward. There is limited combat as the game is more exploration-focused. There are a handful of puzzles. There are horror and suspenseful moments, especially when Tasi has to explore some of the dark areas of the ancient structures. She has to make sure she is surrounded by light. If she stays in the dark for too long, she will become insane and unstable. For this reason, the player can pick up a maximum of 10 match sticks to light up the candles, torches and fireplaces. The player can also hold a lantern, but this will require a steady supply of oil. It is all about the preservation.
Critique
I quite enjoyed this video game. I have played the previous Amnesia and Penumbra video games in the past, hence I was looking forward for this addition. In comparison to the other games in this franchise, this one definitely felt the most explorative. It felt more open-world, even though it is a linear game. The gameplay itself was easy to get into. It’s all about appreciating the artistry which lies before you. I would recommend this game to all those who appreciate suspenseful, horror or explorative genres.
Afterwords
This game was actually a break from my Resident Evil marathon. I have already played the previous three and I will more than likely start the fourth game in the franchise soon (even though I just completed Leon’s campaign in Resident Evil 6 at the time of the submission of this article).
