Played Amnesia at last, met expectations!

[Batman55]

I took a long time in getting a PC good enough to play Amnesia in full HD resolution, maxed out, and so on. It was worth the wait. Indeed, here is the rare game that exceeded expectations.

I thought I would point out I don't really get scared by games or movies anymore, either due to being jaded from having been exposed to so many, or just aging a bit. With that in mind, Amnesia was still able to surprise with a good scare often. I never thought I should scream or stop playing, but rather I was pleasantly surprised that I could still be scared at all. Of course, the horror atmosphere was spectacular.

The gothic-inspired themes, being locked inside a medieval castle, this has never looked better. While the game repeats textures frequently, what you see works perfectly well within the context, and looks great in an HD resolution.

The light-sanity technique, combined with the ominous sounds and music, virtually none of it cheesy... it was all calibrated with such obvious care and effort. The music and sound folks should hired again for your next title.

The gameplay was simple but not bland, the physics engine (did they use Havok physics?) always kept things interesting, it was fun to bash everything around in a crowded room or throw crap down the well. Forget shooting everything in sight, this game doesn't need it. Atmosphere is enough and it's rarely been done so well.

This may be a formula that's hard to improve. Of course, the game is not perfect. The few actual people in the game looked stiff. The story was a little thin, but this is an area where I'm unsure what to think... does a well-crafted horror game really need an elaborate story? I would have liked some more diversity with the monsters and perhaps a limited way to attack or stop them--not to satisfy the FPS crowd, but just to mix things up a bit. A better ending is an obvious suggestion. I know some find the game too short, but I have no complaints here--the game is polished and the experience is concentrated, avoiding unnecessary repetition.

With the kind of game Frictional has made--atmosphere first, gameplay and interface reduced for immersion--I imagine the story is the most challenging aspect. That's why it's hard to critique this area or to make suggestions.

For me at least, it's hard to recommend a new direction for Frictional to take in their next title (for purposes of ease, I'll exclude Machine for Pigs from this discussion, as it's being developed by another group). I'm aware it will use an improved engine, which always helps; there's no reason better graphics or lighting effects would detract from anything. And unless they want to add elements from other genres or try something completely different, I would say "bigger and better" is the only suggestion I have.

For the rest of you, what flaws did you find with the game?