Amnesia: The Bunker

Introduction

The stalker, the rats, the traps, and most of all the fear of the generator running out of fuel make Amnesia: The Bunker one of the scariest and most high-anxiety games I’ve ever played. I had a damn nightmare about this game! My nerves were already fried after a long day at work. So, after we got our daughter down to sleep, I tried to make some progress toward the escaping the bunker. Let’s just say things didn’t go well. I got shredded by rats on the way to maintenance. I hid from the stalker because I made too much noise busting down a door. I got trapped in a tunnel with a bunch of dead soldiers being eaten by rats. Then to cap it all off, I died to a grenade tripwire trap in the dark because the lights shut off on me. My ears still ringing from the grenade and my fists still clenched because of the incredibly annoying rats, I turned off my computer and went to sleep. Sweet dreams.

Experiences like that gnaw away at me, like those goddamn rats. In a Resident Evil game, I would’ve been right back at it, attempting that difficult section of the game over again. Ending things on a successful note. But in The Bunker, I was good, I had seen enough. The last time I felt that pure sense of dread was sitting in the Amnesia: The Dark Descent main menu hovering my mouse of the ‘continue game’ button and hearing the spine-chilling theme music.

I loved Amnesia: The Dark Descent when I was younger and first getting to PC gaming and horror games in particular. The horror and dread I felt were so novel, the physics-based puzzles reminded me of my beloved Half-Life 2, the sanity mechanic made for very compelling gameplay and created so much tension, and the story as good as those found in my favorite horror movies. Unfortunately, this is a recipe that I never really returned to or found in other games. While Soma had an incredible story and setting, my tastes over the decade shifted towards survival horror, most prominently being Resident Evil. Without the mechanical tie-ins to the horror that the sanity mechanic and physics-based environmental interactions provided, games like Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Outlast, and Layers of Fear fell flat for me.

An Evolution for Amnesia AND Survival Horror

So, this is where Amnesia: The Bunker fits in. Frictional and their latest addition to the Amnesia series evolved, similar to how my own taste in horror games evolved. The Bunker is a beautifully terrifying marriage of classic Amnesia horror and physics-based problem solving with tried-and-true survival horror mechanics, and that’s not even all.

Let’s touch on these survival horror mechanics because I think they’re really well implemented here in The Bunker. In no particular order, first there’s the level design that encourages thorough exploration and necessitates backtracking. A centralized, classic Resident Evil-style safe room with item box and save location act as your main base of operations. Off of the central hub, tunnels spiral out leading into four areas, maintenance, the arsenal, soldier’s quarters, and the prison. Each of these areas will need to be visited multiple times, so the central tunnels become well-trodden.

Next, there’s the restriction to offensive firepower and inventory. This is a survival horror staple that keeps the player on their toes and making tough decisions. In a survival horror game you might have access to all the tools and firepower you need, but it is critical for the game to make the player choose between weapons, medical items, accessories, and key items. The contents of your inventory in The Bunker are constantly being evaluated against your current situation. It would be easy to say:

Here’s a checklist of everything you need to survive The Bunker:

• A stopwatch - to monitor the fuel remaining in the generator
• A flashlight - to see in the dark
• Bolt cutters - to disable traps and open chained doors
• A pistol - in case the beast shows up
• A torch - to scare away the rats
• A lighter - for that torch, but wait…

That’s six out of my eight inventory slots. What if I need to gather fuel or pickup a key item? Yeah, so it’s not that simple. The restrictions force you to prepare, think ahead, and have a gameplan. Let’s try this again. Say my current objective is to retrace my steps and get to the communications room that I just sent power to where a key code is being broadcast.

Here’s a checklist of everything you need to survive progress in The Bunker:

• A stopwatch - to monitor the fuel remaining in the generator We’re heading to Travers’ bunk for a key, then to communications, then picking some items on the way out, we won’t be gone for long, I hope.
• A flashlight - to see in the dark
• Bolt cutters - to disable traps and open chained doors I’ve already been this way so I know there’s no tripwires in the way, I’ll stash the bolt cutters for now
• A pistol - in case the beast shows up
• A torch - to scare away the rats I can recall my path and realize I can avoid rats if I take a short detour through the soldier’s bunk.
• A lighter - for that torch, but wait… Same story as above

Now I have space for the communications key, and then five more slots for whatever loot I can find in communications. This even gives me the flexibility to take a grenade or bandage in case something goes wrong. All in all, I love this type of game-planning in survival horror and I think Frictional have hit the nail on the head fitting it into Amnesia.

Lastly, there’s a simple objective, escape the bunker. My two cents is that any decent survival horror game should be centered around escape. Again I shall reference Resident Evil, in particular 1 and 2, and in those games, what is the goal? Oh right, escape the mansion, escape the police station… It’s that simple. How you escape however is usually a bit more convoluted. It’s convoluted by design though, yet the individual puzzle pieces are nothing revolutionary: find the key, restore power to the area, backtrack to use a tool to access another item, decipher a key code, etc. No complaints though, if it isn’t broke.

Where Amnesia adds onto the survival horror recipe is with the generator, and I believe to great success. This anxiety inducing piece of machinery is the source electricity for all the lights and various other pieces of equipment in the bunker and it’s up to you to keep it fueled. This turns the bunker into a dynamic environment that changes its tone literally at the flip of switch. When the generator is on, you’re cautiously walking around, trying to avoid making loud noises, but also keeping some pep in your step as to not waste fuel. When the generator is off, you’re crouch-walking, you can’t see anything, you’re constantly checking that you’re not going to set off a tripwire, and the stalker is way more active.

Speaking of the stalker… how could I forget. The carefully balanced ecosystem that exists in the bunker couldn’t work without the apex predator. The level design, the tripwires, the rats, the generator, etc. lose so much with without this unkillable stalker enemy. I don’t want to reveal to much because a big part of the game is dealing with this creature. I will say that if you’re familiar with the Necromorph from Alien Isolation then you’ll generally know what you’re getting into with The Bunker’s stalker.

The Horrors of War

The setting of a WW1 bunker is a stroke of genius for a survival horror game, just by its nature, it’s a claustrophobic, horrific environment. WW1 was a unique time in history where humanity was just starting to become very efficient at killing but still was very barbaric when it came to medical treatment and warfare tactics. I mean these warring nations were rolling tanks out onto the battlefield, torching trenches with flamethrowers, gassing entire frontlines, and using machine guns but penicillin hadn’t even been discovered yet.

While the horror takes place entirely underground, the few glimpses you get of the surface are equally violent and terrifying. A particular moment that I believe would stick with most people is discovering the pillbox. Here it is:

Damn, our French soldier Henri can’t catch a break… But from the game’s perspective I love this. What a bleak and hostile reality.

Replayability

Survival horror games of the past have often featured some level of replayability. Whether it’s differences between Jill and Chris’ campaign in Resident Evil or the alternative scenarios of Resident Evil 2, I’ve always enjoyed returning to these games through slightly different lenses. The Bunker does something different however with the survival horror formula to achieve replayability. To great success, Frictional shuffles the puzzle box that is the bunker with every new playthrough. While main objectives and key items stay the same, small but impactful changes are made. Resource locations are shuffled, traps change places, dog tag locker codes are randomized, and rats will block off different areas.

I knew this was a feature, but didn’t realize its significance until my second playthrough on Shell Shock difficulty. In my first playthrough rats blocked my path to the maintenance area for the first two thirds of the game. On my second playthrough rats blocked the arsenal, so my strategy and order in which I completed objectives changed entirely. Who knows though because the next time around, maybe the rats are in the same spot but I find the lighter in the central bunker meaning I can burn the corpses the rats feed on.

These shifting aspects of the bunker are just enough to shake your confidence and force you to adapt while not enough to take away from its purposeful design and layout. I mention this because, to me, the bunker has joined the ranks of the Resident Evil mansion and the Resident Evil 2 police station as a memorable survival horror game location. Any game that has me looking for excuses to play it again, is certainly doing something right. Just like Resident Evil games, I saw there was an achievement for beating the game without saving and in my head I’m like, “sign me up!” Never drop an item or use the item box? “Say no more, I’m back.” Oh there’s achievement for speedrunning the game? “Yeah, I’m in.” Why is it the only games I’ve ever ‘speedrun’ are survival horror games?

Anyways, so here’s some evidence that I beat the game on Shell Shock difficulty. Holy shit it was difficult… Who thought using fuel to save your progress was a good idea? Just kidding, what an incredible survival horror idea!

And yes, you read that right, zero bullets fired, zero shells fired, no torches used, no petrol bombs used. Not by choice of course, I just didn’t come across their lockers codes and I wasn’t sticking around just for the fun of it. Thank goodness for hand grenades though! And if you’re wondering how I beat the final stalker encounter without those items, here you go. And no I did not use hand grenades, I ran of those well before the end.

Verdict

★★★★1/2

Amnesia: The Bunker is a thoroughly impressive addition to the survival horror genre. Frictional have successfully integrated survival horror staples with their iconic world, lore, and monster horror design. The stalker is an excellent implementation of the unkillable monster antagonist in the vein of the Necromorph from Alien Isolation and Mr. X/Nemesis from Resident Evil. The generator mechanic is a fresh and inspired addition that turns the bunker into a dynamic, unpredictable environment that can change its tone at a moment's notice. Randomized resource locations, traps, rats, locker codes, and customizable difficulty options mean the bunker can be revisited multiple times and remain uncomfortable and unfamiliar. What more can I say, other than that The Bunker is an incredibly complete survival horror package.