Amnesia: The Bunker
Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, (Steam Deck: YMMV)
Current goal: Take deep breaths
I’m returning to Frictional Games’ white-knuckled survival horror Amnesia: The Bunker this weekend, and I’m hoping I don’t scream as much as I did the first time I played it.
Its simple premise shields an infinitely entertaining gameplay loop: You’re trapped in a desolate World War I bunker with a creature that wants to eat you, and you have only one bullet. You need to avoid being brutalized by picking up randomized items from inside moaning metal drawers and puzzling your way out of the gray inferno, or you die.
The Bunker has some unintentionally scary elements, too, which irritated me when I picked it up ahead of its release this summer; the hunchbacked monster’s AI is occasionally fucked, and it has chosen to rip me apart no matter what clever (I think) combination of flare, flashlight, and hiding shamefully, like I peed my pants, I commit to. I will practice mindfulness and meditation on this playthrough, though. If that doesn’t work, I’ll go back to therapy. — Ashley Bardhan
