- Game purchased from the Epic Games Store
- Completed in about 8 hours
- If you didn't play any of the previous games of the studio then go on Penumbra: Overture or on the latest Soma
- No need to have played the previous ones Amnesia to enjoy it
- Frictional games savor fully in the dark with a good helmet screwed on the ears
Algeria! Its joyful capital, its beautiful national parks, its burning sand dunes that potentially cover the cradle of humanity... But what would this beautiful country be without its gules, demonic spirits or its disturbing paranormal phenomena? I'm asking you. Toughness and sore throat... Please forgive my elucubrations dear reader, we must believe that the cosmic horrors of the game did not leave me unscathed. Go hop – search in his pocket and spring a small glass vial – , after all there is to my knowledge no state of soul than a lamp of laudanum Can't relieve!
Anear one Soma grandiose released in 2015 and the only evocation of which hedges all the hairs of my forearms, the Swedish Frictional Games came back at the end of 2020 with a new part of their flagship horrific series, I named Amnesia: Rebirth. True rebirth or umpteenth lard of a horrific saga that is already in its third episode? Answer in the test below.
When you're in the desert
March 1937: a plane crashed in the Algerian desert, a country under French occupation at the time. On board the Parisian archaeologist Anastasie Trianon, her husband Salim and a group of scientific colleagues. When she regains consciousness alone in the body of the apparatus, the young woman (known as "Tasi") suffers from amnesia. Disoriented and ill, impossible for her to remember anything that precedes the crash. Besides, several days seem strangely to have passed since the accident... Another shadow in the picture, not least, the heroine soon discovers that she is pregnant. It is up to the player to help Tasi find the trace of his team and at the same time to paste the fragments of his memory.
This is the starting point of the scenario. Without revealing too much, it is clear from his story that Amnesia: Rebirth stands out and rises up. Without reaching the narrative peaks of the excellent Soma, the intrigue quickly takes here a turn of horrific tale. This is perfectly suited to the narrative that reveals itself judiciously at a fragmented pace, according to the memories that come back. We will also appreciate the vibrant charcoal illustrations that dress certain flashbacks throughout the adventure or that fill the logbook of the archaeologist. It's almost like turning the pages of an album of Eerie or Creepy, which reinforces even more strongly the feeling of playing a Count of the Crypt mature, without the B-series side or excessively manicene. Lovecraftian influence is also omnipresent and cleverly distilled. A good excuse to highlight the high-flying artistic direction, regularly renewed through our dimensional journeys, haunted tomb explorations and other hallucinating visions of a parallel universe where cosmic horror stands out as normal.
The second passenger
Incarnate a pregnant woman is rare in video game. As everyone knows the AA and AAA industries have been used to our libido spirits playing hypersexualized women (Hello, Lara!) for today to offer us more strong female characters with strong character and deep as recently Jesse Faden in Control, Ellie in The Last of Us : Part 2 or Selene Vassos in Return to name but one. Here the narrative director Ian Thomas puts us at the forefront of sometimes selfish moral dilemmas that agitate Tasi. Physically tested by her irrational pregnancy and upset by a traumatic maternal past, she is nevertheless more determined than ever to save her baby... until she endangers her own carnal envelope.
The body horror is indeed an integral part of the young woman's ordeal. Do not, however, expect to see this mother in power deburring herself along and across as the first Jeff Goldblum came. Not the body horror is revealed with parsimony and reserve, rarely appearing raw, for example in the fleeting reflection sent back by a puddle of water. This indecentness makes us never get used to the cruelty of the situation completely. It will be regretted, however, that the real screenplay issues are slow to manifest themselves, even if with hindsight it may be this initial slowness that gives the last third of the adventure its full emotional impact. Note, it's commendable, that the game offers three very different ends from each other according to your actions performed in the last room.
Djinn Tonic
In terms of gameplay, this new opus d-Amnesia Shouldn't steal the old breakers from the show. One is always faced with a game of psychological horror at the first person with what it involves existential monologues and scattered documents to collect to grasp all the subtleties of history. The take in hand has almost not moved since the first Penumbra of 2007. The character can thus squat, run, hide behind elements of the decor or interact with these last ones by observing them under all the seams before eventually projecting them against a wall (like breaking virtual porcelain). It is impossible to defend against aggression, the only possible way out is to escape or hide.
Where franchise excels is in its awesome vision of the game-video puzzle. Like a Half-Life It is often the observation of your cumulative environment to your judge that will allow you to progress. The cracked floor of a tower prevents you from moving forward? You'd spotted a gun on his watch earlier, but unfortunately the wheels are missing? So stir up that devil and go in search of a gear that will do well and then roll the gear until finally break that damn floor! Can't you pass along a cornice too narrow for your 6 months of pregnancy? A little common sense lengthen a board! Don't do this at home. It's dangerous. The reflection phases, however, are several steps below what the studio used to do, which is regrettable. However, we find this undeniable talent that the game Designers from Frictional to have us draw our own conclusions following the scrupulous observation of a decor. Special mention to a particular passage, direct echo to the troublemaker Milgram experience, and that will remind the worshipers of the fantastic Dark Crystal.
Another record in which the studio has always shone is the sound design. You cannot be too advised to play with a good helmet screwed on your ears in order to fully enjoy the sound atmosphere, all in subtlety when it comes to perceiving the discreet noise of a scoop at the bottom of a cave immersed in darkness. The soundtrack composed by the Finnish Mikko Tarmia is not left behind and is once again a fly. Used to collaborate with the Swedish studio, the composer again proves everything know-how.
Fear with a seat belt (and an optional baby seat)
Would Frictional Games be looking to expand their audience? It would seem that yes if it is believed to be added post launch an optional game mode sweetened for those who would like to play a horrific game without horror or monsters or blood. Yes, yes, it seems these people exist. We look forward to the next Super Mario without platforms for those that it would frustrate to fall into a vacuum... Besides, don't worry about rubbing yourself to a raised challenge, it's even the opposite. In Amnesia: Rebirth any defeat results in a cutscene then a total zapping of the scene in question. We then find ourselves teleported a few steps away from the monster who had defeated us the minute before, but far enough to be able to resume its progression quietly. We'll come back for the feeling of anxiety.
Historically it is infiltration that has always made the salt of Frictional productions. It was these parts of a hide-and-seek between the predator and its prey and even the phases of pursuit that created tension by gradually spreading terror. Unfortunately, it is clear here that the discreet approach is not only missed for the first time in a Amnesia, but especially most of the time totally useless as the enemies can be faked with a well placed sprint. It's all stupid enough to break their pathfinding A simple slalom between two steles will draw you from most of the wrong steps. Anyway at worst you will die and « Jump » the scene as explained above. It's a little sad, isn't it?
Flight over a Cthulhu nest
What about mental health? Emblematic of the series, it always responds present. We must always be careful to light up and avoid the darkness like the plague or be subject to violent hallucinations that will consume completely Anastasia. What's up? Resource management is not necessary so much as nothing is lacking. We therefore pass the clearest of adventure the pockets filled with matches, thus passing the mental health constraint for an administrative formality. To tell you the truth you can even cross most areas of darkness running if the heart tells you, which makes some areas deciduous from a point of view level design.
To put an end to regrets, one can deplore the very aging graphic motor that the artistic direction, however successful, cannot conceal. Finally, it is difficult to spoil immersion more than by displaying signs written in English in the middle of a French fort of the 1930s. The game is fully subtitled in French but in this historical context and given the nationalities of the protagonists one can doubt the legitimacy of making them all express themselves in the language of Shakespeare, whether through dialogues or through their diaries... It is understandable that location has a cost for small studios but here it is difficult not to be disappointed by this detail that kills.
Verdict
Amnesia: Rebirth ne constitue pas la renaissance qu'aurait pu augurer son sous-titre. Il faut dire que la barre était placée très haut après un Soma absolument mémorable et que le gameplay de la série commence sérieusement à accuser le poids des années. Un défaut amplifié ici par une formule indécise qui semble vouloir lorgner vers le walking-simulator horrifique façon Layers of Fear mais qui se retrouve embourbée dans des mécaniques d'un autre âge. On sent que le studio s'en passerait bien s'il n'en avait pas fait sa marque de fabrique. Preuve en est l'absence quasi-totale de challenge due à des ressources en surnombre et à une infiltration bonne à rien tant le level-design ne paraît pas correctement conçu pour. Les possibilités de zapper les quelques rencontres dangereuses du titre voire de complètement jeter aux oubliettes toute son ADN de survival-horror en choisissant le mode ''aventure'' sont par ailleurs révélatrices du dilemme auquel semble confronté Frictional Games. On espère qu'ils choisiront mieux leur voie pour leur prochain projet.Cela dit il serait malvenu de déconseiller Amnesia: Rebirth tant il parvient à nous émouvoir là où ne l'y attendait pas. Bien que graphiquement daté, la sublime direction artistique aux accents lovecraftiens et les énigmes environnementales réussies immergent le joueur du début à la fin de l'aventure. Il n'est ainsi pas concevable de quitter l'héroïne sans avoir eu le fin mot de l'histoire, faisant de la narration le gros point fort du jeu.À vous lecteur donc de faire la part des choses. Une chose est néanmoins certaine : il me restera toujours un petit souvenir du calvaire désespéré enduré par Tasi, fût-il même perdu dans un recoin de ma mémoire.For
- Amnesia: Rebirth is not the renaissance that his subtitle could have been augured for. It must be said that the bar was placed very high after an absolutely memorable Soma and that the gameplay of the series is beginning to seriously accuse the weight of years. A defect amplified here by an indecisive formula that seems to want to lug towards the horrific walking-simulator way Layers of Fear but finds itself bogged down in mechanics of another age. It feels like the studio would be fine if he hadn't made it his trademark. Proof of this is the almost total absence of challenge due to over-resources and a good-for-nothing infiltration as the level-design does not seem properly designed for. The possibilities to zapper the few dangerous encounters of the title or to completely forget all his survival-horror DNA by choosing the mode ''adventure'' are also revealing the dilemma that Frictional Games seems to face. It is hoped that they will better choose their path for their next project. That said, it would be inappropriate to advise Amnesia: Rebirth so he manages to move us where he did not expect it. Although graphically dated, the sublime artistic direction with Lovecraftian accents and the successful environmental puzzles immerse the player from the beginning to the end of the adventure. It is thus not conceivable to leave the heroine without having had the end of the story, making narration the main highlight of the game. To you
- An intimate horrific tale taking until the last minute...
- Environmental puzzles that appeal to common sense and observation...
- Incarnate a pregnant woman in distress and all that this implies physically and mentally
- The gliding body horror
- The sound atmosphere in tune
- Lovecraftian influence controlled and unabated
- The varied artistic direction of the places crossed
- The historical context of colonial Algeria
- 3 very different ends
Against
- Matches
- ...but it starts slowly
- ... but too few
- Graphically dated
- Fighting and taking almost unnecessary damage
- Very little discretion required
- Mental health as a central element of gameplay: underexploited
Too many resources that harm the sense of vulnerability: more ''horror'' than ''survival''