Since its release in 2010, Amnesia: The Dark Descent has been scaring gamers and YouTubers alike. Whilst former industry titans Silent Hill and Resident Evil were floundering in a unsuccessful attempt to reinvent themselves as more action-oriented games, Amnesia contrastingly embraced subtlety and making the player feel vulnerable.
As a matter of fact, thanks to its innovative gameplay mechanics that emphasised stealth and evasion instead of conventional combat, the title ended up totally revolutionising the Horror genre. Now here we are, only 6 years later, and everyone wants to emulate Frictional Games' sleeper hit.
We even have a new Resident Evil on the way that's adopting the 'Amnesia' style of design.
Scary legacy
Nevertheless, despite the game's monstrous (pardon the pun) legacy, many people have yet to experience it first hand. Indeed, for a sizeable group, Amnesia is simply 'that game petulant Let's Players have somehow made a living reacting to'. The problem has been that, for various reasons, Amnesia has never seen the light of day on consoles. The game has been perpetually kept in a state of exclusivity limbo, with its horrific joys being reserved only for the PC crowd. Console owners have therefore been left to settle for the horde of pale imitations left in Frictional Games' wake (The Park, Layers of Fear, Slender etc.
)... That is, until now.
Upcoming PS4 release
Coming as a complete shock to almost everyone, a PS4 version of Amnesia has now been announced, with the port scheduled for 22nd November 2016. In what is a weirdly short gap between announcement and intended release, this news has certainly delighted those who never had the opportunity to give the original game a shot (Quick as the turnaround may ostensibly be however, it's a shame that we can't quite get it in time for Halloween).
Not only that, but the sequel A Machine for Pigs, as well as a side project known as Justine, will be bundled along with the game.
As far as I am concerned, this is phenomenal news, as a whole new audience will finally be able to immerse themselves in one of the most important games of the past few years. Here's hoping that this move will inspire even more PC gems to make the move over to consoles. Albino Lullaby anyone?