Amnesia: Collection Review (Nintendo Switch)

The game that kicked off the Let’s Play revolution and set a precedent for horror titles has found its way onto the Nintendo Switch. Frictional Games’ Amnesia: Collection is a horror phenomenon that not only created Let’s Plays but also helped start PewDiePie’s career while also laying a foundation for future entries in the genre. A release that features a realistic sense of immersion, physics-based gameplay, and creepy enemy designs all lead into a must-play horror entry. Now on its newfound home, players can take the scares with them on the go or in a safer spot. It’s a game that does horror incredibly well and should be played by anyone who enjoys the genre.

Running from Terror

It’s a title marked as a survival horror but it also features plenty of psychological horrors. Players must navigate through various areas while keeping their sanity and ultimately surviving. This is no easy task as there are no weapons or objects that can be used to defend themselves. It’s a system that adds to the terror and creates a sense of hopelessness and despair for the player. Because of this, the user is sure to feel attached to the world of Amnesia and almost become the character they’re playing as. It’s a feeling of immersion like no other and leads to whoever is holding the controller to question their own sanities.

The gameplay is centered around running from death and hiding from terrors. Since there aren’t any ways to fight back, you’re forced with huddling in fear. This may seem simple to do and create a duck and cover-like title but the developer throws in a few twists. First, this release has a physics-based system in the users must interact with objects as they would in real life. Pushing and pulling on doors are needed to open them, for example. It may seem fine at first but slamming shut a door can make enemies aware of your location or pushing on a pull door may lead to being captured. Players also need to examine their sanity in this title. Staying in the dark for too long creates a loss in their sanity which causes hallucinations. Not only this but a lack of sanity lets enemies know of your location.

Keeping Your Sanity

Keeping your cool requires lighting candles, carrying lanterns, or anything that can lighten an area. Though, this isn’t easy as players are only given a certain amount of tinderboxes and oil to create light. Scavenging for these adds to the intensity of the situation and can quickly lead the user into a panic. After a while, you’ll have to consider whether it’s useful to light some candles or if it’s better to try and find somewhere lighter. Conservation of this is key but trying to figure out where to go next is certainly a feat of its own. There are no maps or objective markers that can add to the overall immersion yet it’s also a bit frustrating trying to figure out where to go. The area is huge making it very easy to get lost.

Enemies are by far the creepiest aspect of the game. The way that they’re designed can make you squirm as soon as they pop up. And by pop-up, I mean jump scared. Be ready to deal with lots of them as this is where a lot of the chills can come from. They aren’t done in a way that feels cheap, just in a way that catches you off guard since you aren’t expecting it. This isn’t the only way that you’ll be getting spooked out though. Seeing the enemy while your hiding or just running away causes you to be terrified. Running away can be the worst of it too. Knowing you’re about to meet your doom and frantically slamming a door shut while piling up objects to barricade it is intense. It’s panic that can’t be felt in other horror games like it.

An Unsettling Experience

The Amnesia: Collection features three stories from the game’s universe. The Dark Descent, A Machine for Pigs, and Justine all are centered around the concept of amnesia. Each game finds the main player waking up in a strange place with no recollection of their past, only their names. As the game carries on, you’ll begin to uncover bits and pieces of why they’re there, who they are, and what’s coming after them. This helps the story unfold in a way that causes the player to relate to the character and force them to become one with them. It’s also a fairly lengthy game for those interested in playing. Completion times can range up to 20 hours to finish all three campaigns. Individually they last anywhere from 5-10 hours, with Justine being an exception at one to two hours.

Coming to the Nintendo Switch, this title still holds up as other releases would. Performance is great in both handheld and docked modes. Controls feel tight and smooth on a joy-con, as well as a pro controller. There were zero slowdowns, lags, or graphical hiccups during my playthrough of this title. Graphics did appear to be a bit dated though but that’s to be expected since this game is nearly 10 years old. Gameplay can feel a bit clunky as a result of its age yet it’s easy to adjust to and doesn’t hold the player back. If this is your first time trying this, keep its age in mind and don’t expect something like Resident Evil 7. This is a title that helped raise the bar for horror genres so it’s unfair to compare it to something that released years later.

Amnesia does a phenomenal job of building this sense of immersion for the player. Not many horror games are able to do this. Making the player feel as if they’re in the world as the lead character is incredibly hard to do. Yet, Frictional Games does this with ease. The physics, sanity levels, and even the story add to this creepy atmosphere. Having hallucinations can cause the user to get motion sickness just as the main character is which makes this that much more memorable. It’s no wonder how this game was able to achieve the legendary status that it has received. This is truly a terrifying title that set a precedent for other games in the genre. Although the graphics aren’t as HD as newer titles, the nearly a decade old release continues to hold up well and maintain its status as one of the greatest horror games of all time.

Thank you to Frictional Games for providing us with a review code!