Amnesia: The Dark Descent 1.2

By: Derek Yu

On: May 17th, 2011

I’ve been meaning to talk about Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but truth be told, it’s taking me a while to complete the game. It’s not the puzzles that are causing me to balk, but the terror of traipsing through another of the game’s dark hallways, anxiously checking my lantern oil and wondering if I’m being stalked by something horrible. Amnesia is one of the few games where item-gathering puzzles are genuinely thrilling, if only because it’s scary just to walk across a room.

Thankfully, the game’s update today gives me a good reason to make a post. On top of the bug fixes, 1.2 adds five short stories to read, as well as the DLC titled “Justine” that was created for Valve’s Portal 2 ARG and has been retooled for the update. Additionally, the Amnesia OST is now available for purchase through the Frictional Games online store (or as a free download for players who pre-ordered the game or bought it directly from the creators).

The update does not, however, come with the fortitude to see you through Amnesia’s constant thrills, which are well-crafted with various subtle and not-so-subtle cues. Frictional Games has really outdone itself with the graphics, and especially the audio, which are both top-notch, as well as the physics-based interaction that they’ve been refining since the Penumbra series. Survival horror fans and the morbidly curious should definitely check it out.

Released: September 8th, 2010
Price: $19.99
TIGdb: Entry for Amnesia: The Dark Descent

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Humble Indie Bundle Games Go Open Source

By: Derek Yu

On: June 3rd, 2010

The pay-what-you-want Humble Indie Bundle was an amazing success, raising over 1.2 million dollars, with nearly $400,000 going to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the wonderful Child’s Play Charity. We were really blown away by the response to the bundle and the buzz it generated across the internets. Definitely a win-win-win situation all around! Thanks to everyone who participated and helped spread the word on this!

To keep the love flowing, four of the bundled games had pledged to go open source toward the end of the bundle: Aquaria, Lugaru HD, Gish, and Penumbra Overture. Well, I’m happy to say that the source code for those games has finally been released! You can find out more (including all the relevant links), at Wolfire’s blog.