Amnesia: The Dark Descent

The game was announced on November 13, 2009, along with the opening of the official website and the game trailer ^{[3] [4]} . On February 5, 2010, it was announced that the game was in alpha testing on all target platforms ^{[5] [6] [7]} .

Two weeks later, the developers released a new teaser trailer, in which the gameplay was shown. Then the application for pre-ordering the game was opened. In addition, it was announced that the game is in beta testing and will be released on all target platforms in August 2010 ^{[8] [9]} .

November 11, 2009 the Russian gaming site MGnews.ru interviewed two employees of Frictional Games - Jens Nilsson ( Jens Nilsson ) and Thomas Grip ( Thomas Grip ). They answered questions that were asked by users of the site ^[10] . On November 25, 2009, the Linux Gaming News portal also interviewed developers that raised questions about the possibility of changing the licensing status of the company's previous engine, the number of Penumbra series sales, and modding. In particular, support for modifying game resources was confirmed in an interview ^[2] .

On June 23, 2010, the developers of the game published a new gameplay video for the game, and also announced the release date of the game on the PC - September 8, 2010 ^{[11] [12]} .

On August 27, 2010, game developers reported that the game acquired a “golden” status (went to print) ^{[13] [14]} .

On August 31, 2010, localizers reported that an English version of the game would also be available in the Russian edition ^[14] .

On September 3, 2010, a demo of the game was released on three announced platforms at once ^[15] . A week later, “1C-SoftKlab” and Snowball Studios released a localized demo version ^[14] .

September 8, 2010 the game went on sale through the digital distribution system in the largest online stores. The declared price of an electronic copy was $ 20 ^[16] .

On September 9, 2010, Snowball Studios announced that the Amnesia national edition will have the opportunity to choose one of two options for voicing the main character of the game. The first voice will present the protagonist decisive ( "similar to the fearless Chris Redfield from the Resident Evil series" ), and the second - the most timid and gloomy ^[14] closest to the original idea of ​​the developers.

September 10, 2010 the game went on sale in Russia in the format of 1 DVD-ROM ^[14] .

The protagonist, a young man named Daniel, wakes up in an old castle unconscious. Immediately, Daniel finds a note from himself, from which it becomes clear that he drank the elixir of amnesia in order to get rid of severe emotional wounds. The note conveys Daniel’s last request - to go down into the depths of the castle and kill Alexander of Brennenburg, and also warns that Daniel’s time is running out: he is followed by the Shadow - “a revived nightmare sweeping away everything in its path.”

In the course of the game, Daniel’s past becomes known from fragments of diaries scattered around the castle. He is a young archaeologist , once invited by Professor Herbert to excavate the tomb of Tin Hinan, located in the desert of Algeria . The main character then manages to get into the tomb, but he is alone locked in the sanctuary due to the collapsed stone slab. There, Daniel, on the verge of life and death, discovers a magical artifact - a sphere, the touch of which splits it into pieces and causes visions of a young archaeologist.

After that, members of the expedition release Daniel and take him out of the tomb. Professor Herbert decides to send Daniel back to London so as not to jeopardize his health, where, upon his return, inexplicable things begin to happen. The fragments of the Sphere brought from the tomb by Daniel cease to fit together. Soon the main character finds out that Professor Herbert disappeared without a trace along with all the members of the expedition. This forces Daniel to search for information about the Spheres. Geologist and historian William Smith talks about the great importance of this area in "our history." Then the young archaeologist begins to suffer nightmares, which forces him to visit a doctor - Dr. Tate.

On one of the sleepless nights, Daniel finally understands how to assemble the Sphere. Soon, the protagonist learns of the death of Sir William Smith and Dr. Tate. The hero realizes that it is his fault in the events that have occurred - he knows that something follows him. In an attempt to find out something, Daniel sends letters to all Herbert's acquaintances. He receives the only answer from a certain Baron of Brennenburg - Alexander. The letter is short: “I know everything. Come to me, I can protect you. " Daniel goes to the dense forests of Prussia , to the castle of Brennenburg, where he is waiting for the baron.

In the castle, Alexander and Daniel begin to explore the Sphere brought by Daniel. Alexander tells the hero that Shadow follows him - the guardian of the Sphere, and forces Daniel to carry out a ritual of fencing - a ritual of murder, which will allow Shadow to be knocked off the trail with the blood of another person. Daniel hesitates, but Alexander convinces him that the victim is a criminal, a vile killer, and the protagonist performs a ritual. Gradually, Daniel begins to consider the murder of criminals, who can serve to save him, to be a noble cause. There are few victims of torture, so Daniel, who is already obsessed with saving himself from the Shadow, and the baron are abducting the inhabitants of the neighboring village of Altstadt, among which is the family of the farmer Zimmermann. However, the girl, the farmer’s daughter, escapes from captivity thanks to a dig made by her mother. Danielle finds out about this and becomes furious. He chases after the child, catches up and kills him. With the death of the girl, Daniel realizes everything he did and how many innocent people he killed.

As a result, Daniel learns that Alexander is an alien from another world who needs the Sphere to create a portal to his monastery, and does not interest the salvation of the protagonist from the Baron’s Shadow. The main character craves revenge, but he can no longer budge - his emotional wounds are too deep. He decides to drink the elixir of amnesia and forget everything, leaving himself a note asking him to kill Alexander of Brennenburg.

However, Alexander is not the only one who needs the Sphere. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa , whom the baron kept for several centuries, asks Daniel to help him and bring him through the portal. So he wants to reunite with his student, Yogan Weyer - the only one who was able to subjugate the power of the Spheres and go to other worlds.

Amnesia's gameplay is smoother and friendlier to the new player compared to previous Frictional Games. The authors compared it with the Penumbra: Black Plague gameplay, where there were absolutely no fights, that is, most of the time the player explores the environment, solves puzzles and defends himself from enemies. Opponents' AI automatically adjusts to the player’s skills, but skirmishes in the game are categorically undesirable. Interaction with things thanks to the new version of the physical engine has been improved both in terms of convenience and realism. This part of the gameplay practically copies the performance model from previous studio developments ^[2] .

Game endings

The game has only 3 alternative endings. They depend only on the player’s actions during the ritual in the sanctuary.

• Daniel Ending - The player must immediately swing all 3 pillars feeding the portal before Alexander moves to another world. Immediately after this, Alexander will exclaim, “You killed us, you killed both of us!” Shadow bursts into the sanctuary and, having discovered that the pillars are shattered, kills Alexander. A shadow stops hunting and lets the player go.
• The ending of Alexander - If the player does not interfere with the ritual, then Alexander after long speeches will move to another world. A Shadow bursts into the sanctuary and tries to stop Alexander, but it's too late. A shadow blocks Daniel's retreat and kills him. Alternatively, this ending can be obtained by simply waiting in the chamber where the player will be placed by Alexander’s monsters, instead of trying to escape from there.
• Agrippa Ending - The player must throw Agrippa's head into the portal when it opens. The portal will immediately close, and a Shadow will burst into the sanctuary. Having discovered that the pillars are not shattered, and Alexander is not in another world, she kills him. Returning Agrippa and Weyer save Daniel.

If you pass the game with three endings, the player will open three digital codes that add up to the password from the “super secret” archive from the main catalog of the game. This archive contains videos and other materials on the development of the game ^[27] .

• amnesiagame.com (English) - the official website of the game "Amnesia: The Dark Descent"
• frictionalgames.com (English) - official site of the developer Frictional Games
• snowball.ru/amnesia - the official website of the Russian edition of the game