Read our review of Amnesia: The Bunker to see if it's gameplay, visuals, and atmosphere is worth a trip down to this bunker of horrors!

Amnesia: The Bunker Review and Score Explanation

Amnesia: The Bunker Score Explanation

Amnesia: The Bunker Review: Holed-Up Horror

Amnesia: The Bunker is a terrifying game where you’ll never feel safe, not even once. It combines tactile gameplay, resource scarcity, lighting, and sound design to make you keep looking behind you, and be as quiet as you can. Imagine that segment in the original Resident Evil 3 where Nemesis hunts you down, but you’re trapped in a dark and cramped bunker, forced to solve puzzles and blow your way through the complex until you can escape. That’s both the beauty and terror of Amnesia: The Bunker, making it a very solid (albeit short) experience.

Amnesia: The Bunker Full Game Review

Pros of Amnesia: The Bunker

Things Amnesia: The Bunker Got Right
Dark and Foreboding Atmosphere Simple and Tactile Gameplay Good Use of Open-World Mechanics Randomization Options, Custom Stories Give Replay Value

Dark and Foreboding Atmosphere

This is the game’s strongest point. By combining its use of lighting, sound design, and gameplay, Amnesia: The Bunker drags you into this dusty hellhole where your only hope of survival is to scrounge for gas cans and make sure your revolver has enough bullets to keep the beast away. Once you wake up, you’re already in this pseudo-open world, you only have a note telling you that you need to blow up the debris blocking the entrance with dynamite in the armory, and a detonator handle in some tunnels deep below the bunker.

But standing between those items and your freedom is a killer monster that will stalk you as you make your way across the bunker. It is fully unscripted, meaning that it’s just somewhere around the corner, following you via a series of tunnels it has made in the bunker’s many rooms (much like the alien in Alien: Isolation). If you make too much noise, it’ll come out and chase you down. The problem is, you’ll have to make noise sometimes to either shoot the lock of a door or blow something up.

You’ll hear the beast groaning and crawling, while the First World War continues just above your bunker. The ground will shake from explosions, and gunshots will echo through the halls of the bunker amid the sounds of your own desperate breathing. Then, suddenly, the lights start flickering and the beast emerges from a tunnel just behind you. Pray that you have enough bullets.

Simple and Tactile Gameplay

At its core, Amnesia: The Bunker still retains the core gameplay we’ve become familiar with in ‘hide-and-seek’ horror. You go around, collecting items that will let you unlock a new area and contribute to your overall objective. If the monster appears, then you hide and hope it doesn’t find you.

But this isn’t necessarily the case anymore. You’re armed with a revolver (and eventually, a shotgun). Both weapons won’t kill the beast outright, but they will keep it away for the time being. Eventually, you’ll get your hands on grenades, petrol bombs, gas grenades, and flares - even more tools to keep yourself out of the monster’s grubby claws.

In addition to that, you can interact with various objects in the world. You can pick up stones and smash certain doors with them, and you can move boxes to clog up holes and stop the monster from coming out of them. It’s a very nice touch that adds to the immersion of the game.

Good Use of Open-World Mechanics

Amnesia: The Bunker also has a great open-world design. You’re left with but the slightest of instructions as to how you’ll get the dynamite and the detonator handle, and that’s it. It’s up to you to gather notes, process the information yourself, and decide how to proceed. It’s kind of like Souls-like games in a way since most of the time you’ll have to think for yourself if you want any chance of completing the game.

You’re free to explore the bunker, and you’ll unlock even more areas if you have the necessary tools. But you’ll have to keep in mind that you have a generator that has to be fueled up all the time. Keeping it on means that all the lights in the bunker will stay on too. If it goes out, then you’ll have to make a run for the safe room since the Beast will have free reign over the bunker, leaving you open to attack from any angle.

Both the design of the exploration, as well as the pseudo-time limit the generator provides combine to make an open world that is tense and unwelcoming. Get what you need and get out of there ASAP, or else the beast will catch up with you.

Randomization Options, Custom Stories Give Replay Value

I’ll have to say that Amnesia: The Bunker is a short game (clocking in at three to six hours of gameplay), but thankfully enough there are a few things Frictional Games added in to make sure you’ll keep playing long after you’ve finished the main game.

First of all, most item locations and door codes are randomized. This means you won’t find that roll of bandages where you found them in your last playthrough. That list of locker codes you wrote up from your last playthrough? Yeah, those codes won’t work in your next one. No sequence breaking here. If you want to progress, you’ll have to go through the game all over again and face its horrors once more.

Cons of Amnesia: The Bunker

Things That Amnesia: The Bunker Can Improve
Very Short Main Game Visuals Are Dated

Very Short Main Game

In terms of length, Amnesia: The Bunker feels more like an indie title rather than a studio production. Like I said earlier, the main game clocks in at between 3 to 6 hours, depending on how fast you solve certain puzzles or whether you’re trying to be a completionist.

It’s quite a short game, though it does cost only $24.99. Plus, you can potentially still get some mileage out of it by replaying harder difficulties and helping yourself to custom stories once the community starts churning those out.

Visuals Are Dated

You’ll notice that, if not for the shadows and lighting, Amnesia: The Bunker actually has graphics that could potentially come from as old as 2015 or 2017. You’ll notice this especially if you look closer at the character models.

But the saving grace here is the aforementioned lighting and shadows. You’ll be too busy being scared of the monster than staring at object models. The graphics still look good despite them being dated.

Amnesia: The Bunker Story Plot

During the First World War, you are a French soldier named Henri Clément, and you’ve woken up in a bunker. Sure, you’re avoiding the hell up on the surface, but there is a different kind of hell happening in the bunker itself. Armed with nothing but a revolver and a noisy dynamo flashlight, you have to get out of the bunker by blowing up the rubble blocking the exit.

The thing is, though, the dynamite is down in the arsenal, and there’s a monster stalking the halls. Everyone else is already dead. Everyone except you. The only chance you have against the creature is to keep the lights of the bunker on. It hates the light, so you’ll be safe… until the generator runs out of gas, that is.

Explore the bunker, read notes, and find out what exactly happened down here. Perhaps, you might also find out the true nature of the beast that stalks you at every turn.

Who Should Play Amnesia: The Bunker?

Amnesia: The Bunker is Recommended if You Enjoy:

• The rest of the Amnesia Series
• The Outlast Series
• Alien: Isolation

Amnesia: The Bunker is a must-try for those who’ve already played the past three games in the series, if only because it now offers a semi-open world and the ability to defend yourself. But those playing other hide-and-seek horror games like the Outlast series will love it too. Of course, those who loved Alien: Isolation will also feel at home playing Amnesia: The Bunker.

Is Amnesia: The Bunker Worth It?

Amnesia: The Bunker May Be Short, but It’s Solid

Amnesia: The Bunker is a terrifying little game that will only set you back $24.99. Though it’s half the length of your usual horror game, every second spent in it is an immersive experience that will leave you wanting more. It’s fun, it’s scary, it’s cheap as heck so go buy it.

How Amnesia: The Bunker Matches Up to Recently-Released Games

Games That Came Out Recently	Pros	Cons
Street Fighter 6	Amnesia: The Bunker is not only cheaper, but it has a lot more atmosphere than SF6. Maybe get it along with SF6 if you want to play something to distract yourself from the dread.	But Amnesia: The Bunker can also get a little too scary for certain players sometimes. So maybe SF6 would do you better if you can’t handle it.
System Shock Remake	Amnesia: The Bunker is a more pure horror experience compared to System Shock, especially since you’re starved for critical resources throughout the game. In contrast, Citadel Station is filled to the brim with goodies (and enemies).	But System Shock will appeal to sci-fi fans and those who love a narrative experience. Why not get both games instead, especially since both games will cost roughly $65 - barely higher than other full-priced games?
Diablo 4	Both Amnesia: The Bunker and Diablo 4 have you deal with abominations, though Amnesia is a lot scarier (and cheaper, too).	But if you’re more into RPGs than first-person shooters, and you want longer games, then Diablo 4 would be the better choice.

How Amnesia: The Bunker Matches Up to Similar Games

Games Similar to Amnesia: The Bunker	Pros	Cons
Amnesia: Rebirth	Amnesia: The Bunker has a stronger horror element to it than Rebirth because even though you have the tools to keep the monster away, your guns won’t stop it. It’s also unscripted, so you’ll be chased relentlessly. It’s definitely not a ‘walking simulator’ like how Rebirth was.	But if you want the ‘Amnesia Experience’ but at a more relaxed pace, Rebirth (or even older Amnesia games) could be your entryway into the series. So at least you’d be a little prepared before taking on Amnesia: The Bunker.
Alien: Isolation	It would be apt to say that Amnesia: The Bunker is Alien: Isolation with all the fat trimmed off. No endless amount of passcodes and keycards, or a multitude of androids to avoid. It’s just you, the monster, and a handful of rats.	But Alien: Isolation still has its brilliant moments. Plus, if you’re a fan of sci-fi horror, it’s still a must-play game because of its aesthetic and atmosphere.
Outlast	Amnesia: The Bunker is thick with atmosphere, and it can get you going more than Outlast despite how short the game is.	But Outlast is a bit longer, and it honed the gameplay the original Amnesia laid down. Also, with how old it is, it’s now $19.99. So why not play this and Amnesia: The Bunker for a dose of classic hide-and-seek horror?

Amnesia: The Bunker Trailer

Game8 Reviews

Amnesia: The Bunker Product Information

Title	AMNESIA: THE BUNKER
Release Date	June 6, 2023
Developer	Frictional Games
Supported Platforms	Xbox One, Xbox X/S, PlayStation 4, PC
Genre	Survival Horror, FPS
Number of Players	1
ESRB Rating	Rating Pending
Official Website	https://amnesiathebunker.com/

Michael Mendoza Ab..

Reviews video games by day, tries to write novels by night. He's a sucker for open-world games (Bethesda Fallout titles, Mount and Blade Bannerlord, Grand Theft Auto), CRPGs (Planescape: Torment, Disco Elysium), and First-Person Shooters (Call of Duty, Battlefield, and immersive sims like Bioshock..