Under what circumstances could you think of torture and execution as entertainment? Now imagine watching this is the highlight of your week. That sounds crazy, right?
In Amnesia, these questions were at the core of production, helping us as developers to set the right mood for the players. Similar questions are common in horror, and I would even go so far as to say that they make for the best horror. “What if a serial killer kidnapped you and held you captive in their basement?” “What if your house was haunted?” Good horror thrives on these scenarios and forces us to consider disturbing scenarios. It puts us in the shoes of the protagonist and makes us think: “What would I do if that were me?”
Games as a medium allow us to take these scenarios even further. A player can’t stop at just imagining the horrid things – they have to actively participate in them. What is a theoretical possibility in movies and books turns into something substantial?
When making Amnesia: The Dark Descent, we wanted to take this as far as we could. Our goal was to make one’s survival a double-edged sword, where every step forward is a step closer to your own darkness. We wanted every encounter, every creepy environment to raise the core questions of the game: “How far would you go to save your own skin?” “What horrible things would you do, or allow to happen?”
It’s the exploration of these questions that contributed to Amnesia’s success, and it’s what we took even further in SOMA. And it’s questions like these we hope you will want to explore with us as well.
What darkness lurks in the depth of your mind? Pick up the Amnesia: Collection today on Xbox One to find out.