Amnesia The Dark Decent is a first person 3D horror game set in a dark castle featuring the protagonist Daniel, who awakens with little memory of himself. The game is built in a way to immerse the player into this environment and take on the role of this character. The player learns very quickly that the character's sanity is an important aspect of the game to keep track of. Being in the darkness for too long can affect the characters sanity, along with seeing unsettling events or looking at monsters. The level design of this game has been built in a way to use the darkness of this large, spooky castle to create a feeling of claustrophobia as the player and the character work towards avoid being in the dark for too long. Amnesia's strong point would be it's level design in my opinion, as it was interesting and innovative at the time of release. The darkness was used to the game's advantage, as it meant that the player has to stick to the areas that were lit from either natural lighting from the windows, or by lighting candles.
In the first level of Amnesia, the player is introduced to the character Daniel, who wakes up groggy minded in a dark castle. The character has a flashback to an event prior to his awakening, in which he remembers that he passed out while trying to remember his own name. Daniel scribbles notes in his journal and these help the player work their way towards following the narrative such as 'follow the red trail on the ground'. The player is put in the same shoes as the character throughout the game, both the player and the character are trying to find out or remember why they woke up in this castle and what their goals are. The player progresses at the same pace as the protagonist as they both work towards discovering information and completing goals and puzzles.
The design of the game is made to feel like an experience rather than a play to win situation. There is little to no music in this game, only eerie ambiance to set the player into the role of Daniel in this castle. The only sounds that can be heard are the footsteps and breathing of the character, fires crackling, wind howling outside and and occasional unknown sounds beyond.
Amnesia's narrative is structured into levels as the player progresses through the game, each getting more interesting and complex than the last. At the start the player is introduced to a basic feeling for the story and is given simple goals to follow as they learn what the game is about. As they progress through the game and finish each level, new aspects of the game are introduced such as information about what the protagonist had done previous to erasing his memory and why, and also along with what is in the castle and what is hunting him. Puzzles are introduced throughout the levels which get more interesting as the game progresses. For example, the player has to gather ingredients for a chemical recipe to destroy a wall made from a strange organic substance in order to progress to the next area. In the Rules of Play reading by Salen and Zimmerman, they discuss this aspect of game play.
"Level or mission structures allow players to feel the details of a story while the game designer maintains control of the larger narrative experience. A game's goal, or series of goals, is part of the narrative context that makes up the game. When goals are well-designed to support the narrative play, a player's interaction with the game world becomes consistently meaningful."
The levels in Amnesia are structured in a way to give the player a sense of immersion within the story and it's narrative, playing as the character and discovering why he is there and his purpose while progressing through the levels. The game designers developed the levels in a way to keep the player feeling immersed within the narrative and the world of the game.
References:
Salen and Zimmerman. 2004. Games as Narrative Play
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