Reviews - Dan_Fortesque

This Custom Story is simply a masterpiece, the lovechild of P.T and
Silent Hill 4 (the appartment reminds me strongly of Henry Townshends' Room 302). I saw it a few months ago before it was suddendly removed and I was so glad to see it back again. I gave it another run and it still brings the same sense of chill and thrill it did back then.

It's important to hail the incredible technical feat of strength here, with all the modern assets that are being used to create a whole new experience in a contemporary world. Even if you won't leave the room itself, it's still beautifully crafted and filled with an incredible atmosphere.

The puzzles are original and will surely make your brain work quite a bit but most of all, the atmosphere is just incredible : it's horror at its best and filled with awesome ideas so expect to litteraly **** your pants several times.

As for the story, it's quite cryptic and symbolic but you may manage somehow to figure out what happened with careful observation and analysis. And it brings some questions too!

I regret that it wasn't a bit longer but that was because I was so much into it that I didn't want it to end. This clearly shows that Doremovu has a real talent and I wan't wait for your next custom story!

A must to play!

Probaly I'm just beating a dead horse here but guess I still should give my impressions about that mod which I tested in its 1.3 version. I'm a huge fan of They Hungers and that attempt of a remake is unfortunately a total failure.

-First of all, the global atmosphere doesnt look or sounds like TH at all. Where is the awesome work on lightning and the nice atmosphere we had in the original version? It's all gone there and has become generic.

-The original games environnements have been totaly butchered. A lot of things are missing like the belltower in the church, the awesome little details from the catacombs (that skull rolling from one of the little tunnels), the car crashing into the second church (which was also much bigger in the original game) or the dam part when taking the train? Why doing a remake if you have to remove or alter negatively what made the original version awesome? Not to mention they are often much less detailed than in the original game. And where's the umbrella?

-Environnements feel globaly much smaller and enclosed. The second church is a total replica of the first one and also lacks the extra rooms (bye bye Vlad Tepes portrait) and hallways. Also the abandonned police car after the second church is not in a very small area and same goes for the cabin you can find right after. And the place where you see a crached helicopter and the zombie cops has turned into a tiny pond... with no helicopter. In general you always have the feelings to run through hallways and enclosed versions of originals locations. Not to mention this cause many loading times which can be sometimes too long.

-The zombies are basicaly barely remade versions of the assets from HL2. No real new models or anything to give the mod it's proper identity. Yes the headcrab looked like the same in the original but that was it.

-The intro was also shortened. Which is a shame because it helped to install the atmosphere. Where are the two guys waving at the player? The radio host talking about strange phenomenas from his BMFR Radio cabin? Also why giving the main character such a weird voice???

-The gameplay needs a total revamp. The Water Pump puzzle is not only completely hellish to solve, it's also perfectly useless and out of place. It's really hard to enter some caves sometimes (like the one after the first fight with zombies in that river) or to get in the train and the volcano part was awful because of the very badly shaped edges. I had to noclip several times...

-Fighting is a pain. Zombies are way too strong. You feel like throwing sponges at bulldozers. Also some fighting areas are total death traps like that river filled with zombies and blue barrels making it hard to go through. Considering also that the medkits are really scarce it's a real nightmare. And why does that crosshair is that big? Once again, Godmode had to give me a hand several times.

-The train sequence needs a total revamp. It's slow, boring and you don't even try to check the little rooms. At that moment I was long done with that mod.

-To conclude and that's a really a really annoying point : Neil Manke, the author of the original They Hunger mod, is NOWHERE mentionned! Which is absolutely unacceptable! This could sound like a case of "art theft" here! ALWAYS. CREDIT. THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR! ALWAYS!!!

Unfortunately while the attempt was a good idea, the brains behind it weren't able to do the job properly. Bringing detailed textures doesn't make a game great and this one is proving it. It's not a remake, it's a "failedmake" and cannot compare to the original one. It doesn't even deserve to be a 1.x version. More like a prototype and still one which would need a huge ton of polishing. Now, there is nothing more to expect from that Mod since it's dead and buried so if you haven't tried it, spare you the effort and stick to the original one which is FAR SUPERIOR in every ways.

The best video game ever made in History.

Period.

An absolute masterpiece of horror which gave hard kick in horror genre's ***. And also one of the best "free adaptation" of H.P Lovecraft's work (with Eternal Darkness) from which it's directly inspired. As Daniel, a mysterious man struck with Amnesia, you must wander into a dark castle filled with absolute horrors and awful secrets to find and kill a man named Alexander. Unable to fight, you must rely on a stressing hide and seek game to escape the deadly monsters from the castle while retaining your sanity. Use light to avoid loosing your mind, hide in closets to escape a gruesome death, find keys and objects to progress and unveil the mysteries and history of the Castle by reading notes and diaries. Don't be scared by shadows, forms or what you hear : you never now actualy when horror can come to you! Should the main adventure not be enough you can discover another terrific story with Justine, a free DLC. And if you're still craving for more even after that, you can count on the huge community to grant you with dozens hours of extra adventures by downloading custom stories... or by creating some yourself with the tools provided with the game! And trust me : these tools grants you with huge possibilities including bringing custom assets! And all for a really cheap price! What could we ask more from a game which still remains today as one of the scariest games ever created?

PROS :
-While not a direct adaptation of Lovecraft's works, Amnesia pays a real tribute to him! It's Lovecraftian at 1 00000000%!
-Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying! DEFINITIVELY TERRIFYING!!!! Check Youtube for Reactions...
-Hide and Seek instead of direct assault.
-Gripping story.
-Dat sound and music will make you hate your ears.
-Justine DLC for free and extra adventures!
-Huge community and huge amount of fan stories for dozens of extra hours.
-Editing toolkit with a lot of possibilites to make your dream custom story.
-Cheap!

CONS :
-If you are too sensitive... stay away...
-Really dark. You might want to toggle your gamma for better luminosity... or play in the dark. If you dare.
-Can't save in Justine : you MUST finish the adventure in one playthrough.