TL;DR: Amnesia: The Bunker is a great fun horror experience that borrows ideas from games like Alien Isolation and Resident Evil. If you enjoy those games, you will have fun with this one as well.

With that said, while I do like this game and think it's very fun to play, it did leave me wanting more. I am very happy that Frictional Games is experimenting with gameplay concepts, but I hope they don't stop here. Amnesia: The Bunker felt more like a demo to see if a more open world style horror experience works and imo it does, very well in fact. However it's not a perfect implementation and here are some of the problems that I have with how Frictional Games did it.

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

1. Game loses all tension when you get a code, because even if you die you still get to keep it. Imo every code you fail to recover (i.e. you die before saving) should be regenerated again. This way you wouldn't just be able to rush the key codes and reload/die on purpose. I am surprised this was overlooked by FG, because I am fairly certain they didn't intend on people playing like this. I really hope this is something they change in a future update.

2. The monster is way too easy to scare. With how many tools you get early on, it runs into the same problem Alien Isolation did with the flame thrower. Once you get the tool that makes the monster go away, I don't feel like it's a threat to me anymore and in The Bunker you get a lot of those. Not to mention that the monster in this game is much slower than the Xenomorph in A:I, so you get a lot of time to maneuver it. One way to fix this is to make the stunlock time shorter or to punish the player for hurting the monster by making it more aggressive. In one of the notes it's even implied that this is how it works, but I honestly haven't felt it and the monster acts the same no matter how much I hurt it.

3. I like the randomness of the game, but I feel like it should be cranked up to 11. There are a lot of items that have way too few spawn points. For example, the communications key only spawns on the bunk beds, which makes it super easy to find as it's only limited to one area and you don't need to rely on the note. Once you see that note once, you don't need to get it ever again and I wish info based notes like that had more variety. Which brings me to my next point...

4. Additionally, I wish stuff like that was more puzzle oriented. Instead of just telling the player where the key is, let the player figure it out. Frictional has made such a cool physics based engine and I feel like they don't utilize it enough for puzzles. Amnesia: Rebirth has a really cool elevator puzzle that uses physics, but this game doesn't have anything like that (or any puzzles at all) and I feel like it's a step back in that regard.

Most of these are just nitpicks though and could probably be addressed with a new harder difficulty mode. There are 2 new difficulty modes in development and I can't wait to see what they add to the game.

I know this makes it look like I don't like the game, but I genuinely enjoyed my time with it. I really love the freedom of choosing where to go first and I do think it makes the game more terrifying. When you are forced to go down a linear path, the game isn't as scary because you know that the only way to progress is forward. When the game makes you choose, uncertainty if you are going to gain something from it rises the tension.

I have more thoughts on the game, but this is already getting too long. Overall I am very excited to see what Frictional Games does next and I hope this isn't the last time we see of a more open world level design from them.

TL;DR: Amnesia: The Bunker is a great fun horror experience that borrows ideas from games like Alien Isolation and Resident Evil. If you enjoy those games, you will have fun with this one as well. With that said, while I do like this game and think it's very fun to play, it did leave me wanting more. I am very happy that Frictional Games is experimenting with gameplay concepts, but I hope they don't stop here. Amnesia: The Bunker felt more like a demo to see if a more open world style horror experience works and imo it does, very well in fact. However it's not a perfect implementation and here are some of the problems that I have with how Frictional Games did it. [b](SPOILERS AHEAD!)[/b] 1. Game loses all tension when you get a code, because even if you die you still get to keep it. Imo every code you fail to recover (i.e. you die before saving) should be regenerated again. This way you wouldn't just be able to rush the key codes and reload/die on purpose. I am surprised this was overlooked by FG, because I am fairly certain they didn't intend on people playing like this. I really hope this is something they change in a future update. 2. The monster is way too easy to scare. With how many tools you get early on, it runs into the same problem Alien Isolation did with the flame thrower. Once you get the tool that makes the monster go away, I don't feel like it's a threat to me anymore and in The Bunker you get a lot of those. Not to mention that the monster in this game is much slower than the Xenomorph in A:I, so you get a lot of time to maneuver it. One way to fix this is to make the stunlock time shorter or to punish the player for hurting the monster by making it more aggressive. In one of the notes it's even implied that this is how it works, but I honestly haven't felt it and the monster acts the same no matter how much I hurt it. 3. I like the randomness of the game, but I feel like it should be cranked up to 11. There are a lot of items that have way too few spawn points. For example, the communications key only spawns on the bunk beds, which makes it super easy to find as it's only limited to one area and you don't need to rely on the note. Once you see that note once, you don't need to get it ever again and I wish info based notes like that had more variety. Which brings me to my next point... 4. Additionally, I wish stuff like that was more puzzle oriented. Instead of just telling the player where the key is, let the player figure it out. Frictional has made such a cool physics based engine and I feel like they don't utilize it enough for puzzles. Amnesia: Rebirth has a really cool elevator puzzle that uses physics, but this game doesn't have anything like that (or any puzzles at all) and I feel like it's a step back in that regard. Most of these are just nitpicks though and could probably be addressed with a new harder difficulty mode. There are 2 new difficulty modes in development and I can't wait to see what they add to the game. I know this makes it look like I don't like the game, but I genuinely enjoyed my time with it. I really love the freedom of choosing where to go first and I do think it makes the game more terrifying. When you are forced to go down a linear path, the game isn't as scary because you know that the only way to progress is forward. When the game makes you choose, uncertainty if you are going to gain something from it rises the tension. I have more thoughts on the game, but this is already getting too long. Overall I am very excited to see what Frictional Games does next and I hope this isn't the last time we see of a more open world level design from them.