Hide And Shriek: Amnesia - Dark Descent

Frictional, they behind the fascinating Penumbra series, have put up a teaser trailer for their next game, Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Well, they call it a teaser. It's almost four minutes of game footage. It reveals that the game is going to work in a similar way to the Penumbras, first-person, but with a cursor on screen for interacting with the world. Which is splendid news, since it's been my constant lament that no one else in adventure gaming has had the scrap of sense to copy this, or license Frictional's self-made engine. It makes meaningful use of physics in first-person gaming, rather than leaving you feeling like some balloon-handed drunk crashing into everything. And you can lean. And get scared.

This is really promising. And very dark. You might want to close curtains, smash lightbulbs, and perhaps blow up the sun, so you can see what's going on. But it's all part of their stated goal "to create the most frightening and disturbing experience possible." Well, watch below to see if you think they're going to be capable of this. With the same clever use of breathing and heartbeats that made Penumbra's spooky moments so effective, but here only more so, there's a good chance they will.

There's no indication of whether there will be combat (Penumbra's big failing), but so far it suggests the main mechanic will be running away and hiding in a wardrobe. Oh, and as the video says, consider pre-ordering at this point. Frictional are indies, and pre-ordering helps fund the project. And if you do, it's a tiny $16. Cheers to Craig for the tip.