Amenti is the latest title from developer DarkPhobia Games, they have previously produced two other horror titles which were ‘Graveyard Shift’ and ‘Homeless’, both having the same first person exploration formula. Amenti was released on January 5th of this year and has a ‘Mostly Positive’ review on Steam but there is no information.
The Egyptian Setting
We play as a historian and a photographer who breaks into one of the Great Pyramids of Egypt to discover and get a photo of King Rudamon’s tomb. However things take a turn for the worst when we fall through a time warp into the past where we will discover the truth behind the creation of the Pyramids and the supernatural events surrounding it.
It takes place around 1979 after we reach one of the great Pyramids of Giza we exit our car and start walking towards what we hope to be a thrilling discovery. One of the best features of this game is its interesting setting. It clearly shows the potential the story could reach combined with the horror elements and puzzle solving.
Unfortunately the story unexpectedly falls short of the mark, the puzzle solving and exploration did not feel as in-depth as one would expect. There are too many times there is a buildup of something about to happen but alas the player is left disappointed.
Gameplay, Or Lack Thereof
In terms of gameplay, we only play in the first person and primarily have to explore and figure out the puzzles ourselves through reading notes and finding clues. The quietness gets slightly offset by the disappointment when we realize that there are no voice lines at all.
Right after we enter the pyramid we get introduced to long dark corridors and dark corners which we can sometimes light up to give a sense of direction and progress. Even though the game has been advertised as a Horror game most of horror is done through standard flashing images.
Another frustrating system is using the camera to take photos, we can click as many photos as we want but unless we find the correct angle to take a photo at, we will always be told to go back and take a photo. This lack of direction in terms of how to take the photo correctly breaks the immersion as there is no prompt or hint when a photo gets taken the wrong way.
Excellent Sound Design
Even though there are no voice lines for our character, the sound design does an amazing job setting the mood. Each step our character takes sounds like it’s reflecting throughout the pyramid reminding us that we are completely alone in the pyramids by ourselves.
The sound of turning on the floodlights at various points of the long corridors are able to send chills down anyone’s spine due to how loud it sounds against the otherwise uncomfortable pindrop silence that is everywhere.
The flashing images with the scary faces show up at times and while it seems scary at first quickly becomes old and unfortunately there aren’t anymore new ways to induce the fear factor in, unfortunately even good sound design cannot save a one trick pony style of gameplay.
Conclusion
Although some of the scenes from the trailers on Steam promise a thrilling experience, unfortunately the gameplay quickly becomes repetitive. The models of the ghosts seem ultra realistic and properly do induce fear but alas the repetition breaks the immersion and ultimately takes away from the experience.
The game is also extremely short, being around one hour or so, maybe this is the reason why the developers could not add any more ways to surprise the player or introduce some new gameplay mechanics. Overall, Amenti showed initial potential but failed to capitalize on its interesting setting due to lack of gameplay hours and mechanics, hopefully DarkPhobia games learn from their mistakes in this title and improve upon their ideas in the next one.