The Amnesia The Bunker release date announcement came as something of a surprise to indie horror fans. While 2013’s Amnesia A Machine For Pigs failed to capture the zeitgeist of its own progenitor, Amnesia Rebirth was a welcome return to the series’ roots in 2022. It also included lore developments that raise more questions than answers, leaving the series ripe for a sequel.
Beyond the Amnesia The Bunker release date, we don’t know too much about the upcoming sequel. Amnesia: The Dark Descent is undoubtedly one of the best PC games of all time, and is widely credited with kickstarting the revival of survival horror. With such a strong pedigree, it’s fair to say that Amnesia The Bunker has a lot of expectations riding on it. Here’s everything we know ahead of the release date.
Amnesia The Bunker release date window
The Amnesia The Bunker release date is May 16, 2023. It was originally scheduled to release some time in March, but Frictional confirmed the delay on Twitter after a bout of illness disrupted development over the winter. This announcement also came with confirmation that Amnesia The Bunker will be available on PC via Steam, Epic Game Store, and GoG, alongside Playstation and Xbox upon release.
Amnesia The Bunker story
In Amnesia The Bunker, you assume the role of Henri Clément, a French WW1 soldier trapped in the eponymous bunker. While finding a means to escape, you must uncover the whereabouts of your fellow soldiers, as well as the mystery behind the bunker itself. Oh, did we also mention the nightmarish creature stalking you? We don’t really know what it looks like yet, but promotional art suggests that teeth and claws are its main characteristics.
While the Amnesia series appeared to be moving forward through time, The Bunker’s WW1 setting precedes the events of Rebirth by several decades. It’s possible we may encounter some sly references to Tasi’s harrowing journey through the Algerian desert, while learning more about The Other World at the heart of the series’ story.
Amnesia The Bunker gameplay
The only footage we have of the game thus far is a recent teaser trailer released by Frictional in December 2022. However, in this small glimpse, Amnesia The Bunker appears to stick to the core tenets of the series: dark corridors, a terrifying creature, and tons of puzzles to solve. However, its trailer and Steam page forecast some major gameplay changes coming to the series.
Unlike previous iterations of Amnesia, where fleeing is your only means of survival, it appears you can defend yourself in The Bunker. The trailer prominently features an old service revolver with a single bullet in the chamber, and screenshots posted to the game’s official website include an action shot of Henri pulling the pin on a grenade.
The teaser trailer also revealed that the iconic lantern is being replaced with a WW1 dynamo torch. Conserving lantern oil is a big priority in previous games, but retiring this mechanic in favour of a light source that requires making a lot of noise to operate creates a whole new problem when you’re being stalked by an eldritch monstrosity.
While Amnesia games are traditionally very linear, The Bunker bucks the trend with a semi open-world to explore. This newfound freedom means we can expect a divergence from scripted events, making the horrors lurking in the shadows more unpredictable. Non-linearity also allows for multiple solutions to puzzles, so you’re less likely to hit a dead end while trying to progress.
Ultimately, bringing variety to both the scares and the exploration means Amnesia The Bunker is certain to offer far more replayability than its predecessors; just because you’ve reached the ending doesn’t mean you’ve experienced everything in the mysterious bunker.
There’s still plenty of time to go before the Amnesia The Bunker release date. In the meantime, why not check out some of the best horror games currently available to tide you over? We’ve also got a list of some of the best indie games if you’re a fan of ambitious games running on a tight budget.
