i keep forgetting to post about this

I bought a new computer last month and am playing computer games again for the first time since 2002. I think Max Payne was the last computer game I have ever played, just to put things into perspective. Relearning WASD controls is a real trail, and Frictional Games' Amnesia is a harsh mistress!

On sale last week for $10, Amnesia is a first-person survival horror game. It's reducing me to a quivering heap for the first time since Fatal Frame II. There are no weapons in this game. Your only ammunition are savaged matches and oil for your lantern, which don't fend off monsters as much as it does your character's sanity. In fact, wandering a well lit space basically plants a "tear here" label across your neck; so the game is a constant struggle of crawl about in the scary dark a dribbling mess, or ensure your gruesome death.

I haven't been killed by a visible being yet in the game, but I don't think I've feared such a thing as much in a video game before. These monsters look like the thing in Pans Labyrinth with eyeballs in its palms. I came within inches of one in an underground dungeon (why does it have to be a dungeon!?) last night, and got away despite these damn keyboard controls defying me when trying to slam a door shut behind me. I'm afraid to start the game again.

Maybe you too can play 2/3 of this game and stop! Download Amnesia from Steam!