Ever since it came out of nowhere in 2010 with The Dark Descent, the Amnesia franchise has quietly been one of the most frightening horror series in gaming. After taking some time off to make Soma, developer Frictional Games reignited their flagship series with Amnesia: Rebirth in 2020. Now, not even three years later, they're back at it again with the next installment: Amnesia: The Bunker.
Set between the events of T he Dark Descent and Rebirth, Amnesia: The Bunker takes place during World War I, where a French soldier named Henri awakens in an abandoned bunker with no memory of how he arrived there. Most of the game occurs within that bunker, as Henri is stalked by a deadly monster while trying to find his way out. Despite its relatively short runtime and contained setting, there are plenty of secret details, mechanics, and hidden achievements in Frictional's latest title, all of which are easy to miss if players don't know where to look.
9 Nope
There's a cheeky trophy that can be unlocked right at the start of the game. Players will encounter a fellow soldier propped up against a crate as they're just starting to explore the bunker. The soldier is injured and unable to move, but still alive. He will hand Henri his pistol and ask Henri to kill him before the monster does.
However, the pistol is not loaded, and players will have to pick up some ammo nearby first. After doing so, they'll turn around just in time to see the aforementioned monster rip through the crate and drag off their fellow soldier. If players exit the game right after this scene plays out, they'll get a hidden achievement titled "Nope, c'est trop" (Nope, it's too much).
8 Hunter Hunted
While players will typically only be interested in running away from the bunker's resident monster (and fair enough, it's horrifying), there are ways it can be hurt. Players can shoot it with their pistol or lob one of the game's few grenades at it, but there's another, craftier option available.
Throughout the bunker are explosive traps armed with tripwires. Mostly, they're there to catch the player off guard, and the monster is typically too smart to set one off on its own. However, if players deliberately set off one of those tripwires with the monster hot on their tail, they can avoid the explosion themselves but catch the monster in it instead. They'll be rewarded with the "Trickster" achievement for their efforts.
7 Bodies Burning
While the bunker the game takes place in is abandoned now, it wasn't always. The evidence of that is littered around the rooms in the form of dead French soldiers killed by the monster. These soldiers once populated the bunker, and some of them were Henri's friends.
While it's not strictly necessary to deal with them, these bodies will attract rats, and those rat clusters will hurt Henri if he walks over them. The solution is to burn the bodies. This wastes precious fuel, but it eliminates one of the bunker's smaller threats with the flick of a lighter. As an extra gory detail, the bodies burn realistically. If players look closely after the flames die down, they'll see that the once-intact corpse has now had the flesh melted off of its bones.
6 Prisoner Rescue
When players reach the bunker's prison they will first hear, and then see, that someone is still alive in there. That someone is a German soldier who was captured and imprisoned. He has a bag over his head, and his cell is locked. Unfortunately, inside that cell is a pair of bolt cutters that the player needs access to.
Opening the cell door via the warden's office is simple enough thanks to an unsecured air duct, but doing so will attract the monster, and it will enter the cell and kill the prisoner. If players want to save the German soldier, they'll need to be quick. First, unlock the door to the warden's office. Then, open the cell door, sprint to the cell, pick up the bolt cutters, sprint back to the warden's office, and close the cell before the monster can get there. Players who pull it off will receive the "Life Preserver" achievement as a reward.
5 Cute Rabbit
Not everything in Amnesia: The Bunker is horrifying. Almost everything is, but this is an exception. When players manage to find their way down into the monster's lair, surrounded by an epically disturbing facade of mutilated bodies is a little stuffed rabbit. Players can pick it up and bring it with them.
Here's the kicker: that rabbit has a special connection to the monster (more on that in a bit). When they're being chased, if players throw the rabbit at the monster, it will stop in its tracks, pick up the rabbit, then crawl back into one of its many tunnels and leave them alone—for now.
4 Pillbox Party
When players reach the bunker's pillbox, a German soldier from somewhere out in No Man's Land will begin shooting at them. Players can look through the pillbox's loophole to get a glimpse of the outside world, but they shouldn't linger there too long. The German is a good shot.
However, just for fun, players can pick up some of the discarded helmets scattered around the pillbox and press them into the loophole instead. Eventually, the German soldier will shoot them, sending the helmet ricocheting around the inside of the room. It's nice to have a bit of fun in such a grim situation.
3 The Other World
We're getting into spoiler territory from here on out, so fair warning. When players enter the Roman ruins beneath the bunker in search of the detonator for their dynamite, their attention will immediately be focused on Toussaint, a French soldier who is trapped down there and, as such, has gone insane.
Once Toussaint has been dispatched, players should look around the ruins more closely. There is architecture down there that is eerily similar to what Tasi witnessed on her trips to the alien "Other World" in Amnesia: Rebirth, including a statue of a Roman holding an Orb. The Orbs were the cause of the spreading madness in the Amnesia series' previous entries. This is further evidenced by Toussaint's journal, where he describes drinking a "sweet liquid" and witnessing a surreal ritual that bears a striking resemblance to what Daniel's notes described when he found an Orb in Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
2 The Shadow
Always stalking those who lay claim to one of the Orbs is the Shadow, a formless creature most memorable for its appearances in Amnesia: The Dark Descent, where it stalks Daniel through a flooded basement. Its only recognizable features are a bright red light and an earth-shaking roar.
Henri can encounter the Shadow too, although its presence is more understated. After they've blasted their way out of the bunker, players will come to an unusually large room with bridges and platforms towering over a massive, fog-filled chasm. Typically, players would try to get across the chasm, but on the off chance they fall down it instead, something unusual will occur. Instead of being killed outright, Henri will awaken in a dark void. A red light will appear in the distance, rapidly approaching, before uttering a deafening roar and ripping Henri apart.
1 The Monster's Origin
The monster in Amnesia: The Bunker is, for the most part, an unnamed threat with no direct explanation as to where it came from. However, for players who find and read all the game's collectible journal entries, the truth can be revealed. Specifically, information can be found in journal entries from Henri and his close friend Augustin.
One of either Henri or Augustin was meant to join a routine patrol to the communication wires one night. They decide to play a game of chance to decide who joins the expedition, only Henri has rigged the game in his favor. When Augustin doesn't return, Henri, guilt-ridden, goes searching for him and eventually finds his friend injured in a crater. Henri scoops up some fresh water trickling into the crater and gives it to Augustin. He then begins to carry his friend to safety before an explosion knocks him unconscious. Augustin, his strength somehow returned, carries the injured Henri to the bunker.
However, the water - which had seemingly seeped to the surface from the Roman ruins below - has started changing Augustin. He starts waking up covered in blood, and soon, his mind is mostly gone, replaced by a desire to feed on the blood and pain of his fellow soldiers. This is why the stuffed rabbit can distract the monster. Augustin had purchased it to bring home to his son.
Amnesia: The Bunker was released on June 6th, 2023, and is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.