Introductions, and The Key to Freedom

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to The Darker Descent, the premiere source for previews, reviews, and new about mods for the indie classic that redefined the survival horror genre, Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Today, we'll begin with one of my favorite mods of all time, an instant hit that has only improved with age, one of the few mods to give the original game a run for it's money, The Key to Freedom. The first and only mod created by the mysterious Amnesia modder Christopher Golden, who goes by the handle lllDash, this little gem is rated 9.5 on Moddb, and I'll break down its freaky goodness piece by piece.

 

The mod can be found at http://www.moddb.com/mods/key-to-freedom

Production and Polish: 22/25

On the technical side, this game was flawless. Every event triggered as it was supposed to, the audio for the voice-overs was crystal clear, and every item was in the right place, at the right time. My only deductions came from the content of the voice-overs; though they were quite good compared to most custom stories, I'm particularly harsh on voice actors given my experience in the field.

                               Plot: 24/25

 Though it suffers from a bit of plot-bloat at the beginning, like many mods, the constant stream of tidbits of information from the notes you pick up manage to keep it quite engaging, and in addition the notes you unlock as you progress make for a refreshingly new system of driving the plot. The story itself is close enough to the original game to bring back old fears, but fresh enough to keep even veteran players on their toes.

                    Gameplay: 25/25

This mod manages to take classic Amnesia puzzles and turn them on their heads, as well as creating enough new ones to keep any gamer busy for a few hours. The sheer amount of creativity put into these should be enough to attract any fan of The Dark Descent; the puzzles, monsters, set pieces and everything else related to what you do between point A and point B in this game will not disappoint.

             Horror Factor: 24/25

Without spoiling too much, the monsters appear early and often, and the jump scares are timed very, very well. This game does atmosphere, timing, and lethality perfectly. If there was just a tiny bit more threat through the lengthy middle section, it would get a perfect 10.

                         Overall: 95/100 

Rating: Excellent (90-100/100)

I would suggest this game for any lover of the original, or survival horror in general. It has scares, puzzles, and set pieces aplenty, and its only real flaw is a tiny lack of polish. Nothing major, and certainly nothing a hardcore fan would notice while they lie in a dark corner whimpering after a few special scares. 

Questions? Opinions? Tell me what's on your mind in the comments!