Amnesia: Rebirth, like previous entries in the series, can be a tense, anxiety-inducing experience. At the same time, it’s also an adventure game filled with puzzles to solve. If you’re a newcomer more interested in the story and puzzles (or just a returning player that wants to replay the game without dealing with the stressful insanity mechanic), Frictional Games has added an Adventure Mode designed to cut down the horror elements to create a more liberating, exploratory experience.
Adventure Mode is available now on PC, and will come to the PS4 version of the game in the coming weeks. The optional mode doesn’t change anything about Rebirth’s story, but environments feature increased lighting so that you won’t have to wander around in darkness nearly as much. When you do enter a dark area, the game’s insanity mechanic is disabled, so you’re free to run around in pitch black rooms all you want. The creepy audio/visual effects that affected the player’s sanity are absent as well. Best of all is that monsters won’t attack unless you engage with them first.
While Adventure Mode removes some mechanics, it also adds new puzzles to the experience. This gives you something extra to chew on since you won’t be running for your life as much, while also providing some incentive to revisit the game in a new light.
Frictional added a similar update to Soma called Safe Mode, which the studio says was well-received by players and helped broaden the game’s appeal. It’s always nice to see developers take steps like this to make games more accessible, whether it be disability options, features that address arachnophobia, or by simply making the experience less spooky. Again, Adventure Mode is entirely optional, so horror fans can still enjoy Amnesia: Rebirth in its original form; everyone wins.
What do you think of Amnesia: Rebirth’s Adventure Mode, and will you be giving it a shot? Let us know in the comments!