Amnesia: The Bunker – Tips for Getting Good

I will not spoil the plot, but part of the fun for me was figuring these mechanics out on my own. Knowing them may spoil the horror of the experience for you. Read at your own risk!

Useful Tips and Tricks

1. First and foremost, stop panicking. If you’re struggling with this game, I’d put money on you being more on the scared side. Take a breath. You are playing a game and games have rules. The monster has behavior that can be observed, predicted, and manipulated. Your brain is wired for pattern recognition, but it isn’t so great at that when you’re ♥♥♥ bricks.

How? Exposure therapy. Save your game and barrel ass into the place, making noise. Make the monster come out and say hi. Get to know him. Breaking the ice reduces the dread considerably. The game is a lot less stressful once you get to know our resident slack-jawed, knuckle-dragging, bumble ♥♥♥ bastard.

2. Move quickly. Yes, quickly. Decisively. Not necessarily always as quietly as possible. As long as the lights are on, the monster usually won’t come out until you draw him out. Time is your enemy. Keeping the lights on should be your first priority. It’s hard to do this if you run out of fuel, and you will run out of fuel if you do not keep moving.
3. Every time you enter a new area, focus on familiarizing yourself with the layout. Look for hiding spots. Don’t make noise if you can avoid it. See a door you want to bash open? Look around a bit more before going for it. Know where the nearest holes in the walls are. Make sure before you fire a shot, bash a door, toss a grenade, etc, that you have a plan of where you’re going to go, and an idea of where he’s going to come from. Don’t get yourself backed into a corner.
4. Sound is your best friend. Assuming you have the right audio setup (anything but mono) and two functioning ears, use those tools as much as possible. You can hear where the monster is. When you know where he is, you will know where you can make more or less noise. You will know when you can take risks. When you’re hiding, the monster will generally roar to indicate it is entering or exiting the walls. Learn what his sounds mean and turn your head (in game) as needed to utilize directional audio. A good 5.1+ system works wonders, but stereo is enough.
5. Lights are your second-best friend. Keep the lights on. The monster usually stays away when they’re on and you’re relatively quiet. When the lights go out, he will start venturing out, patrolling, and occasionally withdrawing. In these situations, move slowly and carefully. While the lights are on, you will notice they flicker when the monster is near, and more intensely when he is out of the walls. Observe the lights to know when it becomes safe to move out or make noise. If the generator is offline, some areas still have red emergency lighting. This lighting can be relied on for the same purposes.
6. You only need to pull the flashlight rip cord twice. Any more is unnecessary. More than two pulls and you’re jackin’ it. If you’re unsure if it is safe to make noise, pull it once and listen for the monster’s reaction. Pull twice only if you don’t hear him. Or rather if he doesn’t hear you.
7. Out of sight, out of mind. The monster struggles to see past objects, even ones with significant transparency, such as shelving and tables, the latter of which you can typically squeeze under. There are a couple of points in the game where you can arrange objects into hiding places before making your noisy moves.
8. Torches kick ass. Make one as soon as you’re able. Hotkey it and only take it out in short bursts as needed. It will go out fairly quickly, so keep it away until it is needed.
9. Run. You sprint faster than the monster can generally keep up. If you’re caught out in the open, and you followed step 3, you should know a place to run to. If all else fails, run back to the admin office. You’re usually safe there, or at the very least, you will have a chance to break line of sight on the way back.
10. Manage your inventory well. Keep a few empty slots whenever possible. Prioritize fuel and avoid carrying duplicate items. You generally only need one of each usable item at any given point. Make a mental note of where items are that you may need later. Run items to the entrance of an area and drop them in a safe spot for easy return trips to grab them. The level transition trips up the monster, and he can’t spawn there, so not having to go deeply into the area helps avoid him. You don’t always need to run everything back to the admin room in one trip.

Hope this helps.