Year: 2023
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Mikko Tarmia
Number of tracks: 12

★★★★★

Blunt buggle

The Amnesia-series saw the light of day 13 years ago with The Dark Descent ... or rather the darkness. Because in the horror-survival games from Frictional Games, who had previously made the Penumbra-series, light management is the core aspect of the gameplay. If our protagonist is in the dark for too long, it eats away at his psyche. And we as players don't like the darkness either, as it means we can't evade the various monsters.

The first installment was already too scary for me back then, but at least my brother was able to finish the game. That's why I'm relying on his words here when I say that the first title was pretty good. What the whole thing looks like ten years later with Amnesia: The Bunker on the other hand, I will probably never know. Even if I would feel capable at over 30 by now for checking it out - no. Simply no.

One task that I feel up to in a brightly lit study surrounded by a farting guard dog, however, is evaluating the soundtrack. As with all the other spin-offs (with the exception of A Machine for Pigs), it was composed by Mikko Tarmia and consists of twelve tracks. As is typical of horror games and series, the score is split into two parts: spooky ambient pieces on one side and exciting action pieces on the other.

"Officer Hub", "Soldier Quarters" and "Arsenal" sound gloomy and threatening, while the pieces "Menu Theme", "Inside the Bunker" and "Officer Hub Safe Theme" have more of a neutral feel. In contrast, there are the aforementioned action pieces "Hunted" and "Shotgunner". And "Filthy Little Rats" is a stereotypical horror track that is guaranteed to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. The final track, "End Credits", is sad and melancholic and stands out in particular due to the use of the piano.

However, nothing in here really inspires. While the first Amnesia still had some aristocratic flair due to the manor house setting towards the middle of the 19th century, we only encounter this briefly in "Souvenirs Du Passé". Apart from that, the bunker brings a modern sobriety and reduction to the acoustics. This may work well in connection with the game, but detached from it, the OST drifts off into the interchangeable. A motif is missing, and there is hardly any recognizability. Instead, tracks like "Comrades" could also appear in the scores of The Dark Pictures Anthology or Telltale's The Walking Dead .

Nr.	Title	Interpret(en)	Ratings
01	Menu Theme	Mikko Tarmia	3
02	Inside the Bunker	Mikko Tarmia	2
03	Officer Hub	Mikko Tarmia	2
04	Filthy Little Rats	Mikko Tarmia	4
05	Officer Hub Safe Theme	Mikko Tarmia	3
06	Hunted	Mikko Tarmia	3
07	Soldier Quarters	Mikko Tarmia	2
08	Comrades	Mikko Tarmia	4
09	Arsenal	Mikko Tarmia	2
10	Shotgunner	Mikko Tarmia	3
11	Souvenirs Du Passé	Mikko Tarmia	4
12	End Credits	Mikko Tarmia	4