Peopleóas in plural, as in severalóhave declared this one of the worst games ever
made.
And if they indeed believe that, I would urge those critics to spend just one day beyond
the walls of their coddled little world in which only indie darlings and marquee releases
from major publishers warrant the practice of their job.
If you think this game is bad, try covering the Wii in 2011.
Then you can come tell me, after youíve emerged from catatonia, how maybe Amy isnít quite
as bad you thought.
Itís worth mentioning, given the influence of hype in this industry, the disastrous response
this game has received since its release earlier this month.
The Xbox 360 version has an abysmal 2.3 on Metacritic, a site that aggregates review
scores from prominent game publications.
For some perspective, thatís lower than Sexy Poker, Game Party 3 and Calvin Tuckerís Redneck
Jamboree.
Amy isnít as bad as Calvin Tuckerís Redneck **** Jamboree.
Aside from illustrating how pointless review scores are, I mention this to temper the prevailing
narrative about how Amy is a disaster of catastrophic proportions.
This is a very bad game, thereís no disputing that.
But itís far from the worst game ever made.
Amy is a collection of genuinely interesting ideas held down by terrible execution, another
one of those games that embodies the unfortunate cliche...
Oh, what mightíve been.
Amy is a survival horror game in which disappointment is the greatest obstacle to survive.
It tells the story of Amy, an autistic girl with strange abilities.
Playing as her caretaker Lana, youíre riding on a train with Amy when thereís suddenly
a massive explosion.
You regain consciousness to find a ravaged world where survivors are relegated to the
shadows, mumbling about the end of days.
The story is like a George A. Romero interpretation of Rain Man.
Amy is the key to Lanaís survival, and when youíre separated, Lana experiences firsthand
the horrific effects of the infection thatís destroying the world.
She starts to hear voices, she is haunted by visions...and if she doesnít get back
to Amy in time, she dies.
The idea is Amy is the purifier keeping Lana safe from the infection, and that really serves
as the foundation for most of Amyís gameplay.
When walking hand-in-hand with Amy, Lana is fine.
But when the game separates you, whether to solve a puzzle or for a narrative purpose,
Lana slowly begins to die.
She can stave off the infection with an injection, but ultimately, her only chance for survival
is to get back to Amy.
Basically, itís an interesting survival-horror twist on the old light-and-dark mechanic.
Itís an idea weíve seen in other horror titlesóuh, think Shadows of the Damnedóand
even games like Metroid Prime 2.
So it is a great concept, but tragically, Amy is only ever great in theory.
The gameplay that surrounds that concept is almost shockingly ba-nal, with a combat system
that feels 15 years old and controls that make those tank complaints about Resident
Evil seem like nitpicking.
Fortunately, puzzles are the gameís focus.
Unfortunately, theyíre repetitive as hellóno pun intendedóand stop being interesting the
fifth time youíve been asked to send Amy through a crawlspace.
There are some genuinely clever ideas beneath the utter mediocrity that defines this game,
and the sad thing is that the game itself doesnít seem to know how to capitalize on
them.
And for that, Amy is a massive disappointment.
Itís not the worst game ever made, but thatís the only compliment it deserves.