When AMY publisher Lexis Numerique surveyed gamers to find out how muchthey wanted the game to cost, I initially applauded their efforts. It wasrefreshing, though perhaps a bit suspect and odd, to see a publisher pricetheir game based on consumer demand rather than an amount to maximize profits. Asthe reviews trickled in and I had tried AMYmyself though, I realized it wasn’t so much an attempt to democratize pricingas much as it was an attempt to get the few extra bucks the game could netthem.
The story starts off on a trainwhere players control Lana, who has just helped Amy escape from some sort oflab. Suddenly, the train’s attendant knocks Lana out and by the time sherecovers, she finds that they have crashed into a train station and Amy ismissing. With that, players begin their quest to find and keep Amy safe. Formuch of the game, the narrative focuses on this goal rather than any realmotivation to find her. Even if the game were more exciting to play, I wouldhave felt little drive to look for the girl. But I suppose the fact that shewas a young girl was reason enough for the writer.
Conceptually, AMY had a lot going for it. Instead oflimiting players to the usual healing items or automatic regeneration found inmost games, Lana could cure her infection level through being close with Amy,who is immune to the monsters’ disease. In addition, Amy could be commanded tocomplete certain tasks that Lana couldn’t do. However, the execution of it allis shoddy at best. Amy, along with other NPCs, are prone to walking into walls,disobeying the occasional order, or simply being a hindrance as players walk.At least the collision detection works fine.
Most frustrating of all in thisgame are the combat mechanics and controls. Understandably, Lana isn’t trainedfor combat and could only wield the occasional wooden stick, but her limitationto either swing or dodge only makes for repetition. Even the protagonists in Silent Hill know how to pull a trigger. Theuncooperative camera hinders players even moreso than Lana’s own inability tofight, often placing enemies in blindspots and a prime location to ambushplayers or perhaps eluding players as to whether the monster has died yet. Othergames that feature a powerless protagonist feel challenging; AMY challenges players to not destroytheir controllers in rage. Sparse checkpoints will annoy players even further, forcing them to replay large segments from untimely, accidental deaths.
Upon first impression, the gamelooks like a treat, especially at the $15 pricetag. As players spend more timewith AMY though, the blemishes willsoon become noticeable. Once players take control of Lana and command her torun out of the train, they will notice the game’s extremely choppy frame rate.It’s as though the game decides to skip a beat with every couple of steps Lanatakes, a problem that is only exacerbated during fights. Design-wise, the gameis so dark that it actually affects gameplay. Without any reliable radar and onlyvague visual cues to go on, I frequently ran into invisible walls that shouldhave never existed – wide gaps that couldn’t be crossed and sizeable crevassesthat Lana just seemed too elegant to crawl through. Any spaciousness that thesevisual elements create quickly disappears.
AMY is everything that an indie title shouldn’t be – it’s marred bylazy design decisions, clunky controls, and wasted potential. Gamers who wantto test the legitimacy of reviewers’ scores or are drawn into the title by itspremise and graphics are highly discouraged from even touching the title. Thegame’s problems are simply too numerous and rooted in design for them to everbe patched up, making it hardly worth a purchase.
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