How many of you have ever played a game that was so emotional for you that you cried or yelled or cheered when something happened? Remember in Silent Hill 2 when you watch the video tape in the hotel? I cried. Remember in Half-Life 2 when the combine officer was revealed to be Barney Calhoun? I cheered. Remember when you played Mass Effect 2 and one of your squad members got killed in the ending because you screwed up? I yelled.

Now, how many of you have been so emotionally involved in a game that you couldn't finish it?

I preordered Frictional Games' "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" after playing about 5 minutes of the demo. In the demo, I hadn't even seen a monster and I had already bought it. Amnesia is the single scariest experience you will ever have in a game. Remember how much I loved Condemned: Criminal Origins because it was so damn scary? I played Condemned to calm down afterwards.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the kind of game that you bring a spare pair of underpants for and only play with the lights on in broad daylight because it's so **** terrifying. Granted, I played in a dark room late at night with the sound waaaay up. The game's story is simple, you wake up in a castle with amnesia. Go.

Exploration leads you to find out that this is no ordinary castle, it's owned by a cruel and evil man who, in a note to yourself, you are ordered to kill. This whole killing a man thing would be easy in any other game because you had something Amnesia doesn't have: a weapon. Actually, even a stick or a rusty spoon or trombone would be more defense than what you get in Amnesia. Amnesia gives you two options when you run into the horrid creatures lurking in the shadows: Run like hell or get your face beat so badly it comes out your ass and you explode.

Your only real option is to run like the dickens and put as many doors, walls, boxes, bodies, and tables in the way until you can find a place to hide like a cupboard or a bed or a prison cell. This would be a whole lot easier if they weren't faster than you.

Another hazard you frequently encounter when fleeing for your life is that doors are realistic. Yup. You wouldn't think of a door in a game as unrealistic. Think about how many games let you open the door from either direction by pushing it? Amnesia was very clever (frankly, they were the logical ones) and made doors only push open from one direction. Doors don't close on their own, either, that's up to you to do.

Now, there was one particular instance in which I screamed like a little girl with the mouth of a sailor and I'm going to recreate the scene for you. In the demo, you start off at the beginning of the game, exactly how it begins. You make your way and eventually you reach a "level door" which is where the game loads the next area and it skips you ahead a bit. You get your trusty lantern and head into the wine cellar of the castle and a creepy narrative of how this "evil shadow- a sort of living nightmare", is chasing you and you must stay in the light to keep it at bay. That'd be awesome if the monsters couldn't see you in the light. In fact, I found it strange that they could only see you in the light and they're blind in the dark but they hang out in the dark anyway. Hurmm. Anyway, I saw this shadow off in the distance and, having just played through Condemned 2: Bloodshot which was slightly disappointing as you literally yell people to death and it just wasn't scary and any time you saw something even remotely intimidating you had this move at your disposal called the "hobo rush" where you charge your opponent and elbow them in the face. Well, I didn't realize I couldn't do that so I charged it full-on, balls-to-the-wall, crazy fast. I got up next to it and it just dissolved. I was flabberghasted. Hang on, we're not quiet there yet.

So the game gets released and I load it up and that night I'm playing with my buddy Chris from the BK story and I get to the part where you're supposed to get the lantern and I'm looking around for it all over the place. No dice. It's not here. I should have taken the hint that the demo was just that, a demo of what kinds of things to expect in the game. So I tool around and finally find me a lantern and some drugs to heal my wounds and I make my way through the levels, not so much as once seeing a monster and I make it to that cellar again. Mind you, I'm about 2 hours into the game at this point and haven't even seen a single monster which is amazing as I was so scared that I had to put the game down twice by this point.

I enter the cellar and hear that creepy narrative again. Evil shadows, living nightmare, etc, etc, etc and I come to that room. It's noticeably darker; the layout has changed. Hurmm. This is different. Where was the monster strolling along? Well, he must be gone. I make my way forward, pulling out my lantern and I see the shadow appear and it catches me off-guard. Woah.

"Chris, I'm gonna do it." I said.
"Do what?" he asked.

"CHAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGE!"; I rushed forward, ready to hobo-rush the dissolving monster when my light reaches the creature and it STARES DIRECTLY AT ME AND SCREAMS A SCREAM SO BLOODCURDLING THAT I LET OUT THE BIGGEST "HOLY **** I HAVE EVER SCREAMED IN MY LIFE.

I 180-ed my mouse around and took off like an Olympic sprinter going for gold, hearing the pounding of my heart over the sound of the game. I was nearing the end of the tunnel and I knew I would be approaching a level door. At last! There it was! I ran straight towards it, monster in tow. I clicked on the door.

"This door is sealed. It will not open."

It didn't automatically censor the extensive line of profanity I had originally written here so let this italicized sentence stand in place for a string of curse words that would make Bob Saget blush.

I turned around. Bad idea. WARGHHERBARBLE and the monster removes my face from the rest of me and scarfs it down.

So yeah, I'm about 8.5 hours in and I'm really having trouble playing it for very long. If you want a game about raw, pure, terror, check out Amnesia: The Dark Descent. If you want a game that will give you nightmares, check out Amnesia: The Dark Descent. If you like indie games, check out Amnesia: The Dark Descent. If you like games in general, check out Amnesia: The Dark Descent.