Now that the PlayStation Network has been resurrected, we can start looking forward to downloading games there again. One of the more promising prospects coming up is Amy, a survival horror title that Sony has confirmed for a summer release.
Amy is the work of Paul Cuisset, the creator of the classic 1990s PC titie Flashback. Part side-scrolling platformer, part action/adventure, the game tends to earn very high marks with those who are old enough to remember it. Amy sounds like a completely different beast, however. It seems to be cut from a more traditional survival horror cloth, with running and hiding often the smart approach for dealing with enemies.
The story opens in the year 2034 on the small town of Silver City. Lana, the protagonist, awakens after a comet touches down nearby to discover that chaos has broken out all around her. A virus has turned the town’s residents into the otherworldly beasts that pursue you throughout the game, with the explanation apparently being that Hell has come to Earth.
Lana is afflicted as well, but the sickness is staved off when she encounters a young, mute girl named Amy. It’s not really clear why Amy keeps the virus at bay, but proximity seems to be the key; Lana is able to venture away from her young charge, at which the virus takes hold again. There’s an advantage to this, however– enemies aren’t as keen on attacking their own kind.
It sounds like some portion of the game will balance between bringing Amy along and scouting ahead on your own using the virus to veil your presence. In a cool twist, Amy also features a button command for holding the young girl’s hand. She may not be able to speak, but grabbing her hand allows you to feel a heartbeat through your PS3 controller. This gives you a sense of how anxious she’s feeling, which ought to raise your own tension levels whenever her heart starts racing with no obvious threats in the vicinity.
