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Summary
Disappear into another tale of terror in the Amnesia series withAmnesia: The Bunker. This petrifying period piece buries you alive in an abandoned bunker from the First World War, but you’re not alone down there. A bestial burrowing beast calls your haven from the war home, so you best leave as quickly as you can.
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Though it’s a fairly short excursion into terror in those tunnels, there’s some interesting story stuff going on that you can miss if you’re just running from your Safe Room to the next unlockable area. But, whether you missed a note or were too busy running in fright from the Beast, here’s the story of Amnesia: The Bunker, explained.
The Overall Plot To Amnesia: The Bunker
Thelocation always changesin each Amnesia game, and this time around, you’re on thecrater-covered fields of Franceduring the First World War. We followHenri Clément, a French Soldier who finds himself inside the Bunker,recovering from injuriessustained in aGerman Mortar Strikewhilerescuing a fellow soldier.
At first, it seems it’s become anabandoned Bunker, with the troopscaving in the entranceto supposedly prevent the Germans from capturing it, but all isnot as it appears. Its previous occupantsunearthed something unholyin the depths of the Earth while trying to find a way totunnel under the German lines. Everyone is wiped out or driven mad by what they found,the only way out is sealed, and it’s up to you to put the pieces together as you try to leave your new hideaway from the horrors of the front.
The Brief Beginning
Things begin with Henrirunning through a bullet-filled battlefield. Slipping into a trench, he’s ambushed by German soldiers, but he’s miraculouslysaved by his friend and fellow Soldier, Augustin Lambert. The two push through the trench to try and meet the rest of their unit at apredetermined rendezvous point.
After surviving a horrific gas attack, the two are separated, with Henri crawling through the carnagealone and in the dark, with only his trusty Service Revolver at hand. It then fades away to a new scene.
Augustin is found again, injured and alone at thebottom of a large pit. He’s rescued by Henri, but as the two try to head back to French lines, they’respotted by the Germans. The enemy troops open fire. AsHenri carries Augustin, a mortar shell strikes, and hedrops his friend to the groundas hepasses outfrom his injuries.
What Happened In The Bunker Before You Wake Up
Time for a flashback. As Henri goes on his journey, herecovers notes and journal entriesleft behind by the previous French Army Soldiers. It’s revealed thatFrench High Commandsent the order to excavate and usederelict and ancient Roman Tunnelsfound under the frontlines. The Bunker wasconstructed on topto guard the entrance.
The idea was that troops couldtravel through them via the Bunkerto launch asurprise attack on nearby German lines. While they seemedRoman in origin, they were, in fact,constructed by the Mithraic Cult. Within their walls, profane acts, sacrifices, orgies, and other stomach-churning nightmare rituals were conducted,and it left its mark.
Strange statues line the halls, rocks defy gravity and drift through the air asreality seems to slightly unwindin spots. Any soldier that ventured down into the Tunnels wasn’t attacked by anything, but on their return, they found themselvesexperiencing horrible nightmares, visions, or full-blown psychosisafter only a short exposure to the derelict halls below. Worse still,strange Wraith-like apparitionswere frequently seen wandering the tunnels. Though theyposed no physical threat, they still unnerved the men.
TheMithraic Cultis a group that’s obsessed withthe Other World. A hell-like location in another dimension that’s home to anadvanced civilizationand has appeared throughout the Amnesia games.
The Mutiny
Unfortunately for the suffering soldiers, thehigher-ups did not believe their menwith their claims and complaints referred to as nothing but rumors, superstition, and anattempt to sabotage the mission. Some were disciplined tosend a message to the others, but this onlyantagonized the menfurther.
Tensions would begin to rise. After itreached a boiling point, a group of men began toplot to blow up the entranceto the tunnels. They were successful, andthe tunnel was sealed. However, the Officers were exceedingly angry about this. An investigation was launched, and theculprits were arrested, with some beingtortured for informationon their compatriots.
The perpetrators weregiven a military trial onsite, subsequently found guilty, and thenthrown into a pit in the Bunkerto starve to death. The key members of the group were alsoroutinely and sadistically torturedby the Officers for days before eventuallysuccumbing to their woundsand passing away. That all changed, though, whenAugustin arrivedwith a wounded Henri.
A German prisonertaken during aFrench Patrolof the battlefield appears during this time and istortured. Henri encounters him and can eitherprotect him from The Beast, allow it to kill him, or kill the prisonerhimself. There’s anachievement locked to your decision; that’s about it.
Where The Beast Came From And How It Got In The Bunker
With Henriin a coma for dayson end from his wounds, Augustine kept on in the Bunker whilewaiting for his friend to recover. However, during this time, numerous men, including some of the now-despised Officers, beganmysteriously dyingin what looked likeviolent and bloody animal attacks.
As it turns out, when Henri found Augustine in the bomb crater,Augustine drank from waterHenri had gathered from a pool that had filled the bottom. This spring, opened by a German shell, hadstrangely revitalized a previously wounded Augustine butleft him with acorrosive curse. At random, he wouldtransform into a huge hulking mole-like creatureknown as The Beast.
It was something that wasout of his control, and over time he would fully succumb to it, lose all self-awareness andpermanently become the creature. The surviving Soldiers in the Bunker wereslowly picked off by this monster, and though some would put up a valiant stand,it was unkillable. Henri wakes up roughly around the time the last of the survivors are getting killed off, andit’s from there the game begins.
Though it’sunconfirmed, the liquid in the crater may have beenVitae. Aterrible and transformative elementharvested from terrified or tortured people has also appeared throughout the Amnesia series as a“Magical MacGuffin.”
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What Happens In The Bunker After You Wake Up
Awakening in a Medical Ward, Henri finds himself in ashattered and blood-stained Bunker. Its occupants are either missing, dying, or decorating the walls. Verminousflesh-eating ratsscurry around, feasting on the decaying dead.The only way out is blocked with rubble,and after a brief encounter with aterminally injured Sdt. Boisrand, Henri comes face to face with The Beast.
To him, it seems like an otherworldly entity that canmove through the walls and groundwith ease thanks to itsmassive sharp claws. The entire Bunker and itsinky-black passagesare now its playgrounds, and Henri, its prey.
Henri tries to escape this new subterranean hell bycollecting dynamite and a detonatorto blow open the barricaded entrance. But these items areseparate from each other in secluded parts of the structurethat are blocked or locked away behind various obstacles and doors. This is where the majority of the game takes place and where you can discover the many notes and pictures that unravel this story.
The Tunnel
After finding the components to make his escape, Henri successfully detonates the dynamite andshatters the barricade into splinters. However, doing sodoesn’t reveal the bright light of the surface. Instead, it’s theentrance to the ancient tunnelsbeneath the Bunker:the only way out.
Following this down into the depths, Henri findsaged architectureand the samewandering Wraithsthe French Soldiers encountered. There’s also an encounter withToussaint Beaufoy, a French Soldier that hadgone insaneafter exposure to the Tunnels and hadwandered inbefore they had been sealed up.
Toussaint had beentrapped down there for over a month, eventually going completely mad andclawing out his own eyes. Armed with a shotgun, heblindly prowls the halls, firing at any noise he hears before either beingkilled by Henri or left alone,depending on your actions.
As Henri ventures further, he finds anEldritch-looking arenaover a vast chasm with bridges that can be lowered or raised. The Beastappears on the opposite side,and it’s here that you can choose to eitherfight it or fleeto the exit. Regardless, Henri eventually climbs up from the Arena through astrange structure,and after sprinting down a long hallway, he findsdebris blocking the exit.
Afterclearing the obstructionand exiting outside,Henri trips and stumblesdown an unexpected cliffside into abody-filled ditch. The sound of aGerman patrol closing inon Henri can be heard, and at this point,one of two endingsplays out.
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The Endings
Thetwo endings of Amnesia: The Bunkerare a little bit ambiguous and not drastically different, but they’re varied enough to mention, and they’reextremely easy to unlock. You just need to eitherkill The Beastin the Arena by dropping him into the chasm or justevade the creatureand leave.
Depending on your choice, you’ll be givenone of two endings. If you’ve already beaten the game and missed one, or are just curious, here’s what happens at the end of Amnesia: The Bunker for both cutscenes.
Kill The Beast
If Henri kills the monster, he’llescape the tunnels, fall down the cliffside and lie in the ditch full of his dead countrymen. AGerman patrol approachesandthe game ends. Henri’s fate isleft unknown,and it’s presumed that he waseither captured or killedby the Germans.
Evade The Beast
If Henri chooses to evade the monster, hestill makes his escapeand falls into the body-filled ditch. But this time,The Beast also appears at the exit, clambering along the cliffs androaring loudlyabove Henri. Thesounds alert the Germansto their position, andthe game endsas the fates of Henri, the monster, and the approaching enemy soldiers areonce again left ambiguous.
If Henrifalls into the chasmin the Arena, he’ll bedevoured in a formless voidby a strange and ominous red light. This is implied to be areference to the Shadow Creaturefrom Amnesia: Dark Descent, as it’sintrinsically tied to the Mithraic Cult.
