The game has big ideas, and it has heart. What, on the surface, seems like a mix between Silent Hill and Doom 3, is actually one of the most inspired horror games of the generation. This game tackles the topic of modern race relations, superfluously. Being given a shotgun and put face to face with a scary black dude, really puts you in the position of our modern police officarials. The fact that this event takes place aboard a ship is a clear allegorical for the Atlantic Slave Trade. The game is clearly, ahead of its time. The portion where you crawl through a pipe or, "vent" may seem like a reference to Among Us, (Amok Us? Coincidence?) But the game, came out before that one. Clearly, Amok is an innovator. It is, revolutionary.
The game wears it's inspirations on its sleeve. The inability to use your shotgun and flashlight at the same time is evocative of Doom 3, in my opinion, the greatest Doom game of all time. In my opinion. Like Doom 3, Amok seems to have been misaligned by the playerbase. Amok, is a failure. But, what does it mean, to fail? When you fall out of the boundaries of the map, you understand that, in Amok, failure, is necessary to succeed. And when I saw through the boundary as I fell into the void, I cried. In my opinion. Not only is this a genius puzzle, as it allows you to see which doors you can open to progress, but it is a meaningful articulation of our place in the universe.
Place is very important in Amok. As I trudged through the frozen, icy, coldness, no idea where I was, or where I was going, I felt truly terrified and alone. No video game has ever put me in the shoes of my avatar to such an extent. And going through the secret underground facility gave me pause for thought, for there seemed to be so much emptiness there, and also, within myself. I feared the monsters lurking around every corner, and also, the monsters lurking within my psyche. As author Ron White put it,
"There have been times in my life that I've had a ton of vices, and my demons have run AMOK for years and years and years."
