The Amulet of AmunRun by developer and
publisher Fruits
of Yggdrasil Studio—PC (Steam) review written by Susan N.
with a copy provided by the publisher.Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes.
The Amulet of AmunRun is a cooperative
escape room game set in an Egyptian tomb. On the surface, this game is perfect
for puzzle aficionados like my partner and I. It includes complex challenges,
cartoony and fun graphics, and is set in an Egyptian pyramid. Without really
looking at the game type, I snatched the opportunity to play it. Then I regretted
my life choices in a serious way.
Gameplay
AmunRun is listed as an indie, and
adventure game, and markets itself as a cooperative escape room. Two
archaeologists enter a dangerous pyramid and their objective is to recover the
pharaoh's amulet hidden deep within. Historically, tombs were constructed to
protect the mummy and their goods from thieves. It is a practice used to
protect prestigious persons like pharaohs or powerful people in Egypt. However,
these 'traps' are not designed as depicted in modern movies. Anyways, the
gameplay has two distinct sections. The first is the puzzle section and the
second is the running portion. In combination, The Amulet of AmunRun could have
been a great experience. Unfortunately, we will get to why I didn't enjoy my
playthrough.
Puzzles in the game are layered in that
each room has multiple stages to complete the encounter. After players make it
through coordination and sleuthing the solutions, they will progress to the
runner portion of gameplay. In these areas, there are timers in the form of
boulders or mummy chases, or floors collapsing. Thankfully, the puzzles break
up the frustrations of running sections that feel stilted and inconsistent.
The Puzzles:
At several points in the game, players
have to solve intriguing puzzles like deciphering texts. In other areas,
players need to find objects for placement on stone blocks. Most of them
require players to activate switches in order, indicated on cartouches or
scrolls found in the area.
At the very least, while the puzzles
seemed to be logical, there are too many solution possibilities. Normally,
adding challenging puzzles to a video game is an aspect that I love. Sadly, the
answer to puzzles is reduced to trial and error because players are given all
of the solutions at once. Unlike other puzzle games, there is no separation of
the clues to assist the players. In this way, the game feels padded. It takes
hours to figure out puzzle solutions if players follow the wrong set of clues.
The only way that players know if they are successful is if they live, or if
new objects appear.
For example, the mummy room has three
stages. The first requires jar placement on the stones. The second is the
placement of the scarabs. The third requires throwing the Ankh at the lights on
the walls. Part one is hard because there are multiple cartouches on the walls,
a plethora of symbols on the statues, and a bulletin board with even more
symbols. The next part is logical but hard to determine the order. The third
stage of the puzzle was easiest to execute but irritating because of the mummy
chase, the indicator disappearing, and the inability to aim. Plus, the player
that catches the object has no idea they have it! There is no audio indication
nor does the character seem to react. As such, the puzzle sections relied too
heavily on non-logical solutions and random chance.
The Running Portion:
The first running section gave me the
impression that I would hate the game. While I expected swinging weapons,
spikes coming through the ground, and being chased by mummies, I was not
expecting the difficulty level to be ramped up at the very beginning. AmunRun's
first running section has players fleeing from a boulder, but running and
jumping through spikes and pendulums. After getting to the next section,
players have to run back up and around, which is particularly stressful because
a giant boulder moves toward you. Did I mention this is THE FIRST RUNNING
SECTION? Right. Anyways, due to the difficulty level, I hated the idea of
continuing the game because I died many times. What's worse is that progression
only occurs if both players make it far enough to trigger the next checkpoint.
Yay! (Not.)
That aside, what bothered me most about
these sections stemmed from game issues like proximity to spikes that
automatically kill players. Other times, players could be close to an object
that should kill them, but doesn't. Sometimes, key inputs wouldn't register,
making entire runs particularly useless. Plus, both players can get stuck if
they are too far behind the other. Not only is there a restriction on movement
speed, but they are hindered by the other player's speed! And with the
inability to determine closeness to traps or to the other player, I threw in
the towel on multiple occasions. But if the individual portions weren't
frustrating enough, there were a number of issues that my partner and I came
across that tanked the entire experience.
Game Issues:
The Amulet of AmunRun is a fully released
game that has been out since April. As such, I expected that gameplay would be
smooth and polished in some capacity. Unfortunately, that expectation was much
higher than deserved. AmunRun has a multitude of issues that make the game
almost unplayable, or at the very least difficult to enjoy. Below is a list of
issues that my partner and I found during gameplay, separated into sections.
UI Issues:
●
The menu options are limited.
Among the missing features are: player join buttons that actually work,
sensitivity speed options, lack of zoom functions, no options to optimize the
graphics, ways to change keybindings, and no difficulty toggle.
○
In order to join your partner, you
must use the option through Steam. The in-game function doesn't work.
○
Being a game that relies on speed
and reaction time, the lack of sensitivity features is a detriment to gameplay.
○
Since the graphics style of the
game is almost polygonal and cartoonish, I noticed that several symbols are
small or faded. This is why a zoom feature would be integral to the game. There
are multiple puzzles that have tiny symbols that are impossible to see.
Besides, not only does this add to the difficulty level of the game, but it
also doesn't bode well for player accessibility either!
○
Steam users comment about the
keybindings automatically changing. Keybinds cannot be changed nor reverted by
the players. If the game is so badly put together that the basic controls
change, then there are deeper issues.
○
Amulet of AmunRun doesn't have a
difficulty toggle. In fact, I expected the difficulty level to gradually
increase, but I was wrong. Players begin at Mission Difficult level without any
options. While I may not be the most versed in this genre, I gave it a fair
shot. I found there were simply too many issues to aggravate both my partner
and I. In my opinion, the lack of adaptability in a non-souls-like game is just
bad form.
●
Another absent feature is a ping
function. My partner and I resorted to shooting at objects to explain what we
were thinking. Being able to point out clues with a ping would be a serious
boon to the game.
Puzzle Issues:
●
The first puzzle requires players
to arrange papers on a corkboard that contain clues to the puzzle's solution.
Unfortunately, aligning objects in any way is tough, especially in timed
sections. This is neither fun nor useful. There are countless puzzle games that
are difficult because of complex solutions, not because of a lack of gameplay
options. In my opinion, these puzzles are difficult due to a lack of
information and not because they are actually challenging.
●
While several of the puzzles have
some indicators as to their solutions, it is challenging to solve many of them.
Each puzzle room has multiple stages that require solving, and there is no real
way to determine which clues correspond to them. In fact, the only saving grace
is the hint system, which gives players some semblance of direction. We used
this feature to death and this is the only game that either of us has RELIED HEAVILY
on hints. That said, the hallway with the switches we brute-forced, and the
spike maze we cheated to progress.
●
As a cooperative game, Amulet of
AmunRun is not playable in a single-player mode. The moment one player dies,
both must restart. While not uncommon, there are several sections that cannot
be completed by both players. One such area is after the hallway of levers.
There are spears that only one player can cross. Also, during the mummy chase,
only one player can solve the puzzle. As in, one player is bored running around
while the other tries to figure out the solutions.
Glitches and Bugs:
The Amulet of AmunRun contains several
glitches and bugs. Puzzles are easily glitched which is the easiest way to
progress without brute-forcing them. For example, during the boulder chase
section, my partner and I found a glitch where I was untouchable. Thus, only he
had to do the running. At the end of that puzzle, players had to put statues in
specific spots to get through the door. The boulder MAGICALLY SPAWNS at the end
while you both appear inside the room. But, I was still behind the boulder and
he should have been killed by it? I've no idea what happened there.
In the mummy room, it was possible to
pick up objects after a section was complete. After failing to solve the next
part, the puzzle resets and the glitched object remains in your hands. The
first problem is that objects remain in the player's hands. The second problem
is that players don't know if they catch the Ankh. I couldn't see it in my hands
and I died as a result. In order to fix this issue, my partner and I had to
reload back to the menu.
Also in the mummy room, even when using
the 'restart challenge', the jars don't reset! This is a particularly
frustrating issue as one of the later puzzles requires another jar to get
through the maze. If for some reason players died in this section, the jar
doesn't reset and also requires restarting from the main menu.
My last point in this section is the
shitty design and issues in the spike maze area. Firstly, this entire section
is inconsistent. In order to pass it, players rely SOLELY on RNG. Secondly,
even though the game requires you to bring the Ankh, it doesn't cause your
death like in every other area prior. Thus, the thing can stay on the ground
and will reappear at each checkpoint regardless of bringing it along. (As in,
if you want to cheat the system, this is one location you can leave the blasted
thing behind).
Thirdly, the lever to activate the puzzle
doesn't always activate or it RANDOMLY RESETS ITSELF! Fourthly, the spike maze
can be completely avoided by walking through one area! To do otherwise would
require HUNDREDS of deaths because THERE IS NO PATTERN to the puzzle! You both
have to HOPE the game will produce a safe path and in my opinion, this is a
massive disservice to players. The inclusion of a puzzle like this is what we
call a dick move.
Thank goodness only one player needs to
get to the end in order to complete that particular section but by that point,
my partner and I gave up on the game.
Final Thoughts
I really wanted to enjoy this game, but I
just couldn't do it. There are too many issues littered throughout that make it
difficult, if not impossible, to enjoy. It's not even the challenge level or
specific aspects that destroy the experience, it's inconsistent inputs,
multiple bugs, and bad game design that kills AmunRun. Not only were my partner
and I able to exploit multiple sections, but we encountered several problems
that pad the experience. And as a person who doesn't like runners or insanely
difficult games, I'd sooner die repeatedly in Elden Ring (which I have NO
interest in playing) than finish this game.
Summary
The Amulet of AmunRun could have been
a fantastic escape room game, but unfortunately, it fails. The game is a buggy
mess, player inputs are inconsistent, the puzzles seem to rely on RNG, and many
of the problem-solving locations lack information which forces players to guess
the answers.
Aside from the overall graphical style
and general concept of the game, there is nothing good about this title. I
don't recommend purchasing this game. It had the potential to be a challenging
and fun experience but fails spectacularly.
Score: 4
/ 10
