VGChartz’s Paul Broussard: “The best way I think I can describe The Bunker is that it is an exceptional proof of concept. There’s immense potential here, and the first couple of hours or so are genuinely great horror, but the game doesn’t have enough tricks up its sleeve to maintain momentum. Once you get a grip on your surroundings and a decent handle on mechanics, a good horror title needs to inject something to keep things interesting.
Metroid Dread’s EMMI would gain new abilities to threaten the player with, while Alien: Isolation’s Xenomorph had one of the most complex gaming AIs ever created, which allowed it to anticipate player actions based on what the player had done previously. Both of these serve a purpose: they keep the player from ever getting too comfortable. While it would probably be unreasonable to expect a lower budget title like The Bunker to have something as complex as the Xenomorph’s AI, the lack of any sort of twist means that the game is effectively over after the two or so hour mark, bar a couple more hours of running around and fetching keys/codes. I really hope Frictional revisits this idea in the future here, because the first half shows the potential for one of the best horror titles ever made, but as it stands currently the second half is just too comfy to call unquestionably good. It’s a very intriguing title, one that I’d even probably recommend for how rare these types of games are in the first place, but missing a few crucial pieces to complete the puzzle.”
