The Swine are Rising! In 2010 Frictional Games terrified the world with the cult horror Amnesia: A Dark Descent. Now they bring you a new nightmare. Created by The Chinese Room, the studio behind Dear Esther, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is an intense and terrifying journey into the heart of darkness that lurks within us all. The year is 1899. Wealthy industrialist Oswald Mandus awakes in his bed, wracked with fever and haunted by dreams of a dark and hellish engine. Tortured by visions of a disastrous expedition to Mexico, broken on the failing dreams of an industrial utopia, wracked with guilt and tropical disease, he wakes into a nightmare. The house is silent, the ground beneath him shaking at the will of some infernal machine: all he knows is that his children are in grave peril, and it is up to him to save them. Step back into the horror.
I enjoyed this game quite a lot. I personally think that handing this to thechineseroom was not too much of the greatest idea, rather, Frictional Games should have done all the work, ALL, and they should have said NO DON'T DO THAT! AND THAT! BAD BAD! Removing elements (Yes I'M GONNA BRAG ABOUT IT BALHBVALH, I'LL TELL YOU WHY:) such as the sanity was something TDD was special for, because it created tension, and so did running out of oil, and what the hell am I gonna do with my life after it depletes, or what if I pass out next to that monster and he sees me and comes towards me then I just shut the computer off instantly, go to my bed and weep and cry ALONE AND FEEL MISERA-....*AHEM*.... that kind of tension is truly important, at least to me, and what created The Dark Descent a true horror game, because you wouldn't know what to do in that situation, you'd just panic and feel uneasy.
Thou the staggering amount of effort given in this game, and the interesting story kept me going and going. As suppose to the first one, the sound effects are very well done and much more vibrant, and I could say a little about how the game looks, as I felt it was a slight improvement, but that's it. I felt like I was still apart of the game, and not what some people say "a walking narrator". I am easily scared, VERY easily, so the monsters did their job just fine, and so did the lights flickering as the monsters got near and I panicked and cried and screamed for my life. So in a way the fear also kept me going as well and it scared me just fine. The atmosphere was just brilliant, and BRILLIANTLY brilliant!
In the end, I enjoyed it, and had fun, and cried in fear. Thou comparing this to our predecessor, The Dark Descent, it falls and doesn't deliver the same fear and tension, and could have been MUCH much better.
It was an alright game, personally I wouldn't consider it a full sequel, but more of a spin-off type game.
In all honesty I was really hyped up for this game since it was the sequel for Amnesia: The Dark Descent but it did not live up to the standard I had for the game.
There are a lot of things that are better then The Dark Descent, such as the graphics, setting, story, etc.... I do feel like these were good things but I feel the story was so heavy focused on you forgot about the GAMEPLAY.
I was thinking that this was going to be one of the scariest games out there but it does not come close at all. There are hardly any monsters to run from and you guys took away some of the key features of AMNESIA. Such as collecting oil and having to maintain that oil so you can keep using it. This game just lets you run unlimited lantern which made the game so much easier and less scary then what it should have been. Also the puzzles are so simple I feel like no one should have trouble with them, half of the stuff is right in front of you that it is nearly impossible to fail at any of them. Also why is darkness not a factor of fear anymore, I thought the bugs eating away at the brain was perfect but you guys also stripped that away in A Machine For Pigs. Also the AI need to be fixed, there were alot of times where I was standing 2 feet from them and they never tried to chase me.
I hardly feel like this is the sequel to the original let alone a horror game. I wanted to be terrified, I wanted to be constantly screaming, I wanted AMNESIA.... I can only hope you guys will realize your mistake and make it up with a DLC.
7/10 is actually really nice of me to give this game for a rating. I don't know about you but I am severely disappointed with this game.
If you want to watch The Ending or Part 1 the links will be below.
Part 1: Youtu.be
Ending: Youtu.be
I enjoyed this game, I really did! But to me it seemed like they went for a Bioshock type story line. The whole time I played the game I felt like it was reminding me of another video game, that was not amnesia the dark decent, and it was Bioshock. The game sort of guides you through everything where as in the first one it felt as if you were on your own. I still enjoyed the game, don't get me wrong. I just felt as if it sort of tried too hard for this epic plot twisting story line which in the end was, sadly, predictable and kind of short. The game did get me a few times with some scares but most of the time I felt safe, not crapping my pants, and just relaxed like I could run along. Even with the "big boss" at the end I did not feel that threatened by him because he just walked and couldn't even break down stuff. Hope you guys let there be custom stories in this one soon, that would be awesome cause I love seeing all the creativity from indie developers with your games!
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, it delivers in terms of storytelling and atmosphere, with impressive use of symbolism and creative storytelling, as well as amazing audio effects and distinctive visual design to boost atmosphere. On the other hand, it isn't very scary or tense at all. Enemy presence has little impact, the player is rarely in any actual danger, and most enemy encounters are utterly unremarkable. It feels like enemies were only included because of an obligation, not because they wanted to deliver a horror game.
Gameplay was dumbed down considerably, with many mechanics being removed and nothing being put back into the game. There's much less object interaction, the game is several hours shorter than the predecessor, and it's a bit more linear.
Given the amount of delays this game had, I can see some people expecting more out of it and being disappointed. But, like I said, it's a mixed bag with both good and bad. The good does outweigh the bad, atmosphere and storytelling are what the game went for, and that's where it delivers. But it is a letdown as a horror game, and this cannot go unnoticed... or unpunished.
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is yet another minimalistic, story experience on the resume of thechineseroom. They seem intent on making only these types of games, like Dear Esther. It's not a tense or scary horror game, and it's a letdown to the Amnesia franchise. It isn't truly an Amnesia game, it simply wears the badge. It could have been an excellent horror game, if thechineseroom wrote the story and basic script like they did, while Frictional Games did the actual gameplay.
See my full review here: Gnd-tech.com