Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs

True: The game is pretty short, movement is often restricted, the puzzles are not challenging and many features of the original Amnesia have been removed. It is also not nearly as horrifying as the first one. I never had to stop playing because I just could not open the next door. So if you were hoping for more of the same, then you will probably be a bit disappointed. I was. However, there are a few redeeming features: The art style, the setting and the story are much more inspired than in the first Amnesia, which was a bit derivative. "A Machine for Pigs" is sometimes just outlandishly bizarre where the original was a bit ordinary. The writing is very atmospheric and evocative. I haven't yet been able to make up my mind concerning the story itself. It's all very enigmatic, and honestly, after reading every diary I could find, I'm still not certain I got it. But it still is interesting and engaging. Also, some people claim that it is "dumbed-down" or "casual". It is quite clear that the game was streamlined to increase the focus on the setting and the storytelling. If it worked or if this is a good idead is another question, but it is not "dumbed-down". The challenge is to piece together the story. All in all, I recommend this game for fans of the weird and macabre. It's not really Amnesia 2, it's not really survival horror, but it's still a very interesting and extremely creepy, twisted experience.

I honestly prefer this game to Dark Descent. It is darker, more creepy and scary with deeper story and is really, really fucked up. Sure, you don't have sanity meter or lantern oil as mechanics, but I only saw those as restrictions in Dark Descent. You shouldn't look at monsters or your sanity will drop and then you have to waste oil to restore it. None of those restrictions here. It's kinda lame that they removed all kinds of item pickups here (no laudanum, your health regenerates about 10 seconds after taking damage...). I see it as good that you actually have to carry the items you need to progress by picking them up, not by sticking them in your inventory. Where others see these as "stripped features", I see them as more immersion and less restriction. [SPOILERS AHEAD] The game itself is just as scary as Dark Descent, if not more. The story is more mysterious and non-linear, your character develops through it as he remembers more about who he was and what he has done. I thought this game ended when Mandus activated the machine and that it had the same linear story as Dark Descent, but that was only half of the game. What gave me the most impression about this game is that it is in a darker and more twisted setting. Prepare to see extremely fucked up scenes throughout the game. It is really what I expect from a horror game and they did it well. The enemies were terrifying, even though most of them were recycled from Dark Descent. You have the usual pig, a kind of brute pig that one-shots you, a water monster that you don't really fight in the water, and the most terrifying - the Tesla, which fades in and out of existence, teleports around and is totally awesome. If you thought this game was less terrifying than Dark Descent, think again. Maybe there are not that many jumpscares, but the chases and definitely scarier. It is really not right to compare it to Dark Descent though, since it is not even a sequel. All you who expect a sequel go complain about Justine.

A short summary: The game is completely railroaded. You can get past all the opponents just by running. The game picks up after a while and gets genuinely interesting. But then the ending is so dragged out you wish the game would've ended earlier. There are almost no puzzles. The story is OK, but its presentation by means of pretentious, badly written and illogical journal notes is definitely NOT OK. It does sum up to a memorable experience. But there's no sense of agency and you don't need to use your brain more than once, so it's almost a completely passive experience. The last word: too many cheap thrills, too little genuine horror.

Everything has been said before, and I'm glad that at least one website on the net doesn't confuse nor fool gamers. A Machine for Pigs is not a direct sequel. It's a spin-off at best, or worst. Like we haven't seen enough of "dead children" ghostly stories. Very pretensions, but completely unoriginal, the game keeps torturing you with lines and lines of pointless dialogue and diary entries written just for the sake of writing. There are hardly any hidden messages or philosophy inside. Most of it is a banal and repetitive gibberish. The pig allusions and images get on your nerves pretty soon, as well as the whining of the main hero. The dialogue keeps slowing your progress (literally), until the game finally gets rid of any progress at all, turning into one linear, boring rally with audio book elements. The word diarrhea doesn't stop even during the ending credits as the devs keep calling themselves "the creators and puppeteers" or something. And, of course, there is no gameplay and no horror attached. A few simple puzzles, even fewer cheap scares, resulting in several hours of boring gameplay. The non-interactive environment is a complete waste of the engine's powers, as well as the repetitive environment. There's no explanation of why Frictional lent their best license to an inexperienced team. While they also used to simplify the formula by taking away action elements, they never forgot about the actual GAME. The word unknown to Chinese Room.