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General discussion (archive)Release: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs(94 posts)(94 posts)
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Posted September 10, 2013
Descend into the bowels of London!

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, a chilling survival horror game set in the stinking underbelly of Victorian London, is available on GOG.com for only $19.99.

The year is 1899, the eve of the new century. As industrialist London, anxious with anticipation, readies its factories and production lines for the impending golden age, Oswald Mandus, a troubled tycoon, wakes up from a nightmarish vision. Overcome by mind-numbing fever, unable to discern reality from a hallucinatory fantasy, he cannot drown out the hellish noise of mysterious machine. Is the sound real? The echo still reverberating inside his skull, the shape and form of this ominous apparatus gripping him, like a deliric spectre. The man rises from his bed aghast with sudden fear: "My children… Where are my children?" The deafening scream of the infernal engine drowns out his hesitant steps.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is an exceptionally creepy exercise in industrial revolution horror. Building upon the ideas and mechanics used in Amnesia: The Dark Descent, the game will shock you with a nightmarish world all its own. Fans of the genre will definitely appreciate the ominous soundtrack by award-winning composer Jessica Curry as well as the detailed, haunting environments designed to evoke claustrophobia and paranoia. With the focus shifting towards phantasmagoric storytelling, with a nauseating secret at the heart of Oswald Mandus' ordeal, this perfectly paced horror will not only make you gasp for air while playing, but is sure to leave you shaken for weeks after.

Experience first hand the descent into insanity, and delve deeper into the soul-grinding horrors of Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, for only $19.99 on GOG.com.
Posted September 13, 2013
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jefequeso: I'm not surprised at all, actually. Thomas Grip of Frictional Games has been pretty open about his belief that challenge and traditional "gamey" mechanics need to be eliminated from games in order to tell good stories, and... well, The Chinese room isn't exactly known for advancing storytelling through gameplay either.
What I don't understand is, if these people are really that great at telling stories, what the f' are they doing making games? Why don't they write a book or make a movie instead? (my guess is because in reality they suck at telling stories and would be laughed out of literature and movies)
Posted September 13, 2013
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jefequeso: I'm not surprised at all, actually. Thomas Grip of Frictional Games has been pretty open about his belief that challenge and traditional "gamey" mechanics need to be eliminated from games in order to tell good stories, and... well, The Chinese room isn't exactly known for advancing storytelling through gameplay either.
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HiPhish: What I don't understand is, if these people are really that great at telling stories, what the f' are they doing making games? Why don't they write a book or make a movie instead? (my guess is because in reality they suck at telling stories and would be laughed out of literature and movies)
Well, I'm certainly not going to defend the original Amnesia as being a timeless yarn. Frictional has had its moments when it comes to their stories, but nothing particularly spectacular.

As for The Chinese Room, I can't really say. I haven't seen very much of Dear Ester.

I think games are very well-suited for storytelling, and have the potential to be even more powerful and introspective than film or literature. And developers are only now starting to realize that. Sadly, some developers are going in decidedly non-interactive directions, which defeats the purpose of telling a story through a videogame in the first place.
Posted September 13, 2013
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jefequeso: ...
If you're going to use video games as a storytelling medium then you have to use their interactivity, ie.e allow the players to tell their own stories instead of being fed the developer's story. Otherwise you end up with a monstrosity that's neither a good storytelling experience nor a good game. For instance in Dear Esther, if there is nothing to interact with, then why on earth does the "player" have to walk in the first place? Why not just make it on rails and auto-walk? If you give the player input, then the player will expect meaningful output.

As it stands a game like Super Mario Bros. is a way better storytelling game, because each of the player's action has serious implications, much more than any of these narrative games. Telling a story to the player in a *game* makes as much sense as having a movie where the actors are just standing still and providing exposition.
Post edited September 13, 2013 by HiPhish
Posted September 16, 2013
Urghh!
I got this through Frictional Games itself, because it included a Linux version. What a letdown. Sure, the graphics (apart from that blasted bluish fog) are nice enough, but the story falls flat on it's face because the notes strewn about the place make it pretty obvious what has happened in a nutshell after just about 10 minutes into the game. You will only uncover some details after that. The game play is almost non-existent, with a constant jarring shake to pull you out of any semblance of immersion. I can't stand being railroaded. The only thing that is missing are the arrows of the COD and the Dead Space series.
I must congratulate them on sounds and (albeit minimal) music. Fantastic for a video game.
The worst game of Frictional by far... I have de-installed this tripe that I have looked forward to for some time. Oh, well. Two stars for trying to tell a story and the rare occasions that did actually engage me.
If you like the style of these stories, go read Ray Bradbury; melancholic and (or) horror stories combined with great storytelling. If you want to play a true psychological horror game, try the excellent "I have no Mouth and I must Scream.". Right here on GOG.
Post edited September 16, 2013 by jorlin
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General discussion (archive)Release: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs(94 posts)(94 posts)
(94 posts)