Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

I really enjoyed this game, it was terrifying and challenging. I was absorbed in the story and I found the asthetics to be really rich and immersive. I love all of the games in the Amnesia series. I am surprised this one didn't get more positive reviews.

pigs are cool

[h1]”Yeah, so, we’re here in London – uhh, we actually haven’t done anything yet, it just looks like this...[/h1] [b]A Machine for Pigs offers a brilliant and thought-provoking story at the expense of the mechanics of its predecessor, making it a more straightforward walking simulator.[/b] Mandus wakes up to the sound of his sons calling out to him. He descends further and further into his meat processing factory complex. He explores a massive system of pipes and machinery stretching under the streets of London. He encounters pig-like monsters roaming in the halls. Who is the mysterious voice on the phone? What happened to Mandus’ children? What is the purpose of the gargantuan machine? Although, unlike Daniel, Mandus is not a full-on amnesiac, he still doesn’t remember any recent events. The game pulls [spoiler]similar tropes to its predecessor – a character finds an artifact that influences them so much that they go and commit some sort of atrocities in order to reveal them later to the player and have a “wooow - I’m the bad guy??” This time it is a different story, so you don’t really mind these similarities. As Jacob Geller put it we have a lil bit of a Jekyll and Hyde situation going on, with Mandus’ soul being split into two. It is an interesting dynamic with a cool reveal, even though the “other” Mandus feels like it’s own entity at the end. It is also interesting how Mandus goes around fixing stuff broken by the saboteur and then finding out HE was the saboteur. It is a very interesting, thought-provoking narrative, if you ignore a little bit of a stretch here. [b]I mean, when confronted with a prophecy of the horrors of the 2nd century, the world wars, the holocaust and your precious sons dying horribly in the trenches – the decision to instead, sacrifice your sons at a cursed altar and build a giant monster pig machine in order to brutally purge all humanity so it does not taint itself with the sins of the coming century – feels like a bit of an overreaction Mandy, my boy.[/b] On the other hand, it’s a very compelling and unique story. What does a man do when given a choice to destroy the world before it manages to taint itself with the worst sins imaginable, and the choice to let history happen and run its course. Ultimately, Mandus stops himself from finishing his plan. Maybe, past all the future evils, horrors and misdoings, he saw some greater purpose for humanity, still waiting to be realized. The story could be interpreted in a variety of ways, similar to the game’s title. The motif of the machine for pigs could be the literal facility that Mandus built. Is it for pigs as in humans going into it? Or does it refer to the end result, the final product? Maybe the title refers to the upcoming war machine, human life serving it as nothing more than cannon fodder? Maybe it is an interpretation of humanity and the world as a whole.[/spoiler] The game tells the story through notes, phone calls, phonographs, but also visions and past conversations echoing in the protagonist's head. While not my preferred way of experiencing a story, it does the job. However, the effect of slowing me down and blurring my screen to show a hallucination is very tedious at subsequent playthroughs. Also, around the half way into the game Mandus starts talking? He’s not mute? I enjoyed that, why didn’t he talk more from the beginning? Gameplaywise it a more straightforward walking simulator. You progress through the levels occasionally encountering an obstacle or a puzzle to solve. You need to bring a new fuse to insert into a machine, find cogs to reinsert somewhere or find a way to break a rusty lock. You also interact with various doors, valves, levers and other objects using these mouse-drag controls. In contrast to the previous game, there were few objects that you could just pick up and yeet around, which was disappointing. Monster encounters are still in the game, but the majority of them are scripted “monster runs through the hallway” appearances. Not a lot of threats in the game, as most of the minecraft pigmen serve as a non-threat jumpscare, or a scripted chase sequence when you just run forward. There is little tasks when you need to do something while enemies are patrolling around. On top of that any resource management is non-existent. As the iconic Sanity mechanic is gone and Mandus is not afraid of the dark, you don’t need the tinderboxes to make temporary safe havens. Your lantern also doesn’t need oil, it works indefinitely. All this constitutes very little pressure on the player and makes it hard to call the game a survival horror. If not for the interesting plot, it would be a very mediocre experience. The game looks alright; I don’t think there is much to say here. The design of the Manpigs is cool, but there are like, two types of enemies in the game and that’s it. I like the architecture of the entire complex, the temple inside, and the machinery. The game has an incredible soundtrack and voice acting. The brilliance of these aspects is best seen during the final ascent to the temple, the music complementing the well-acted speech of the Engineer and the importance of the upcoming choice for Mandus. From the technical perspective, the frames often dropped to 40, but it’s nothing egregious. While the game has less engaging gameplay than The Dark Descent, it is worth a try to experience its unique story. The reveals are good, the concept a little ridiculous but somehow pulled off. I just hope that in the next installments, they’ll drop the [spoiler]evil[/spoiler] amnesiac protagonist troupe because it is getting stale.

A galera detestou - o jogo é chatissimo mesmo - mas pra mim esse Amnesia tá na mesma régua do Dark Descent. Detestava aquela escuridao e tremedeira do jogo anterior. Aqui temos vela que nao apaga e labirintite controlada, entao só vi vantagens. Virou um walking sim? Virou sim, nao temos como negar, mas é o que o pessoal da Chinese Room sabe fazer, nao tem muito o que discutir.

хрю-хрю

4/10

К сожелению эта игра реально плохая, пройдя все игры этой студии, это прям полная фигня. Реально странный сюжет, НЕ СТРАШНЫЙ геймплей, плохая оптимизация, и даже нету фишки этой студии - Никакой атмосефры... Прошел ее пожалуй только потому что уважаю эту студию. это максимум 4/10.