Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs Review
MandaloreGaming・2 minutes read
Amnesia: The Dark Descent and its sequel, Machine For Pigs, take players on a horror-filled journey through eerie settings and complex narratives, exploring themes of sacrifice, exploitation, and societal flaws, with the latter falling short in gameplay mechanics. The game's intense storytelling and exploration of dark themes provide a captivating experience despite the lack of gameplay depth, leaving players divided over its overall impact.
Insights
- Machine For Pigs lacks the gameplay depth of Dark Descent, with limited interactable objects and a simplified light mechanic without a sanity system.
- The game's narrative delves deep into Mandus's descent into darkness, exploring themes of societal exploitation and the consequences of extreme actions to fix broken systems, reflecting on the complexities of human nature and morality.
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Recent questions
What is the setting of Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs?
Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs is set in London, developed by the Chinese Room, known for Dear Esther.
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Summary
00:00
Machine For Pigs: A Simplified Horror Experience
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent was set in a gothic, Lovecraftian castle in Prussia, while the sequel was set in London, developed by the Chinese Room, known for Dear Esther.
- Dear Esther is a linear game where players walk around an island receiving a narrative, leading to skepticism about the Amnesia sequel.
- The main menu of Machine For Pigs features a grand theme, hinting at a larger scope compared to Dark Descent.
- Players control Oswald Mandus, head of a meat packing company in 1899, searching for his missing children in a lavish yet bizarre estate with secret passages and pervert mirrors.
- Mandus's children are believed to be trapped in the Mandus Meat Packing Factory, sabotaged while he slept, leading to a search guided by the chief engineer's cryptic message.
- Machine For Pigs lacks the gameplay depth of Dark Descent, with limited interactable objects and a simplified light mechanic without a sanity system.
- The game's graphics suffer from poor visibility due to excessive darkness, fog effects, and limited lighting, impacting exploration and set piece experiences negatively.
- The lantern in Machine For Pigs flickers when enemies are nearby, serving as a spooky detector, diminishing the tension and unpredictability of encounters.
- Despite the game's strong writing, concepts, and voice acting, the mechanical streamlining and lack of tension-building elements detract from the overall horror experience.
- The ambient audio and sound effects in Machine For Pigs are well-crafted, creating tension and depth, although the inconsistent audio mixing can sometimes drown out important lines.
11:29
Amnesia: A Dark Descent Sequel Analysis
- The game has issues with sound levels, resulting in a mix of visuals that are often murky but occasionally striking.
- The sound design is impressive, but the game underutilizes it, opting for flickering lights and pig mask jump scares.
- Gameplay mechanics are lacking, with no inventory or healing potions, making it difficult to die and encounters with monsters being minimal.
- Monster chases are confined to small areas, with limited AI, making it challenging to be chased.
- The water monster is introduced similarly to the first game but lacks the same dynamic and tension.
- Interactable objects are scarce, puzzles are simplified, and the game lacks the tension and consequences expected in a horror game.
- The story revolves around Mandus, who experienced personal tragedies and financial struggles before embarking on a treasure hunt in Mexico.
- Mandus returns successful, becomes a philanthropist, but harbors secret disdain for society, planning to fix its perceived flaws.
- As players explore, Mandus's true intentions and the facade of his philanthropy become evident, revealing a darker side to his character.
- The game's story is complex and requires close attention to detail, with elements that may not have clear explanations, making it the most intriguing aspect of the game.
22:41
Mandus's Sacrificial Quest: The Dark Descent
- Artifacts from Brennenburg Castle and the Dark Descent are reappearing, with some familiar symbols and connections to Mandus.
- London engineers discover tunnels and ancient structures beneath the city, while Mandus's architect mentions an iron ball at the planet's center called the "egg of the world."
- The architect, who Mandus met in Mexico, assists in designing machinery, raising questions about the purpose of the factory full of man pigs.
- Mandus's children found a stone egg in Mexico that seemed to communicate with him, possibly linked to the orb from Dark Descent.
- The pig masks following Mandus resemble Central American style, hinting at influences from Mexico.
- The masks depict an orb over the brain, suggesting influence rather than hunting, possibly a metaphor for Mandus feeling haunted.
- The engineer's reference to "Precious eagle cactus fruit" hints at Aztec human sacrifice, tying into the game's major theme.
- Compound X, created by Mandus, fuses people and pigs, forming a slave race to operate the machine.
- The machine, industrialized human sacrifice, uses every part of the human body to power and expand itself.
- Mandus's ultimate goal is to sacrifice the city, driven by a belief in saving humanity through cruel means, leading to a destructive endgame.
33:31
Mandus's Descent: Dark Narrative, Mixed Gameplay
- Mandus's soul was fractured by his wife's death during childbirth, leading to the birth of two sets of twins and the mysterious attachment of an orb to him, although the connection remains unclear.
- The game's narrative explores Mandus's descent into darkness, driven by his witnessing of human-created horrors and his extreme actions to prevent them, reflecting on societal exploitation and the consequences of attempting to fix broken systems.
- Despite the game's intriguing story and powerful monologues, its gameplay falls short, sacrificing much of its potential to be a universally acclaimed horror game, resulting in a divisive reception among players.
