Trading in the gothic Lovecraftian terror of The Dark Descent for... politically allegorical steampunk(?) A Machine For Pigs nevertheless plays very similar.
The machine based 'puzzles' are entertaining enough, the level design is slicker and more varied, the atmosphere just as thick.
However, the game just feels much easier and far less threatening, particularly as your character can run safely past most of the game with or without his bottomless lantern, unphased psychologically by the shadows and monsters. This makes it a case of simply getting from A to B.
It's a fine adventure, but far less compelling, as the plunge into human atrocities is rather mild compared to the torture chambers of the predecessor; the allegory of pigs and poverty also becomes tiresome.
Still, it's an Amnesia game at heart, and will no doubt give you a fright or two.