This review contains spoilers
"A Bunch Of Slop"
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is an indirect sequel to the acclaimed Amnesia: The Dark Descent , a revolutionary title for the horror genre and one of my favorite games of all time. I was looking forward to the sequel despite the massive amount of backlash it received, and tried to temper my expectations as not to critique the title in any unfair way. After two separate attempts at slogging through this incoherant mess, I've decided that I'm going to critique this disappointment as the crud it turned out to be.
The biggest praise I have seen towards this title is with the story. I've seen phrases like "brilliant worldbuilding", "smart narrative" and "dark storytelling" floated around plenty, and I have to say one thing in response - are these people crazy? Okay I can understand the dark narrative aspects because... well its Amnesia, but the other statements are completely ludicrous. I have rarely ever played a game with a story as confounded, exposition heavy, and boring as the one told in this title. The language of various texts throughout the game is incredibly pretentious and provides barely any substance, and most conversations are abstract, unclear, and repetitive in nature. The worldbuilding is absent outside of dialogue and notes, with an environment that looks sort of good but lacks any real character to it. This is an incredibly overstated characteristic of this title that many fans of the game insist on.
As for gameplay, there are numerous subtractions to the overall experience. Gone are all aspects of survival-horror gameplay involving sanity and resource management, and instead the game becomes a pseudo walking-simulator. This does not bode well in the light of the original game, and makes the experience feel dull and tasteless throughout its course. There are no longer any sort of physics in the environment which, in the first game, would alert enemies of your presence when interacted with. Unlimited light means staring at enemies has no consequence, so much of the tension of many situations is removed. Puzzles are an absolute joke in this title as most devolve into placing two or three items into their correct positions and moving onwards with barely a few minutes of involvement. Gameplay is simply a disaster compared to what the first game contained, and in that light it really changed the experience.
The enemy AI here is also incredibly poor. Enemies will simply walk back and forth in hallways at times, and at best will lazily trudge around an empty room until they spot you. It is very simple to escape, and your character can survive multiple strikes. Sound design in still pretty good though, so some tension remains during enemy encounters initially, but after encountering them firsthand the horror takes a nosedive in overall effect.
The visuals here are solid, with some improvements to the textures in the environments. However, this doesn't translate to the overall art/level design. Whereas the original game's Brennenburg Castle was dark, moody, and intricately designed with multiple choices in paths, A Machine For Pigs' levels feel mechanical, washed out, and linear. Areas blend into one another, and the lighting is not as well done as the first title. Sound is done well in these environments, but it can only provide so much substance.
Voice acting here is actually still great, though the writing of many characters is very poor. Mandus comes off as very whiny despite having a strong VA, as does the voice of "The Machine" himself (or whatever he is called). There are some definite highs for the experience when it comes to VA, though this isn't much for the game to stand on.
Overall, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a shockingly empty sequel in many aspects that I would Not Recommend. The great writing and smart gameplay design of the original title are completely scrapped, and in its place lies a linear, mechanical, and pretentious experience. There is some good sound design, texturing, and voice acting, but everything else is dull, weak, or terrible. This was a huge disappointment for me, but thankfully Frictional's next game SOMA has already proven the company's penchant for quality in their games as of late. The recent Amnesia: Rebirth has caught my eye as well, though I will have to somehow temper my expectations even more for that one after A Machine for Pigs' massive failure in my eyes.
Final Verdict: 3/10 (Poor)
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is an indirect sequel to the acclaimed Amnesia: The Dark Descent , a revolutionary title for the horror genre and one of my favorite games of all time. I was looking forward to the sequel despite the massive amount of backlash it received, and tried to temper my expectations as not to critique the title in any unfair way. After two separate attempts at slogging through this incoherant mess, I've decided that I'm going to critique this disappointment as the crud it turned out to be.
The biggest praise I have seen towards this title is with the story. I've seen phrases like "brilliant worldbuilding", "smart narrative" and "dark storytelling" floated around plenty, and I have to say one thing in response - are these people crazy? Okay I can understand the dark narrative aspects because... well its Amnesia, but the other statements are completely ludicrous. I have rarely ever played a game with a story as confounded, exposition heavy, and boring as the one told in this title. The language of various texts throughout the game is incredibly pretentious and provides barely any substance, and most conversations are abstract, unclear, and repetitive in nature. The worldbuilding is absent outside of dialogue and notes, with an environment that looks sort of good but lacks any real character to it. This is an incredibly overstated characteristic of this title that many fans of the game insist on.
As for gameplay, there are numerous subtractions to the overall experience. Gone are all aspects of survival-horror gameplay involving sanity and resource management, and instead the game becomes a pseudo walking-simulator. This does not bode well in the light of the original game, and makes the experience feel dull and tasteless throughout its course. There are no longer any sort of physics in the environment which, in the first game, would alert enemies of your presence when interacted with. Unlimited light means staring at enemies has no consequence, so much of the tension of many situations is removed. Puzzles are an absolute joke in this title as most devolve into placing two or three items into their correct positions and moving onwards with barely a few minutes of involvement. Gameplay is simply a disaster compared to what the first game contained, and in that light it really changed the experience.
The enemy AI here is also incredibly poor. Enemies will simply walk back and forth in hallways at times, and at best will lazily trudge around an empty room until they spot you. It is very simple to escape, and your character can survive multiple strikes. Sound design in still pretty good though, so some tension remains during enemy encounters initially, but after encountering them firsthand the horror takes a nosedive in overall effect.
The visuals here are solid, with some improvements to the textures in the environments. However, this doesn't translate to the overall art/level design. Whereas the original game's Brennenburg Castle was dark, moody, and intricately designed with multiple choices in paths, A Machine For Pigs' levels feel mechanical, washed out, and linear. Areas blend into one another, and the lighting is not as well done as the first title. Sound is done well in these environments, but it can only provide so much substance.
Voice acting here is actually still great, though the writing of many characters is very poor. Mandus comes off as very whiny despite having a strong VA, as does the voice of "The Machine" himself (or whatever he is called). There are some definite highs for the experience when it comes to VA, though this isn't much for the game to stand on.
Overall, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a shockingly empty sequel in many aspects that I would Not Recommend. The great writing and smart gameplay design of the original title are completely scrapped, and in its place lies a linear, mechanical, and pretentious experience. There is some good sound design, texturing, and voice acting, but everything else is dull, weak, or terrible. This was a huge disappointment for me, but thankfully Frictional's next game SOMA has already proven the company's penchant for quality in their games as of late. The recent Amnesia: Rebirth has caught my eye as well, though I will have to somehow temper my expectations even more for that one after A Machine for Pigs' massive failure in my eyes.
Final Verdict: 3/10 (Poor)