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Click for Gameplay Trailer - Review

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Graphics:
+ detailed scenes
+ nice but not realistic light atmosphere
- simple architecture
- blurred textures

Balance:
+ notebook
+ fair checkpoints
- ridiculous tasks/puzzles

Sound:
+ good surround effects
+ impressive voice acting
+ disturbing music and unsettling sound effects

Atmosphere:
+ tense situations
+ panic and helplessness
+ some shock moments

Game Size:
+ different rooms
+ brilliantly written script
- not replayable
- short playtime
- drags over the last hour or so with repetition and story padding

Part of the reason why Amnesia: The Dark Descent is scary is because it often leaves you feeling vulnerable and lost in a foreboding world.
Its twisted narrative, creepy visuals, and disturbing enemies intensify these feelings and turn it into an enjoyable and intriguing journey into darkness. The sequel of Amnesia: The Dark Descent takes horror-movie tropes and stirs them into a meditation on the meaning of life, love, war, religion, madness, and the impact of industrialism on 19th-century England.
Put all of this into an incredibly creepy adventure that takes place almost entirely in the pitch dark, toss in some pig-men, and you have one supremely unnerving adventure that is impossible to put down.
Machine for Pigs follows the hazy journey of a wealthy industrialist named Oswald Mandus, who wakes up suffering from amnesia wondering where his children are.
Following in the original’s footsteps, you uncover more about his memories and past actions listening in on conversations he remembers throughout the game and finding diary entries that help build a mysterious backstory.

The story here is by far the strongest aspect of the game, in so much as it stands above everything else like an Olympic weight lifter competing with a classroom of eight year old children without hands (the latter of which sounds like something The Chinese Room would work into one of their games if they could).
It is so well written and genuinely interesting that it kept pulling me along through the game, despite all the nervous flutterings in my stomach that were telling me to turn the game off and go play something more fitting to my bravery level.

Gone is your item inventory and resource management, replaced with a newfound emphasis on environment exploration. Your trusty lantern no longer requires a constant supply of oil, though having it lit will still attract the various beasts which roam the world.
And I’m saddened by the absence of the signature sanity meter, one of the original Amnesia's most memorable elements. A Machine for Pigs delivers a tighter and arguably more interesting horror experience than its predecessor. Honestly, stripping down A Machine for Pigs to its bare essentials makes it a much less physically taxing game. You won't be hiding in closets, flicking your light on and off to regain your sanity, or scouring the environment for extra oil and tinderboxes.
But while it demands less of you through its mechanics, in return it asks much more in terms of unraveling its macabre, savagely poignant story.

The gameplay itself isn't quite as fraught with tension as the plot that you follow, although it comes close. There are no logic puzzles, no inventories full of junk to accumulate, no combat, or anything else that would get between you and the story.
You mostly follow a linear path through the game's many levels, figuring out how to open locked doors, spin various dials and wheels, and so forth.
There isn't a single problem to be solved that requires more than a little bit of exploration and observation.

Through the use of enigmatic diaries, wonderfully creepy audio logs, and a great sense of environmental storytelling, A Machine for Pigs makes Mandus' narrative arc a fantastic trip that culminates in one of the most satisfying final acts of 2013. It marries a deeply tragic and personal story with a terrifying look back at the dark side of the rise of technology. I'm being vague for a reason, because much of Amnesia's power lies in a series of great story reveals. Sadly, you'll have to trudge through a lot of underwhelming puzzles to extract it.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs may be a different kind of horror than fans are expecting, but it's an interesting and welcome experiment in gaming terror. Between the obligatory puzzles is a game that delivers a painfully personal story and some superb psychological horror.

Score: 73 / 100
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There is a lot of people that hate this game, and I know why:

TDD was a fad. The game became popular because of one thing, and one thing only: it was scary. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands likely bought this game because they wanted to get scared; they wanted a joyride complete with overwhelming fear. I don't blame them. The game is pretty scary, but here's the thing:

It seems that most people do not understand that Amnesia, and the games before it, were not just haunted-house amusement park rides like they like to act like it is. No, it's a lot more than that. The game has thick atmosphere, superb pacing and storytelling backed by a very dark story that keeps you curious from beginning and even to the end. To be able to truly appreciate TDD, you need to look further than the scare factor; it is not the only thing that made the game great. Guess what the Chinese Room capitalised on? The story. They wanted to tell a story, much like TDD did. MFP was much more of a psychological experience; the game did not need to scare you with darkness or spooky monsters, all it needed was an incredibly wicked story. This was fulfilled. I expected an atmospheric, thought-provoking horror experience that would keep me on the edge and this is exactly what the game did.

But what did everyone else expect? Probably something entirely different. They probably just wanted to get scared. Most of the fanbase is filled with people that appreciated TDD for nothing more than its scare factor, and therefor this is all they had expected from MFP. They are probably the kind of people that either skipped or skimmed through most of TDD's note readings, not givng a ♥♥♥♥ about the backstory whatsoever. They just wanted to get to the next "scare." The bad reception for this game purely comes from delusioned expectations, is what I believe. Horror is a much deeper genre than you'd think. Read up.

Oh man. This game is such a dissapointment.
If ''The Chinese Room'' didnt get involved this could've been so much better.
They didnt try to make Amnesia 2, they tried to make a sequel to Dear Esther.

I loved the story in TDD, it had the perfect balance between gameplay and story. This one is more focused on the story but I couldn't really get into it because it's so effin boring. There was not a single scary moment in this game and the 'monsters' you'll face later on are no threat to you and you can just casually walk past them. Your character is never in any actual danger. You couldn't check your sanity; tinderboxes and oil didn't exist. You don't have an inventory so don't even bother exploring. But why mention it? You can't do that anyway since every door in this game is locked unless you have to actually go through it. If you loved grabbing random sh*t in TDD and throwing it at the enemy or just against a wall - you can't do it in this one cause everything is locked in place.
The nerve wrecking atmosphere from TDD is completey lost, you don't have to worry about oil for your lantern cause it is unlimited.

I quit the game 3 times but I kept giving it a chance because I WANTED it to be good but there is really no hope for this. A Machine for Pigs is a complete let down to every The Dark Descent fan.
The fact that this game is 3-5 hours long is a joke.
So I will say this: This is one of the worst Horror Games I've ever played in my entire life.
It's not even worth a 1 out of 10 so I won't bother rating it.

I will say though, I have much more respect for bacon, now that I know where it comes from. :/

Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs is alright, but nowhere near in comparison to Dark Descent. The atmosphere, sounds and story is quite good, but it lacks enemies, real puzzles and in-depth secrets. It is basically point A to Point B with no backtracking, sidestories or mods to really boot. Basically you get chased by mechanical pigs in dark. What is groovy about it though is that the audio is incredible, the SFX is riveting, and voce acting is quite good. Only thing it lacks is the fear of shadows given to you in the older installment. Get this game when it is on sale, for sure.

Play for the story and the creepy atmosphere. No horror game excels Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs in those regards.

Note to anyone who has played Amnesia: The Dark Descent:

Please do not take this game as a sequel to Amnesia: The Dark Descent. What many people do wrong with this game is that they go with the mindset of the previous Amnesia - going for the horror.

Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to play horror games for the horror in them, and it definitely is not a surprise why people think of this as a sequel, what with the blaring "Amnesia" in the name. However, while the game does make an occasional reference to the original, it's significantly better to think of this as a stand-alone game.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent was made by Frictional Games. They have made a name for themselves by bringing back the horror in the horror genre. Their games have that creeping atmosphere that you can never be rid of. From Penumbra: Black Plague onwards, they took a theme of defenselessness, which definitely has been a big asset.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs was made by The Chinese Room. When Frictional Games thought about making a sequel to the Amnesia series, they decided to have an other company make it instead. Being impressed by Dear Esther, they approached The Chinese Room for sharing similar mindsets in their game development. Frictional Games did not want The Chinese Room to make a game that is similar to the original, they wanted them to make a game in their own way.

Two different companies make a game of the same world, with the same theme. It's obvious there'll be differences.

From Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, you'll get to experience a creepy, gross, horrifying story of a mad man trying to redeem himself.
From Amnesia: The Dark Descent, you'll get a full-blown horror blast in your face. Scrreeeaaaam.

This game disappoints on it's own and doesn't reach 1/4 up the bar set by A Dark Descent.
You're character is almost never in any actual danger.
Convoluted story that doesn't quite come together despite finding every hidden document.
Puzzels are unintuitive and the removal of inventory and health managementh makes the game that much easier.
The sanity bar removal has been debated by players, but I thought it was pretty cool. The game feels less depthful and immersive without it, to me.

Whether or not you will like this game depends very much on what you are looking for.

This game is a polarizing one. You will likely laud it, or hate it. If you have to look up the word 'laud' in the dictionary, you should probably pass, (or better yet, buy the game and start the processes of understanding nuanced and subtle literature)

You will probaby enjoy this game if
- you appreciate enviormental atmosphere
- you enjoy literature
- you like horror that builds more on deep issues and less on 'shock' or 'camp' gimmicks
- you like Dear Esther
- you want to support developers that are pushing the boundaries on games as a literary medium
- you enjoy a game with puzzles that feel 'real-world' and don't call attention to themselves or hinder the pace of the
narrative

You will probably not enjoy this game if
- you don't like not having a gun in your video games
- you don't enjoy having to do your own critical thinking to come to conclusions concening the story or how it ends
- you think it will be very similary to The Dark Descent (the game feels much closer to Dear Esther in my opinion)
- you want something with puzzles that requires you to scratch your nogging
- you want a horror game where things jump out at you often

In short, if you value deep narrative experiences in games, and feel familiar with literature and coming to terms with your own underlying meaning, you will find an absolutely matchless gem here. Although narrative indie games are on the rise, this one is still leading the pack. If you don't value these things, or are looking for something that doesn't require you be knee deep in your mind, thoughts, beliefs and opinions, it may not suit you. Either way, consider this tale a gothic horror tale in the traditional sense, as anyone familiar with the novels Frankenstein or Dracula could tell you, the 'horror' is less about bloodshed or constantly spooking you, and more about building a sense of dread over the whole canvas.

The more you play it the more you question the game designing of "scary" games. What are you afraid of ? The dark ? You have a lantern and a friendly blue fog. The monsters ? What monsters ? I am not kidding, they litteraly ignore you even when you run in front of them. Perhaps I just got lucky, they were eight or so anyway. The first opus left you vulnerable, this one just leaves you alone. What else is there, an unnecessary complicated story, a linear path, no items at all, infinite oil and a short lifetime, a stupid, stupid part that makes you pitty the ennemies. The environment looks great though, and some spooky scripted tricks are welcome.

In conclusion, this game fails at what it was supposed to accomplish.

I tried really hard to like this game, but it flat out wasn't as good as I hoped it would be.

My main issues is that the game is just not scary at all. The story makes little to no sense and they don't really try all that hard to explain it to you. I could go deeper into this but I don't want to spoil the game for other who may actually want to play this (I know I hate when others do this).

If you are expecting something scary as lets say... Outlast? Don't buy it. If you are looking for a slow burner this may be for you.

4/10

Certainly feels like I am playing another "The Chinese Room" game. To me, it feels like Dear Esther but with the "Amnesia" name slapped on it. You have very little to no interaction with your environment. No inventory. You spend the whole time just walking. Atleast in the first Amnesia you had puzzles to complete and had to manage your lantern. The times when you would come into contact with the monster were predictable. I never really felt scared to search an area because anytime I would see the monster it would come in the form of a mini jump scare for its reveal.

Here, it is nothing like that and the AI is horrid. There is one part where you need to go down a hallway and the exit is to the right. But to the left it branches off a to a small path with which the monster does laps of. You could sneak past. OR do what I did and just run past and as soon as you go through the door the monster doesnt follow because invisible walls they can't past. It was honestly the stupidoust thing I've ever seen. It was an encounter that was absolutely pointless. I made a little picture to show below. But anyone that played it long enough and got to this part would know how stupid it was.

Excuse the horrible picture I attempted to make.

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#...................................................#
#...........<== MONSTER.................#
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..................................#...YOU......#

First thing's first - I don't understand the angry rant about this game. People literally drown it in pig♥♥♥♥ while other really crappy titles manage to get away. Often the reason why players hate AMFP is that they beleive it's far worse than the original Amnesia. I suggest you should consider these two as completely different games. The Chinese Room (the developer I put highest hopes on and will defend) did their thing. OK, they got rid of core Amnesia gameplay elements (lantern oil, thunderboxes), but I think they did it for the good sake of the story. For story and atmosphere are the basis for Machine For Pigs. Storytelling is just plain dark, almost pitch-black and somewhat Lovecraft-ish as it's predecessor. Game is sophisticated as it is asks global and complex existential questions. Ominous atmosphere is here allright, driven by classy frightening sound desing and music. And YES, this Amnesia is scary - not too scary, but still.. Although it's hard to terrify a Survival Horror vet like me, AAMFP did that. And this what I ♥♥♥♥in' expect from a horror game! Ain't no need to throw ♥♥♥♥ at gamer's face, more of that - no need to drop them off their seats. Freeze them on the spot so they are afraid to move a finger! That's the real horror. And here's the thing some will consider DarkDescent-blasphemy: maybe removing oil tanks, thunderboxes and difficult puzzles was necessary for this particular project, like blinding a man makes his hearing sharper. Cutting the gameplay elements allowed story and setting take the spotlight. IMHO it's better than solving riddle after riddle after riddle in similar tunnels in Penumbra: Overture. Amnesia AMFP isn't an interactive movie though - you do things besides walking. I will however admit it lacks some hard puzzles. And dying. Yeah, I dropped dead TWO (!) TIMES. Anyway, it helped me to percieve the story better. Game's not short too - if you take time and won't charge your ♥♥♥ forward you'll get your healthy 8 hours as I did. To summerize, game's great, all I've expected from the sequel. Dark Descent fans should give it a fair chance, I think. Bare bones of the franchise, huh? Hell of a skeleton then. The Chinese Room FTW.

About as scary as a five foot and senile man, in his late seventies, attempting to rob you with a blunt fork, in broad daylight.

I like it.

I do not like many games. I am ridiculously picky, but this game was good enough to get me to write a review.

It has an excellent story (read the notes you find dammit), creepy atmosphere, and keeps a good pace. It is a short, but worthwhile game to play through.

Without The Dark Descent's sanity mechanics, A Machine For Pigs is creepy and atmospheric, but rarely scary. I don't get the same sense of dread or terror as I did playing The Dark Descent. That said, I did still quite like the game. The environments help to emphasize the scale of the operation and the machine while also looking pretty good. It presents an intriguing story and mystery with some clever ambiguity and morbidly interesting ideas. A Machine For Pigs may not fill your expectations if you're looking for a traditional adventure or horror game, but if you play it with a mind for macabre atmosphere and story, you'll enjoy yourself.

List of things that were good in Amnesia The Dark Descent:
- you could light candles with limited supplies of matches
- you had a lantern that could go low on fuel
- you had to manage madness : stay stealthy in the dark and become mad, or get low on resources and be spotted by enemies by lighting stuff but remaining sane. It was smart and a balanced system
- enemies were threatening AND frightening, and hard to outrun

This is also the list of things that have been removed in A Machine For Pigs.
It is closer to Dear Esther than Amnesia. Don't buy if you're looking for a horror game.

Didn't finish it, I was just bored playing it. Not frightening, not involving, not entertaining. And I've seen too many valves.

A game that recieves much more hate than it deserves. It's not like the first Amnesia, but I feel like I spent my money well.
It has an amazing soundtrack, good voice acting and a well written story. It's similar to Dear Esther, so if you enjoyed that game, this is certainly something you should check out.

Not for everyone, tho, just as with Dear Esther.

8/10, my rating.

Ater playing and thoroughly enjoying "Amnesia: The Dark Decent" I was delighted to hear that there was going to be a sequel (in spirit). The atmosphere is quickly set by the story introduction, but sadly it couldn't keep that atmosphere all the way through. The flair of Amnesia is the feeling that you can't fight whatever is after you, sneaking around and hiding are your only way to survive. In Machine for Pigs this mechanic is less pronounced. I felt like the enemies weren't that treatening, I felt like I could run, like I could beat them. This is notthe feeling that creates terror (something that I expect from a game in the horror genre). Overall I wouldn't recommend Machine for Pigs.

50% Horror, 50% Puzzle

well.. not really scary but perfect to train your mental

Play it xD before play Amnesia: The Dark Descent, that game 80% more scary than this game

Monster ? just a mutated pigs, not too scary

I think Machine for Pigs is a failure. But it is such an interesting, artful failure that it's nearly a success. I'm not sure how much I'd recommend it to horror fans, but I think it's a must-play for anyone interested in developing horror games. First, because it tells one of the most intelligent stories in horror gaming, and second, because it provides so many great examples of how not to make a narrative-focused horror game. Some of which aren't immediately obvious. I personally didn't realize before how important environmental interaction in a narrative-focused game was until I played A Machine for Pigs and saw how detrimental static environments could be to immersion.

Read more here

It's not exactly like The Dark Descent, for sure. But too many people evaluate A Machine for Pigs on the standard of how similar it is to its predecessor, too afraid to look at it on its own merits. Indeed, there are fewer gameplay elements, such as an infinite lamp duration, easier/fewer puzzles, and an overall lower danger level. But what AMFP has, it does spectacularly. The Chinese Room took a more story-heavy approach and crafted the world around how it's told, and it's a tale well worth hearing. The environments are beautifully constructed, the voicework fits the characters perfectly, and Jessica Curry's music is spectacular. It's like a roller coaster: just because you're not pushing the carts yourself doesn't mean it's not a enjoyable, thrilling ride.

People looking for a game that will leave them petrified with fear will be more at home with The Dark Descent. But if you enjoyed the story of The Dark Descent and want to lose yourself in a tale just as gripping and harrowing, definitely give A Machine for Pigs a shot!