Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a survival horror game that was developed by The Chinese Room for PC. It's been said to be the sequel to Amnesia: The Dark Descent but in more of an indirect sense. This new game consists of a new cast as well as a new plot and time setting.

Plot

The setting is in London of 1899 and we play as the main character, Oswald Mandus, who is a wealthy industrialist and butcher as well as a single father of two young boys. Coming in from a trip near Mexico, he is hit with a horrendous fever in which he continuously has horrific dreams and is often delirious. When he fully recovers and awakens from this odd horror, he doesn't realize that months have gone by and he can barely remember anything let alone where he is. With little memory, Mandus soon ties in his dark dreams to reality as certain events tie back with his dreaded past.

The first thing he notices upon awakening is the faint voices of his two sons, constantly calling out to him and leading him around his rather fine mansion. Though he follows their lead, he never finds them. What he does seem to conjure are soft glimpses and phenomenons. The curiosity begins to burden him as he gets a call from a man known as 'The Engineer' who states that his children are in danger and that he needs to restart the 'Machine' in order to save them.

Following these instructions, Mandus finds himself guiding his way through hidden passages and solving puzzles to uncover a hidden secret that was better left alone.

Overall

I was absolutely blown away by the plot line though it seems rather choppy and boring at first. There is enough suspense within the first few minutes of the player awakening to this abandoned home that he has no recollection of that just pulls you in. I think the controls were rather simple as I had used my cousins laptop to play this game and I think the constant interactions that a player can have with settings around them was a great touch for this PC game and I was very pleased with the message this game gave off throughout entering another part of unlocking a mystery.

Each level was filled with dread and I absolutely loved that. The more stairs and entrances that led you into an unknown world or fit you through a passage was exciting. I was literally hanging off the edge of my seat trying desperately to contain my excitement. Though it isn't as horror filled as I thought it would be, it was enough to get you thinking and contemplating the events of the next level itself.

The monstrous Manpigs that Mandus runs into occasionally were things that I expected to be scarier and utterly appalling. I feel like The Chinese Room could definitely do better than what they actually put out. I don't think the monsters or the enemies in general were scary at all. Dangerous is one thing, but nothing to the max.

Something I really enjoyed about the game was the fact that Mandus was hallucinating about his children. He continued to see them alive at times and dead during the others. I liked this storyline as well as the plot twist that I for one didn't see coming at all. I think the players are so consumed in trying to find out who this Engineer is and the mystery behind Mandus's amnesia that they don't really see the obvious in front of them.

The way this game was set up was something I clearly was not expecting, especially since it's my first horror PC game. To be honest, I didn't know that this was the sequel to Amnesia: The Dark Descent but as far as reviews and other players opinions go, the second part was an indirect sequel with a completely new cast and plot so I don't think I've missed out on anything big or important. Aside that, the storyline is something I still can't get over and it's almost been twenty four hours since my completion.

All in all, I give this game 9/10 and recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good way to start their list of survival horrors.