Amnesia A Machine For Pigs REVIEW

A Machine For Pigs (AMFP) is a scary game, that's not the problem. It has a decent, if predictable, story, but that's not the problem. In a roundabout way it is a proper game, which is getting closer to what the problem is (but still not it).

The problem with AMFP is overkill, every point the game tries to make ends up being hammered home like there's no tomorrow. If you watched the second trailer for the game you already understand what the game is about, at the end of it an exchange between two characters pretty much spells it out. Here's a synopsis:

"Oh BTW, Mandus, there aren't enough pigs for your mass slaughtering automated meat factory."
"That depends on what one considers to be a pig."

That one line and the way it's delivered tells you everything you need to know. He's implying that actual pigs aren't the only thing going in his machine, and that he'll probably end up feeding people into it. It's a perfect line for the trailer, which hints that the rest of the game will expand on this idea.

SPOILER WARNING

It doesn't.

The whole game just keeps on about this one basic idea, saying the same thing again and again.
A more "true-to-game" version of the line would probably be:

"I'M GOING TO PUT PEOPLE IN IT. THAT'S WHAT I MEAN BY PIGS. PIGS ARE PEOPLE. THE PIGS I KEEP REFERRING TO ARE ACTUALLY PEOPLE WHOM I DESPISE. THE WORLD IS AN AWFUL PLACE SO I'M GOING TO KILL THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, PROCESS THEIR MEAT, AND FEED THEM TO OTHER PEOPLE."

And it doesn't stop there.

One of the best things about the original game (The Dark Descent) was the way it told it's story, obviously the main character of each game has amnesia so they know as much as you do, going into the game for the first time.
In Dark Descent the story is told mainly through flashes of resurfacing memories and pages of diaries and notebooks, the most important notes are narrated for you and have soft, atmospheric music and sound effects in the background. These REALLY help you get a feel for the story, and keep up the pace really well while not rushing.

AMFP, however, just has un-narrated notes and the occasional thought from the protagonist. And the notes are a BIG problem as there is a MASSIVE OVER-SATURATION OF THEM. In DD, the notes were semi-rare finds every few levels, were short and to the point. AMFP has notes in every other damn room and each one is an over written chore to read. This actually makes reading story related material in a story driven game a CHORE. I would audibly sigh every time I found a new note and opened it up to find a massive wall of archaic text that might as well read
"I PUT PEOPLE IN IT. IT WAS DIFFICULT BUT I GOT THE FACTORY RUNNING AND I PUT PEOPLE IN IT. BTW MY KIDS ARE DEAD, I WONDER IF I, THE MASS-MURDERING MAN WITH AMNESIA, HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT? PIGS ARE PEOPLE PIGS ARE PEOPLE."

Unlike the original, AMFP is INCREDIBLY linear, this together with the lack of ANY strategic gameplay (lamp oil and tinder boxes have been removed, puzzle solving has been stripped right down to: find the only movable object in the room to use with the piece of set dressing that's blocking progression, and even hiding from the fucking monsters has basically been removed) basically turns the game into a haunted house ride.

All of this said, the game very nearly makes up for it with it's heavy, tension thick atmosphere and incredible sound design and music.

I wouldn't say it was a disappointment, but a HEAVILY flawed gem.

A Nation Decays

That's a title I came up with a few hours ago, not sure what it will be the title FOR yet but we'll see.

A long time ago I decided I wanted to write a book of short horror stories called The Limb Orchestra Vol. 1. Since that never really took off (I would constantly be starting stories and never finishing them), I've just now decided how instead to approach the idea.

I hereby announce THE LIMB ORCHESTRA BLOG.

Shorter stories in the form of blog entries.

The fact that they're in blog form has no baring on the stories however, it's just a convenient way of publishing them.

Here it is: http://thelimborchestra.blogspot.co.uk/

Actual stories coming soon, such as:

Caves of Arkham (working title)
The Whimpering In The Attic
A Nation Decays (because why not)
In The Dark

And of course...
The Limb Orchestra

All inspired my the work of H.P. Lovecraft, Phillip K. Dick and countless others.

Happy Horror.