Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs Review (Dark Blue Monkey)
OK, let's get the important thing out of the way:
This is NOTHING like Amnesia: Dark Descent. Where the first game was utterly terrifying due to being hunted in the darkness, this game is gruesome horror through suggestive storytelling and some nasty scenes of human/ animal butchery.
This is more of a walking simulator through the horrific mind of a deranged lunatic, than the tight horror game of the original.
Yes, there are sneak-em-up sections where you have to get through darkened sections past 'monsters' (there being only two types I think), and there are lots of creepy dark areas like the original, but this one has more puzzle elements....Well, I say puzzle, it's more like "realise you have to do something X times, in X different places, and then do them. Sometimes you have to do them in order, sometimes you don't... But in the ordered ones, the game does a good job of restricting your paths so you don't get lost. In this, there are a few times you get turned around because one section looks identical to another, but the game instant-teleports you between places to disorient....
The story is very disturbing, and easily nightmare-inducing if you're prone to it. The level design is..... of its time. It feels early 2000's in the monster and level design. The music and sound effects are the best part - the music in the middle section of the game really sets your teeth on edge.
The game is almost entirely in the dark, so you need a lamp. In most cases this is fine, but there are one or two areas (e.g. the crypts) where it's almost impossible to figure out where you're going, especially if you get 'caught' and get teleported to somewhere else... So, in a couple of areas, there's no shame in whacking up the gamma until you're out of them.
The puzzles, on the whole, are very predictable and well telegraphed by the environmental storytelling. Novices to 3d puzzlers might end up getting confused and turned around in the dark, but seasoned game players will find it ridiculously easy.
On the whole, I thought the game was... okay.. Definitely not as scary as the original, but the game was well made (albeit short), the voice acting was good, and the music was excellent. I'd say it's a shame it's so short, but tbh, I was tiring of it by about hour 4, so I'm glad I finished it in under 5 hours.
I don't know who I'd recommend it to... People that enjoy grisly movies and horror books, I suppose? Not your average gamer, though.