Linux Games: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs

Do you remember the Indie title Amnesia the Dark Descent ?
A great Survival-horror game released in 2010 that has had a lot of success, and if you don’t know it, check it on the net, it’s probable that with the release of the new game you can find it at a discounted price.

But I’m here to talk about Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, from the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Dear Esther comes this new first-person horrorgame that will drag you to the depths of greed, power and madness, sound interesting enough ?

The story

The year is 1899

Wealthy industrialist Oswald Mandus awakes in his bed, wracked with fever and haunted by dreams of a dark and hellish engine. Tortured by visions of a disastrous expedition to Mexico, broken on the failing dreams of an industrial utopia, wracked with guilt and tropical disease, he wakes into a nightmare. The house is silent, the ground beneath him shaking at the will of some infernal machine: all he knows is that his children are in grave peril, and it is up to him to save them.

The game features several interlocking story lines. Some take place in the past, some in the present, and some are overtly real while some may be imagined.

Gameplay

The game is a survival horror game played from a first-person perspective.Some elements of The Dark Descent have been removed, while new elements have been added.One of the reasons for this is to provide a fresh gameplay experience to veteran players of The Dark Descent.

The game’s level design has been touted as “significantly different” from that of The Dark Descent, with larger areas and outdoor environments included. AI was also adjusted to ensure players are unable to predict enemy behavior based on their experiences with the original game. However, the core of the game remains the same as in The Dark Descent, so as not to disappoint fans who want more of what they loved in the original.

Furthermore, the inventory has been removed, and A Machine for Pigs deviates significantly from The Dark Descent, regarding the sanity of the main character. The Dark Descent employed several mechanics that ratcheted up the fear and tension, most notably the insanity system. Whenever The Dark Descent’s protagonist, Daniel, was in the dark or near monsters, his sanity eroded. Loss of sanity would cause you to hear unpleasant noises, and your vision would blur and movement would become unsteady. On top of this was the sound of Daniel’s own ragged breathing, and the overall effect was deeply disturbing.

The only way to maintain Daniel’s sanity was to light candles and torches with limited tinderboxes, or use your trusty lantern, which had a limited supply of oil.
A Machine for Pigs removed all of this. The sanity system is gone. Tinderboxes and oil have been substituted by an electric lantern that never runs out of power, and consequently a great part of the fun/horror of the former game has been removed as well.

Conclusions

Much of what made The Dark Descent enjoyable has been carried over, too. As one might expect, a vast amount of the game is made up of walking through dark rooms, jumping at creaky floorboards and clanking noises. Every now and then, a minor puzzle may provide a hindrance, though such tasks usually involve very simple activities such as replacing broken fuses or pulling the correct levers. Through exploration of each area to find hidden switches makes up much of the experience, and discovering each gramophone or discarded letter is required to further understand what soon becomes a most perplexing story.

In short, if you like horror-survival game you will not be disappointed by this title, A Machine for Pigs is probably not as terrifying as Dark Descent. But it’s terrifying enough to be played and get some screams…

How to get the game

Probably the best/easiest way it’s to buy it via Steam, the game costs around 15 €
Linux System Requirements

Popular Posts:

None Found