Spoiler Diary of the First Playtrhough

**Alex Ros** · 09-11-2013, 02:02 PM

Played a couple of hours...
Turned on the pumps to drain the waters...
And I must admit that in fact I didn't expect such a detailed, huge, gorgeous and frightening virtual world. The machine maps are just unforgettable. Models and textures are just great. Level design as a whole is just so
unexpectedly impressive. Lighting, architecture, animated tiny details
of machinery. I was so impressed that a lot of time I was just roaming
around and staring at how everything is made. And once again I nearly didn't expect to enter such a detailed, huge, gorgeous and frightening virtual world. In the gamedev world there's not so much of level designs that are as impressive as a Machine for Pigs. Artistically a Machine for Pigs, without even mentioning the plot, is just a masterpiece.

Next I was drawn into the London fascinating slaughter. THAT scene is the biggest surprise I could not even imagine. Well, of course, I knew that unlike the Dark Descent a Machine for Pigs would present some outdoor environments. But I thought those would be just narrow shadowy streets with a monster or some kind of of butcher-killer roaming around. I didn't expect an AAA class huge "world on fire" scene and it is an AAA class scene. As for me personally it's a lot more impressive then any, for example, Crysis "whole world is on fire scenes" simply because the immersion level is a lot higher with a Machine for Pigs. In conclusion the London slaughter scene is really climatic, orgasmic, heart-beating, eyes-wide-open, etc.

Now I am turning that bloody machine down, became a saboteur once again. And, if turning on the machine was an impressive and even beautiful with all those animated mechanisms, then destroying it is even more impressive and appealing. It's easily comparable to the VALVE Portal 2 destructions over detailed animated scenes. And, you know, VALVE are real great with lively animations. And I could not even imagine that a small indie studio would make something comparable, but in fact absolutely unexpectedly it is comparable, the level design and what exactly is animated and how it looks like to the player...

I presume I have nearly finished the game...

And... Well... With no doubts it's so huge and detailed and full of plot mysteries, so I would surely make a second one walkthrough, which I rarely do at all. For example, I made second walkthrough of the Dark Descent ONLY because there were commentary option. A Machine for Pigs is truly rare exception for me personally.

Don't get me wrong I am not a blind fanboy. Nope. I am a fan of nobody and nothing. I prefer to stay as critical as possible. I love water, not stones. I try to stay open-minded and I can easily change my mind. So... I am saying this only to make it clear that I AM NOT A FANBOY. Nope. I am absolutely honest with my impressions.

And I hope that such a momentary impressions diary of the 1st playthrough, not deliberate well-thought-out review, is interesting to someone at all. If not, sorry.