Spoiler Diary of the First Playtrhough

**Alex Ros** · 09-10-2013, 05:45 PM

I just finished 2nd part of the mansion and following cellar machinery location. And what can I say is that I am scared to shit. Drastically a lot more scared than when I was playing the Dark Descent. All those noises and machinery shaking earthquaking are just making me sweat like a child. THAT way of building horror and fear is surely the one that strongly affects me personally. If I only saw just a single monster I would not be nearly as scared as I am now. But roaming all those empty halls and finding secret passages... roaming that indescribable distillery cellar full of cisterns and tubes webs and valves... roaming and EXPECTING for something horrible without even knowing what is this exactly, that made me scared to shit. Sweating like a child nearly 33 old age man. I didn't expect even closely that evolution from ATDD to AMFP would be SOOO great. I am as impressed as rarely get impressed. Last time I was impressed as much as now is when I first played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, 6 years ago I presume. Well, not to mention ATDD, but that's obvious that I was incredibly impressed by ATDD too.

As for what I wrote just a post above, then I might say that now at the cellar location that blue-green color correction is what I really like from now on. Now it's doesn't looks like a fog for no reasons.

It did look bad during mansion sequence and I am stating on that, because it doesn't fit well the mansion stone-wooden interiors. As a result at the mansion parts that fog looks just like something buggy, not like something intended to build certain mood. IMO of course.

But down there at the metallic rusty electrified underground cellar it does works extremely well, it do builds certain mood and doesn't look like a fog or something imposed. It's just injecting a feeling of the presence in a DEAD place, blue-green DEAD place. Just like all these tubes, cisterns and valves are part of some once alive creature, but now it's dead... or sleeping.

As for other playthrough feelings. I was a little bit down by extreme linearity of the 1st mansion map. But as far as I progressed through 2nd mansion part and a cellar locations the non-linearity is just as chilling as I could just dream. Lots of paths and no restrictions at all where to look first. What is a lot more interesting I do not even know where and what exactly I should look for. Of course I am into searching for my ghost children (it's obvious they're already dead), but there's no tasks, no mementos and that's extremely cool. The less there's from the usual gameplay mechanics the less I am playing and more living. Well, not that crazy ))) but the immersion level is as high as I never felt before with any game. These are honest words.

I've finished first 3 locations and I can say for sure that a Machine for Pigs WITH NO DOUBTS IS EVOLUTION of the Dark Descent, not degradation. And it is scarier than the Dark Descent. Scarier in a very different way which I personally prefer.