[Reviews] Amnesia – A Machine For Pigs

[Sampyli]

Sounds like it's pretty agreed that the game takes a more subtle approach to its horror and focuses more on a horrifying/disturbing story.

As I said in another thread, this is great news at least for me. Much more excited now than I was Just wondering if it'll really be that disturbing / horrifying, I've been pretty much numbed to all that (I hope it will be, was a bit annoyed when Dan said that they had to take some stuff out that they thought was going too far. Could've had an option whether you'd want the game in its full disgustingness or a milder version or something.)

[Ossie]

Just read through a bunch of reviews before coming here. Sounds like it's pretty agreed that the game takes a more subtle approach to its horror and focuses more on a horrifying/disturbing story. Which, bums me out that most take it as a negative. Almost sounds like Silent Hill 2 compared to Silent Hill. Can't wait to play it tomorrow to judge for myself.

Quite. But this is a little of what I feared - basically some people (remember that many of Amnesia's audience are teenagers) are looking for shallow jumpscares as some are unable (or unwilling) to invest in a story and more subtle, psychological horror. Their loss I guess!

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A major French PC gaming mag (Canard PC) calls it:

"bad, linear, pretentious, no gameplay and nothing like the first one"

Pretentious? A game?

It's a word commonly used by the uneducated to make their own opinion seem sophisticated and important when they are really trying to cover up the fact that they didn't understand the game's narrative or what it was trying to put across. Dear Esther was often called pretentious, and I've even seen people call Journey pretentious. The film The Fountain is also often called pretentious. I love Dear Esther, Journey and The Fountain - not sure what that says about me though ... pretentious?

But back to the reviews ........

Cinemablend:

4.5/5

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Amnesia...58938.html

"Stripping away stealth and puzzle elements sounds bad but The Chinese Room is actually adding by subtracting. The lack of actual challenge in the game means that the player is free to just take in every detail of this frightening world. You see every blood splatter and hear every footstep. It's an intense, nerve-wracking experience even without a monster chasing you down every corridor.

The horror genre is in sorry shape these days, with developers adulterating it with action and co-op in order to sell more copies. What The Chinese Room has done with Machine for Pigs is deliver a pure horror story. The game aims to do one thing and one thing only: frighten you. It does it well, too."

[felixmole]

Splitkick.com gives it 10/10

http://splitkick.com/amnesia-a-machine-for-pigs-review/

It's a word commonly used by the uneducated to make their own opinion seem sophisticated and important when they are really trying to cover up the fact that they didn't understand the game's narrative or what it was trying to put across. Dear Esther was often called pretentious, and I've even seen people call Journey pretentious. The film The Fountain is also often called pretentious. I love Dear Esther, Journey and The Fountain - not sure what that says about me though ... pretentious?

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[Googolplex]

The reviews are more disappointing than I thought.

[Ossie]

The reviews are more disappointing than I thought.

They're even better than I imagined (I had every hope that they would be good, but besides a handful of poor ones they're really very good indeed).

[ExpectedIdentifier]

Avoid Gamespot like the plague if you don't want to see the monster. -.- Ruined it a day before release. Damn.

[Ossie]

Avoid Gamespot like the plague if you don't want to see the monster. -.- Ruined it a day before release. Damn.

Thanks for the warning.

Damn idiots!

[Googolplex]

Thanks for the warning.

Damn idiots!

Absolutely. I saw that monster with one eye, but I doesn't really look at it.
I generally don't want to see screenshots or videos of the game.

[Alardem]

The reviews are more disappointing than I thought.

Not everyone gives games 1/10 on principle.

[Sampyli]

Metacritic got 4 reviews, metascore now 74.