AMFP Member Review Thread

[gustavaum]

I'm end the game in less than 2 hours =(

the story is very hermetic, but good.
I expected more. =/

fuck my poor english.

[Diango12]

The "lie" is in quotian marks because technically, you probably could play A:AMFP the way they showed it in the trailer. It's just that it's never needed given the way the pigs are implemented.

You would really have to go out of your way to receive that experience though. If at all.

[bobbo]

You would really have to go out of your way to receive that experience though. If at all.

I would agree - which is why I was so hugely disappointed.

[Diango12]

You would really have to go out of your way to receive that experience though. If at all.

I would agree - which is why I was so hugely disappointed.

It wouldn't have been disappointing at all if for the past few years this wasn't marketed to me with all the hype of an Amnesia game.

I wonder why they removed the panting and whimpering from the main character? It was included in both trailers and you can hear Mandus breathing heavily. Why was it cut from the final product? The more I look at this the more it feels like TCR wanted to deliberately make the game as far removed from Amnesia and FG as possible, a sort of testament that this is 'their' game, their style. Talk about arty.

[aquilantiqua]

I wonder why they removed the panting and whimpering from the main character? It was included in both trailers and you can hear Mandus breathing heavily. Why was it cut from the final product?

It wasn't cut, he definitely has audible reactions to scripted events like jump scares. It's possible that a lot of it gets drowned out in parts where the machinery and music are loud though. Play through a level again like the one beneath the church where it's very quiet. Mandus definitely lets out whimpers and lots of heavy breathing.

[NicoNico]

Hi everyone,

So, I completed the game, and here are my thoughts.
Also, I apologize in advance if my english is not good, but, it's not my native language, so, please, bear with me^^

Anyway, back to the game.
First of all, I should precise that I'm not a complete fan of Amnesia: The Dark Descent. I liked it. Sometimes a lot. But sometimes, it felt a little... meh... But, what I can say is that I was scared. Really scared. Like everyone.
But, overall, I still think Penumbra: Black Plague was better.
And I don't thnink The Dark Descent is the scariest game ever made, as it is stated by a lot of people. Siren: Blood Curse is the scariest game ever made !
So, I wasn't expecting A Machine for Pigs to be the new big messiah of horror games, but I was very interested by the setting and the story.

I have to say that I really liked it. Like, a lot.
Why ? Because the story is simply amazing ! Now, I'm not talking about the actual plot, which was predictable in some ways. I'm talking about what the game is actually talking about^^
I mean, Mandus built this machine to slaughter people because he thought they were going to do horrifying things in the future. He gave up on mankind because he thought we were evil, destined to do evil things. And, guess what ? We totally did. The game really gives you to think about the human condition, your own freaking condition !
When the Machine is trying to stop you from destoying it and speaks about the trenches, the mustard gas, the fallout, etc... it really, really makes you think about what you are going to do, doesn't it ?
Of course, you're not going to let Pigmen rule the world, so you destroy the machine, but, honestly, when I did, a little voice in my head said "the Machine is right, we are pigs"
That is what I simply loved about the game. It was thrilling, meaningful and profound.

As for the game itself, my biggest concern is that the interaction with all the objects was almost removed, but, apparently, it's due to technical limitations, so, I guess it was inevitable.
Unfortunatly, it kills the immersion a little, so that's kind of a big deal :/
Also, the lack of challenging puzzles was a disappointment.

The removal of the sanity, the oil and the inventory isn't that big of a deal for me.
The sanity was there because Daniel had a phobia, so, I don't see why Mandus should suffer from the same thing. Plus, he's at home and goes in his own factory to witness the horrors he created, so, yeah, why should he become mad when he encounters all that stuff that he already knows by heart ?
And I have to say that the sanity effect became kind of gimmicky in The Dark Descent. You know, like the laughs you hear when watching a sitcom. It was like the game actually told me to be scared instead of actually scaring me. So, by the end of the game, it was more annoying for me. A cool thing would have been that the sanity affects Daniel less and less through the game has he kind of gets used to the horror^^

The oil, I didn't care that it was removed because I can't remember running out of it in The Dark Descent. Plus the game takes place 60 years later in London, so, why would Mandus have an old oil lamp in his state-of-the-art mansion ?

The inventory wasn't very useful in The Dark Descent, so that's not that bad.

Now for the scare factor
It's true that AMFP is not as scary as TDD was. But it's still scary.
Honestly, every encounters with the pigmen, man, it just scared the hell out of me.
And the first Tesla Pig. Damn that was terrifying !
The London is Burning sequence was also horrifying to me. I mean, seeing all these horrors, half pig half men, running in the streets and slaughtering people to feed the Machine. How can that not be scary, right ?
But I have to say that, if you've been playing TDD and the hundreds of CS for the last 3 years, I can easily see why you won't be as scared. As for me, I only beated TDD once and never played a single custom story, so, that can be that^^
I also liked that they removed any music when you encounter the monsters (except when they chase you), because I didn't know what to expect. It wasn't the same old "I hear music so there's a monster" routine anymore, which felt refreshing.
But it's true that there's not enough really terrifying moments.
BUT the story, the notes and everything that is told is far more disgusting, horrifying and disturbing than in TDD. So in that aspect, the game is really more gruesome and horrific.

A little side note : I noticed that a lot of people complained about the fact that the monsters don't chase you. I don't know if it's my version of the game, but they did ! I saw someone encountering the Tesla Pig, and the monster was slow and not that much of a threat, but, for me ! Damn, one of them even got me So, I don't know what's going on with this A.I. situation, but I had no problem with it.

I would also like to say that the sound design and music were just perfect. Yes, perfect.

So, in conclusion, is the game good ? Yes, very good indeed, although I can totally see why some people didn't like it.
Is the game better than TDD ? Well, that's not that simple. You see, AMFP is NOT TDD 2. At all. It's another story in the same universe, kind of like The Twilight Zone, if you know what I mean.
So, I won't say it's better or worse, but it's different, which is totally fine by me. I mean, why make a game if it's to do the exact same things with new assets, right ? There are plenty of CS to do so, so, yeah, why bother ?
Now, I hear a lot of people saying that this game shouldn't have the name Amnesia on it, and I totally believe it is not true at all.
I mean, what is Amnesia about ? Inventory, oil, tinderboxes and throwing bottles and books over the place ? Or is it about an atmosphere, a universe, a feeling, a state of mind ?
If it was for the first option, well, I do believe that Amnesia The Dark Descent should have been renamed for Penumbra The Dark Descent, because everything was already there.
But if we go for the second one, well, I do honestly believe that A Machine for Pigs truly diserves its name.
It's different. It's a change. But changing is good, because otherwise, we're stuck, so don't be afraid by that. Be afraid by the Pigmen instead^^

Anyway, thanks for reading me!

Cheers.

[Adny]

Tired of reading walls of text saying the same thing over and over, so I'll keep it short and sweet:

-Disappointment
-5/10 at best
-Nothing like the original, just coasting sales off of the fact it shares the same name
-Countless jumpscares, no real atmosphere
-Story is literally a carbon copy of the original and TCR has the audacity to claim such writing prowess

tl;dr: (seriously how could you not read that tho)
I'd highly recommend purchasing this fine piece of art on [promotion of piracy removed].

[Kman]

omg no way it's almost like they're trying to use advertisements to help sell their game who would have guessed

this isn't a "plague to the industry" this is literally marketing 101 when it comes to anything. that's like if an action movie made a trailer out of dialogue bits and down time cause that's usually at least half of what goes into it. even with that said half of amfp was spent pretty much soley on horror but i guess since horror didn't take up 90% of the game that's false advertising lol right amirite guys

even though the majority of the game wasn't spent on monster encounters there were still monster encounters so it's not like they lied about that. you just made a blind assumption that cause they highlighted the part of the game that they thought would be most eye catching that that automatically meant that was what the entire game was focused on

I could care less about everyone else's criticisms of this game. What I do care about is the trend of false advertisement that plagues this industry. Aliens Colonial Marines used patched up footage from their game, photoshopped screenshots, inaccurate trailer, and it all led up to a shit-storm post release because, gasp again! Consumers don't like being misled? But you are right. TCR is an art house! Why should art geniuses have to worry about inconvenient things as responsible marketing and consumer trust. True artists are just misunderstood by the typical pleb anyway.

Just look at that company's twitter posts. They even ask once if they would have gotten mixed reviews if they had not slapped the Amnesia title on the game! :facepalm yes, that was your first mistake not the consumer's fault for being misled. Dim witted victim blaming. To me it appears that they are literally full of themselves if they are musing about the alternative of not falsely advertising and missing the whole point.

grats on completely ignoring my argument - really proved that you are in fact the real genius and right one here that knows the truth

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think i'm done with this argument tho cause this grandiose holier-than-thou attitude you have with all of your post makes you very very irritating to talk with, i'd suggest if you want to last on these forums that you stop acting like a jackass just cause someone might disagree with you cause that's not gonna go over with many very well

[Diz]

I wonder why they removed the panting and whimpering from the main character? It was included in both trailers and you can hear Mandus breathing heavily. Why was it cut from the final product?

They did the exact same thing to The Dark Descent. If you look up the original trailer, you will notice Daniel exaggerating his panting and whimpering to the same point as what was displayed in A Machine For Pigs' Halloween trailer.

It was never cut, you can still hear him pant and panic, but it is not as noticeable while likely not happening just as often. Due to his condition, Daniel was much more frightened than Oswald. Also, Daniel would often whimper in a high-pitched manner, which stands more out than Oswald's panicing.

Also, if you listen very closely, the first trailer of A Machine For Pigs displayed Daniel's whimpering as placeholder, while Oswald's voice was not implemented until the Halloween teaser. There was also the visual sanity effect (or deprecated fever effect).

[RMJ]

I enjoyed the game quite a lot.

It was definitely different from Dark descent no doubt.

I certainly missed certain aspect, more things in the game world that would have been movable. more reason to explore. combining things in inventory and stuff like that. I felt like that kept me engaged in Dark Descent, that i was looking on shelves, in furnature for stuff.

It wasnt as scary, but not that its bad, this had another vibe going for it, and had some good atmosphere as well.

It is just easier to make something scary when you are alone and pretty much in a place you dont know how to get out of.

I did miss more puzzles and more complex puzzles.