What Machine for Pigs was missing
Okay.
What's the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the game Amnesia: The Dark Descent?
For me, it's fear. Pure and unfiltered fear. Amnesia, whether it wants to or not, carries the burden of being widely regarded as one of the scariest games ever made. That makes the proposition of a follow-up pretty difficult, no matter how you slice it. But, one thing you don't want is a retread; if we end up with the same game a second time, it's definitely not scary any more.
I'm not about to say that's what we got, because it isn't, but when we get down to the fear aspect, that's what it felt like. thechineseroom developed an incredible original story - certainly one that was way more intriguing and fleshed out than Dark Descent was. They give you just enough information, but not too much, and allow you to arrive at horrifying conclusions as you dwell on what you just heard. The world is more beautiful, the game feel in general is much improved, and the sound design is gut-wrenchingly excellent. I completely understand how a small team had to take an extra year to finish this product.
But.
The problem was that the reason I came to the game - for the scares - was the most disappointing part of the experience. Machine for Pigs had so little original scary moments, I can count them on one hand. It fell so within the trappings/mechancis of the original game, it felt like the best Dark Descent mod/custom story I had ever played, and not like a 'sequel'.
This made me feel like I already knew the rules. I knew when I was safe, and when there was danger nearby. I knew when that music wasn't on and the lights weren't flickering, I was pretty much in the clear and nothing would happen. So many scare/building moments were pulled so directly from the first game.
The Frictional team is very up front about how much they love horror, and talk at length about how they engineer these scary moments. It's clearly their forte, their passion, and what they're very good at. thechineseroom just can't compete with this, and their scary was completely borrowed - which isn't up to that gold standard Dark Descent set.
Hell, the worst case and best example of this is as follows: the "water monster" from the original game - one of the most well-crafted exercises in inducing fear, stress and panic, that shook most players pretty hard - makes a cameo in this game, and it feels like a throwaway appearance that doesn't make sense, doesn't fit with the story, and isn't at all needed. It's a lazy callback that adds nothing but perhaps some recognition of how scary that scene in the first game was.
So.
Unfortunately, I can't get away from what I have come to expect from the Amnesia title, brand, prefix, distinction, curse, whatever you want to call it - fear. Machine for Pigs was just lacking in fear in a big way. thechineseroom nailed the story, nailed the environments and the sound and all else. But the atmosphere wasn't there. I felt safe during the vast majority of the game, and like I wouldn't get hurt (and I was always right; I didn't die a single time).
When I play an Amnesia game feeling safe most of the time, something is really wrong. It still doesn't take away from the story, but it's still quite disappointing.
Massive respect to thechineseroom for what they managed to accomplish - Machine for Pigs is unsettling, super intriguing, and gorgeous to play. And don't get me wrong, I loved it and I'm glad we got it. But I wish a more direct collaboration between these two studios would have/could still happen, or perhaps, more consultation with Frictional on the design of scary/horror/atmosphere in games. With that, the two companies making one insanely scary game would be unstoppable.
P.S.
I know it's not fair to compare games like this, but the recently released Outlast took concepts in scary gaming that Dark Descent championed, and improves on them in so many ways. Basically, it's the stressful, unsettling experience that I wish Machine for Pigs was. Between the two, that's the game I'd recommend for your October scary game let's play sesh, and put Machine for Pigs on the back burner until you catch it on a sale.
