Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs
Survival horror seems to be witnessing a mini resurgence of late. Mind you, perhaps it’s more accurate to say that the genre’s lodestones — established brands such as Silent Hill and Resident Evil — have failed to deliver in their recent outings. Nevertheless, with notable titles such as The Evil Within and Among The Sleep slated for next year and 2013 heralding spine-chilling releases such as Outlast — which, incidentally, will rear its otherworldly head on PS4 in early 2014 — and, crucially, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, I can assure you the horror genre is very much alive and kicking.
At the core of its dark and twisted DNA, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a survival horror game, and the spiritual successor to 2010’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent. As a timid adventurer prodding in the darkness, players assume the role of Oswald Mundus, a forgetful father who must search for his wayward children as the 19th Century looms to an end. And that’s when things begin to go awry. The narrative heart of Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is borderline Lovecraftian; from stylistic tendencies to the perpetual sense of dread, the point-and-click adventure evokes many of the tropes from the American author’s work.
Taking place in London at the height of the industrial age, the game recreates the Victorian setting with chilling accuracy — largely thanks to the stellar and indeed hair-raising sound design, which really reverberates through your nervous system when the Manpigs begin to wail. In truth, much of the story is uncovered through journal entries, but it’s within these fevered scribblings that the game’s narrative manifests itself. Though some titles lean on this mechanic as a bankable platform for superfluous exposition, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs uses them to great effect as you piece together Oswald’s fragmented memory.
Where Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs stumbled for most, though, was in its final delivery. Not only did the eventual scares undermine the tension that preceded them, the story can indeed become muddled as you weave your way through the hellish, subterranean factory. Still, with The Chinese Room taking the developing reins — in lieu of Frictional Games, who developed the predecessor — Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a bona fide horror game; one which recognises that subtlety is the sharpest tool in its gnarled and twisted toolbox, kicking action-orientated elements to the kerb.
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