Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a survival horror video game developed by The Chinese Room and published by Frictional Games. Originally meant to be a mod by The Chinese Room, the game is an indirect sequel to Amnesia: The Dark Descent, which was both developed and produced by Frictional Games. While set in the same universe as the previous game, it features an entirely new cast of characters and time setting.
The game became available to pre-order on 16 August 2013, and was released on 10 September 2013 to mixed reviews from critics. A Machine for Pigs was also released on 22 November 2016 for the PlayStation 4 as part of the Amnesia Collection, including Amnesia: The Dark Descent and its Amnesia: Justine expansion.
Plot
The game features several interlocking storylines. Some take place in the past, some in the present, and some are overtly real while some may be imagined. Set in London on New Year's Eve, 1899, the game's protagonist is Oswald Mandus, a wealthy industrialist and butcher who is implied to be the great grand-nephew of Daniel, the protagonist of the first game. At the beginning of the game, he awakens from a fever that has lasted for several months, after returning from a disastrous expedition to explore Aztec ruins in Mexico. Throughout the game, he hears the voices of his sons, Edwin and Enoch, calling for him as they lead him through the different areas of the game.
Mandus receives a call on the telephone from "the Engineer", who tells Mandus that Edwin and Enoch have been trapped far below them, in the "Machine" which Mandus created beneath his house. Even worse, the Machine has been sabotaged, putting his sons in danger. The Engineer tasks Mandus with clearing the floodwaters and bringing the Machine back online, providing ongoing guidance through telephones throughout the facility. Mandus is opposed in his tasks by the Manpigs, deformed swine-like monstrosities that patrol the depths through which he descends.
After a series of puzzle-like tasks, Mandus eventually reactivates the Machine, but the Engineer betrays him, taking control of the Machine and unleashing Manpigs out into the streets of London to round up unsuspecting victims with which to feed itself. Mandus regains his memory, recalling the recent past: after returning from Mexico, Mandus was consumed with obsession over a vision of the future presented by a device discovered in an Aztec temple by him and his children, known as the "egg", hinted to be an Orb. In this vision, Mandus witnesses the death of both of his sons at the Battle of the Somme. Driven mad by the vision, Mandus decided that he could not allow it to come to pass, and he built the Machine to create a godlike being via mass ritual human sacrifice to save humanity from its own carnage. He then sacrificed Edwin and Enoch to the machine to spare them their fate at the Somme. From there, Mandus then began a one-man vendetta against all of mankind, holding massive parties where he would capture and grind up rich socialites into sausage to sell, and killing hordes of child workers to feed the captive Manpigs. Mandus, however, soon came to realize the error of his ways and in a bid to stop the Machine, he attempted to sabotage it, before he was hindered by the onset of amnesia and sickness. Now remembering everything, Mandus vows to finish what he started by destroying the Machine once and for all. Despite the pleas of the Engineer, who believes the world would be better off if the Machine is allowed to consume it, Mandus succeeds in recreating most of the sabotage. He then reaches the inner chamber, where the Engineer himself dwells - a deranged fragment of Mandus's soul which has bonded with the machine and was given life by the sacrifices; it now plans to wipe the world clean of life after apparently witnessing even more future atrocities such as the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, and the massacres perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. Mandus manages to reach the core of the machine, a massive pyramidal structure referred to as "The Temple" by the Engineer, and forces the Engineer back into his soul. Mandus sacrifices himself to the Machine, putting an end to both it and the Engineer, and ending the horrors above as year 1900 begins.
Gameplay
The game is a survival horror game played from a first-person perspective. Players explore the environments using a lantern, with diary entries and notes providing information on the lost memory of the title character. While the core of the game remains the same between the two, some elements of The Dark Descent have been removed for A Machine for Pigs, while new elements have been added, one reason being to provide a fresh gameplay experience to players of The Dark Descent. The inventory has been removed, along with the oil and tinderboxes. Most of the puzzles that occur in the game are based on physically interacting with the environment because of this change. The sanity mechanic of the first game has been removed as well, meaning that the darkness and looking at the creatures no longer causes any drawbacks. Health lost when Mandus is injured, will regenerate after a certain period of time; thereby eliminating the need to find vials of laudanum to restore health as in The Dark Descent.
The game's level design has been touted as "significantly different" from that of The Dark Descent, with larger areas and outdoor environments included. AI was also adjusted to ensure players are unable to predict enemy behavior based on their experiences with the original game.
