Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
| Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs | |
|---|---|
| Studio | The Chinese Room |
| Publisher | Frictional Games |
| Senior Developer | Peter Howell Dan Pinchbeck |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
September 10, 2013 |
| platform | Linux , macOS , Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 4 |
| Game engine | HPL Engine 2 |
| genre | Survival horror , adventure |
| Game mode | Single player |
| medium | Download |
| language | English |
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a survival horror - computer game and indirect successor of Amnesia: The Dark Descent . It was developed by the British development studio The Chinese Room and the publisher is the Swedish company Frictional Games , which has already made a name for itself with titles such as Penumbra . The horror adventure was released in September 2013 for Windows , macOS and Linux .
action
The game follows multiple storylines, some of which are set in the past and some in the present. There are also real scenes and imaginary ones, although it is often difficult to distinguish between them. The story begins on New Year's Eve 1899. Almost the entire action takes place in the London meat processing factory of the wealthy industrialist Oswald Mandus. Only at the beginning Amnesia plays in Mandus' stately villa, where he wakes up from a feverish dream and finds the villa empty. Because of his fever, he has severe memory lapses and does not remember what has happened in the past few months. His only memory is that he has returned from a "disastrous" trip to Mexico , but of the course or occasion of which he has no recollection.
On his way through the big house he hears the voices of his two sons Enoch and Edwin, whom he follows through different rooms and secret passages. Mandus receives a call from the "engineer", who tells him that his children are trapped in the "machine" far below the building and are threatened by floods. The “machine” represents a huge industrial facility under Mandu's house and factory, which is used for slaughtering and processing pigs. Mandus goes into the subterranean areas of the complex and receives repeated telephone warnings from the engineer that the machine has been sabotaged and that Mandus must put it back into operation.
The so-called “manpigs”, which are the result of horrific experiments with people and pigs using a certain substance called “compound X”, represent a danger. These opponents react to light and noise and the unarmed Mandus must always hide or flee from them. After reactivating the machine, he is betrayed by the engineer, who turns out to be malicious and tries to manipulate Mandus. For this purpose he unleashes a horde of Manpigs on the streets of London, which kill some of the residents. Mandus are gradually made aware of the past events and it becomes clear that he had a devastating future vision after his trip to Mexico. He saw that his sons Enoch and Edwin would fall in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 . Driven by this vision, Mandus decided to build a machine that would serve the mass killing of human sacrifices as a ritual of the indigenous Mexican peoples in order to free humanity from their sin. In the process, Mandus finally also sacrificed his own sons in order to free them from the fate that befell them.
Desperate to have killed his own sons, Mandus goes to the heart of the machine, the temple chamber, as the scene for the bloody rituals to destroy himself and the machine once and for all. The engineer tries to prevent Mandus from doing this and tries desperately to tell him that the machine must complete its work so that everything can turn out to be good. It becomes apparent, however, that the engineer is only part of Mandu's split soul and never really existed. So Mandus completes his plan and sacrifices himself and with it the evil part of his personality in order to put an end to the horror.
Characters
Oswald Mandus: He is a wealthy British industrialist who inherited the large London slaughterhouse “Mandus Co. Meat Processing Factory” from his father. He also likes to go on research trips in his free time and, despite his elitist origins, is a kind and generous man who even helps the poor children in the orphanage. Because of his love of discovery, he went on a trip to Mexico to visit Aztec ruins. While researching a sacrificial temple, he found the fragments of a ball (it is implied that this is the "Orb" already known from its predecessor), which seems to have a magical effect. He takes it home with him, where he has a strong fever and so he loses all memories of the trip. The imaginary calls of his children and the rumbling of the machine lure him into the depths of the system, where he becomes aware of what he has done. Oswald Mandus is spoken in the original by Toby Longworth.
Edwin & Enoch: They are the twin sons of Oswald Mandus. Her mother Lilibeth died in childbirth and the two have been raised mainly by nannies ever since. Mandus loves her more than anything, although he rarely finds time to look after her. Edwin and Enoch only appear as imaginations in Mandus' head in the game, as they were killed by their father. You are voiced by Zak Craig.
The engineer: A fraction of Mandu's soul, which is torn from him by the orb and gains control over Mandus. The engineer embodies more and more Mandu's madness and is determined to change the course of the dawning 20th century.
The machine: a huge, automatic system that the engineer received awareness. Although the exact function is left to speculation, notes suggest that based on Aztec rituals, the machine is intended to sacrifice en masse and automate the creation of the manpigs. The machine develops its own consciousness and uses the Manpigs to carry out repairs on itself. She is apparently powered by the shards of the Orb and the hearts of Edwin and Enoch. She becomes part of Mandus' soul through the engineer.
The Manpigs: They are a mixture of human and pig and represent the most common adversaries in the game. Although they were created by Mandus and the machine, they now turn against the player and attack him ruthlessly. As a result of their creation process, they have the property of making electric light (as well as Mandus' lantern) flicker when they are nearby. The Manpigs appear in different variations.
Game principle and technology
Like its predecessor Amnesia: The Dark Descent , this part is also an adventure game in the first person perspective . However, the player is not equipped with any weapons, but only with a lantern, which, contrary to the first part, does not have to be operated with collected oil, but can shine permanently. The lack of a weapon gives the player a desirable feeling of helplessness and panic as soon as an enemy occurs. This type of game thus forms a new genre, which is sometimes characterized by extreme psychological horror. Last but not least, the menacing darkness of the levels and the fear-inducing soundtrack (composed by Jessica Curry) contribute to this. In contrast to the first part, this time the protagonist's "state of mind" as an indicator of the impending collapse of the character is also omitted. Typical of Amnesia are the characters' notes that can be found everywhere in the game and the notebook in which the course of the game is recorded and what has happened is put into words. These reports are often claused and written in a strongly metaphorical style.
The game features many puzzles and tasks that must be completed in order to advance the plot. The player interacts with moving objects with the help of a distinctive physics engine in order to use them correctly. Often the player is confronted with the human pigs during such a puzzle and therefore has to act unnoticed. If the player is attacked, he can flee to objects higher up or try to escape in some other way. If this does not succeed, the player dies quickly after being attacked by the opponent. He then spawns at a certain checkpoint, usually at the beginning of the level.
reception
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Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs achieved a score of 72 from 59 aggregated ratings on Metacritic . The online magazine 4Players noted a "both frightening and grotesque story (...), which picks up on themes from horror literature, especially from Frankenstein, and uses a modern approach linked, which leaves a lot of leeway for social criticism ". It praised an interesting setting, a successful story and stylish backdrops, but criticized a less demanding game design and minor technical and creative inadequacies. The game received mainly positive feedback from German and international circles, which relates to the unmistakable horror ambience. Critics also criticized the often tube-like levels with little free space for the player and the sometimes "stupid" puzzles, the level of which is said to have decreased since the last Amnesia. The fact that the "state of mind" game elements and the refillable lantern were removed also met with criticism. In contrast, the mood, the story, the game mechanics and the soundtrack of the game are rated positively in many cases.
Web links
- Official website
- Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Xav De Matos: Building A Machine for Pigs and expanding the universe of Amnesia ( English ) In: Joystiq . February 22, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
- ↑ Lewis Denby: How Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is scarier than its predecessor ( English ) In: Willingtobe.com . July 6, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ↑ Marsh Davies: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs interview: we talk to the devs about their scarefest sequel ( English ) In: PC Gamer . October 31, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
- ↑ Gamestar.ru: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. Thomas Grip: "Being alone is always good for creating fear!" ( Memento of March 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b 4Players.de: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. Retrieved June 7, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Metacritic.com: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. Retrieved June 7, 2016 .