Executes many things well and has potential, but ultimately falls short.

User Rating: 8 | Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs PC
Personally, I feel the game should be 7.5, but I gave it an 8.0 rating because it executes many ideas well, but at the same time, is rather short (I beat it in under four hours on my first try), and leaves you wishing the developers would've worked on some things more.

However, I really like this series and part of me just wants to like this game. It is by no means a bad game, but I feel like I may be biased, so it's better to just read what I say than focus on the score I gave it.

As mentioned, the game executes many things well. This game is careful with how it places the scares. It's not a jump-scare fest, but uses scares sparingly, and strategically, to build the atmosphere and add tension (if any horror game goes overboard with the scares, the game would be tedious and annoying; and well-done horror games aren't about jump-scares - they can get rather annoying).

The story is very intriguing and for the most part, very gripping. It touches subtly on subjects such as love, redemption, religion and others, and that's partly what keeps it interesting. Throughout the game, you pick up pieces of Mandus's (the protagonist) past and his way of thinking, which contributed to the story keeping me wanting to find out more.

The graphics aren't bad. At first glance, it looks like a mere expansion pack for the original Amnesia game, but if you play the game for yourself, you'd see there are some rather significant changes to the graphics.

The gameplay itself is simple and does not depart too much from the original Amnesia. It kind of does get repetitive, but personally, it didn't bother me, so in my opinion, this isn't really a negative point - it can get away with it, and this game, I feel, is more about immersion and atmosphere, which it does very well.

The atmosphere is intense, and I recall myself, when I was playing the first two to three hours, being really anxious and saying to myself, "Yeah, I REALLY don't like this." My heart jumped at a few occasions, and if you like games that suck you in, this game is for you.

However, there are also some things you should consider if you want to figure out if this game is worth your money. In the first place, the game is really short. In fact, I think it's significantly shorter than the first game. And this point leads me to my second point. Because it is a short game, it just doesn't use its potential to make add more tension between the protagonist and antagonist. This is important because when you resolve the conflict in this game, there just doesn't seem to be that much satisfaction with the conflict resolution. In fact, I felt somewhat disappointed with the ending.

The game also starts to lose steam towards the end. I'm not sure why, but it just didn't seem that scary or intense towards the last hour of the game.

Also, I felt the game was a bit lacking in content - but this point is hard to justify, so take it with a grain of salt.

In short, personally, I'd say wait for a Steam sale to get this game. I really like the series and I think The Chinese Room had some really neat ideas. The things they've introduced to the game has the potential for another Amnesia game should they choose to make it. The game is good at manipulating your emotions and for the most part, leaves you high-strung. But it's because it has some really great ideas, that makes you wish it was longer and uses these things to their full potential. Hopefully, Frictional Games and The Chinese Room will make another Amnesia game in this vein.