SPLICED GAMING /
ISSUE 02
MINI REVIEWS
PLATFORMS PC
GENRE
Survival horror
DEVELOPER
The Chinese
Room
AGE RATING
18
PLATFORMS
GENRE
DEVELOPER
AGE RATING
Amnesia: A
Machine for Pigs
LEGO Marvel
Super Heroes
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is perhaps
the most successfully frightening
game I’ve ever played. Its pseudo
sequel, subtitled A Machine for Pigs,
substitutes much of the overwhelming,
in-your-face horror of its forebear for
something more cerebrally disturbing,
more psychologically nauseating.
There’s a greater emphasis on narrative,
which is to be expected considering
development honours were handed to
Dear Esther developers The Chinese
Room. Outstanding writing is its
greatest asset, weaving a horrifying
tale that by the end will have you torn
between wanting to applaud or vomit.
That’s not to say that it’s not
traditionally unnerving as well,
although far less so than its
predecessor. While certain aspects of
the original (like the inventory system)
have been dropped, it retains its
immersive physics-powered gameplay
that sees you physically moving your
mouse to swing doors open and
closed, and to move objects. That
feeling of helplessness that so strongly
pervades the first game is present
here too. With no way to combat the
horrors you face as you descend into
the titular machine, your only choice is
to run and scream and swear and sweat
until eventually you begin to despise
yourself for loving this
game’s hateful existence
as much as you do.
by Dane Remendes
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is
awesome! Yes, really. You want to
know why? It’s filled with two of
my favourite things – LEGO and a
fantastic cast of villains and heroes that
makes for a game that might just be the
best one in the franchise.
It’s filled with the trademark LEGO
sense of humour, a massive cast, and
a really fun and engaging storyline.
In fact I think this might be the best
storyline I’ve played in the LEGO
series because it’s coherent and well
put together. You’ll switch characters
half way through levels, but it never
feels as if there are two parts of
an incomplete story happening
simultaneously – it’s well handled and
feels relatively seamless.
The puzzles are perhaps not as
challenging as they could be, and
this indicates the targeting of the
younger gamers, but they’re still fun
to play through. The main campaign is
somewhere in the