When comparing Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs vs Borderlands 2, the Slant community recommends Borderlands 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best games on Linux?” Borderlands 2 is ranked 13th while Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is ranked 129th. The most important reason people chose Borderlands 2 is:
Those playing on local split-screen can play online with others at the same time. This way even if playing locally with a friend, both can experience online play on the same machine and screen.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Very tense gameplay
Sneaking through dark levels and avoiding the prowling entities that lurk within creates some truly terrifying moments. There is no combat in this game, so fighting back isn't an option. As a result, carefully avoiding monsters, hiding from them, or even running away if the opportunity presents itself creates some very tense gameplay where you'll always be on a high alert. You never know when you're going to round a corner or open a door and come face to face with a monstrosity.
Pro Fantastic level design
Often times featuring strange architecture, flickering lights, twisting and turning passages, and dark hallways, the overall level design is fantastic. Although most levels are rather linear, the attention to detail is immense. The Victorian-era mansion looks its part, the workshops and factories look like bustling industrial centers, and the more surreal areas really inspire a sense of wonder with their strange machinery. A lot of care went into molding a terrifying, yet realistic environment and the visually appealing levels are easily one of the game's biggest high points.
Pro Scary sound design creates a true horror atmosphere
The audio design is excellent and scary, featuring plenty of disembodied voices, footsteps in dark hallways, and things scratching or pounding on doors. Hearing things thud and bump in the dark when you're trying to sneak around unseen creates a lot of scares, especially when you hear something right next to you scurry past. The consistent use of strange noises and ambient sound is brilliant, used in all the right places, and creates a truly frightening atmosphere.
Pro Mysterious and engaging story
The game opens with the protagonist Oswald Mandus, a wealthy industrialist, waking up in his mansion after a long sickness. Awoken by the voices of his two children calling out for him, Mandus sets out to find them. As the story begins, we quickly learn that he was in Mexico where a great tragedy struck and this is when he first fell ill.
The story then progresses from there, often veering into strange and surreal themes where you may question what is real and what is not. It is told in such a way that information is slowly reaveled over time through monologues, memories, and in-game notes. The story is great at teasing its biggest mysteries and conveying a strong desire to push forward and learn more.
Pro Actual couch co-op that can also be played online
Those playing on local split-screen can play online with others at the same time. This way even if playing locally with a friend, both can experience online play on the same machine and screen.
Pro Complimentary classes that are great for teamwork based co-op
The varying classes and play styles are designed to work together and promote co-op play. One player may be a tank, with large guns and durable shields, while another may have medic abilities and a long-range sniper rifle. This makes for a scenario where each class compliments each other, which is a fun way to play together.
Pro Cl4p-trap for the win <3
Clap trap <3
Pro So much loot, that you will barely see any twice
Borderlands 2 makes it feel like Christmas every time you kill an enemy or open a chest. Whether it's ammo or health or a new and better weapon, whatever you find will reward your curiosity and pique your appetite for more. The potential to find the best loot in the most humble locations makes killing enemies and finding chests incredibly exciting and satisfying. While many loot-based games succeed due to this mechanic, Borderlands 2 surpasses the competition by delivering randomized goodies with unique appearances and stats.
The guns and items in Borderlands 2 have distinct visual features depending on their attributes. For example, a gun with a melee attack bonus might have a blade on it. The customization goes beyond pallet swapping (where the only difference is the color), which leads players to become much more attached to their guns than a bunch of polygons should make them.
You will also find tons and tons of different types of guns. Six different types of guns exist in the game. Each gun can be made by one of eight different manufacturers. Each gun is also made of five additional parts. All of which are generated randomly. With the many millions of combinations available, you never know what attributes the next gun you will find will have. This also gives a slightly different experience to each playthrough, because it’s entirely unpredictable what weapons you will find and when.
Pro Contains fun low-brow humor that can still be serious when it needs to be
Despite being an in-your-face action game with an ostensibly serious plot, Borderlands 2 features a fun-loving sense of humor. This is exaggerated in the sidequests, which feature some of the funniest and most creative writing. This helps the player dive into the main plot while also having the choice to go on sidequests that offer an expanded sense of humor.
The humor is often based on popular memes or lowbrow concepts, which should appeal to a wide range of players.
Pro Each playthrough is a different experience
Borderlands 2 is all about options. With near-infinite weapon options and six character classes, you can play the game multiple times and have a different experience each time. The classes have multiple skill trees that let you tweak your character’s moves and abilities to match how you want to play. This all adds up to a gaming experience that is difficult to beat for customizability.
Pro Stylish comic book like art style that breaks from the herd
The solid black outlines and bright colors make this game look great and stand out from other first-person shooters. The artistic style is similar to the art in comics, clean and bright and breaks with the trend of gray and brown in recent FPS video games.
Pro Runs well on low-spec hardware
It even runs well on a core2duo from 2007, and the comic look is timeless without looking outdated.
Cons
Con Very linear
The first few levels are nice and somewhat open, as they allow for a little exploration, but then things start to feel extremely linear. The latter levels are extremely linear point A to point B affairs. There is a bit of sidetracking at times if you're going for all the collectibles, but there's rarely ever any need to stray off the path the game sets out for you.
Con There never seems like there's any urgency
The original Amnesia had an insanity system where you couldn't be in the dark too long, and had you scavenging for tinderboxes and lantern oil to stay sane. There was always the constant urgency of finding a light source. A Machine for Pigs completely removed this mechanic and, as a result, much of the tension of the original game is gone. You can take your time and casually stroll through dark areas without a care in the world.
Con No inventory results in easy and cumbersome puzzles
There is no inventory system at all, so whenever you need to use an object to complete a puzzle, you must manually carry it around the level and use it where needed. Not only is this highly inconvenient, but due to this limitation, puzzles are often extremely easy as they only involve one object. For the rare puzzle that involves several items, you will need to carry them one by one.
Con The last hour of the game drags on
The ending of the game is repetitive and filled with story padding.
Con Gameplay can become repetitive
The best strategy is often to run away, take cover, shoot, and repeat. The AI doesn't do much to pursue you, which gives the player a significant advantage and makes patience vital. It can also lead to long firefights with little actual danger – a recipe for boredom.
Con Boring bulletsponge enemies
A lot of the enemies, and especially bosses, are just bulletsponges that require no different tactics in place to beat them.
Con There is little actual cooperation between players
Most of the "cooperation" in Borderlands 2 is limited to shooting the same mob. There are almost no skills or perks that integrate with other characters in a meaningful way (there are a few stat bonuses, but that's pretty much it).
Con Tedious to check gun stats
Being forced to check the stats on each gun you find in order to be able to compare it to the items already in your inventory can become tedious.
Con Limited visual customization of characters
For a game that is full of choices, Borderlands 2 is somehow lacking in visual customization options for the player’s character. There is no way to customize the characters’ faces or body styles; for the most part all that can be changed is the color of their outfit. This can lead to online games full of identical characters, which is not only confusing but also makes it difficult to feel any sort of pride or ownership over your character.
Con Unbalanced enemies
Whether by bugs or by poor design, you may be fighting weak minions at one moment and an enemy that's stronger than the final boss at the other, Crystalisks are almost immune to DLCs characters due to bugs, Pyrotrashers can instakill players just by spawning, the second boss represents a huge difficulty spike right at the beginning, some mini-bosses like Saturn can easily down the player in half the time that the final boss while having roughly the same HP.
Con More tedious with each run
Each time you try to play again in a new difficulty the game becomes even more grindy, slow and brutal.
After the first playthrough a lot of strategies and builds become useless and after the second one only the most OP synergies and builds have a chance to survive, so get ready to search up in google and grind for the most OP stuff you can find.
Con Overrated
It gets old doing the same thing over and over.
Con NPC always talk in the background or HUD
You can't have a funny conversation or nice conversation with your friend, you need to listen to a NPC scream, cry, rant on your ears all along.
Con Tons of jokes just don't land
Yes there are some good jokes that could make you laugh, but you need to hear 150 unfunny forced jokes to get there.
Con Potential lost loot due to sharing
Loot isn't reserved for each individual player when playing co-op, meaning the first person to get to the loot can take as much of it as they want. This can lead to contention between co-op players, which defeats the purpose of cooperative play.