When comparing Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs vs Europa Universalis IV, the Slant community recommends Europa Universalis IV for most people. In the question“What are the best games on Linux?” Europa Universalis IV is ranked 63rd while Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is ranked 129th. The most important reason people chose Europa Universalis IV is:
While there are a lot of achievements for doing certain things in Iron Man mode, which runs can be tailored towards, and there is a points system allowing you to focus on becoming the "best" in the world, there is no definitive win condition and therefore a lot of players decide their own target for the campaign and focus on that, whether direct conquest or a trade empire or "playing tall" - highly developing a small nation without expanding geographically.
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 You can set your own goals
While there are a lot of achievements for doing certain things in Iron Man mode, which runs can be tailored towards, and there is a points system allowing you to focus on becoming the "best" in the world, there is no definitive win condition and therefore a lot of players decide their own target for the campaign and focus on that, whether direct conquest or a trade empire or "playing tall" - highly developing a small nation without expanding geographically.
Pro Game features pausing and adjustable speeds
Europa Universalis IV allows you to play straight through in real-time, or pause the game for as much micro-management as needed. With this system in place, everyone can play at their own pace without need for rapid play styles or quick rushing attacks to achieve victory, thus giving players freedom to tackle missions at their own, preferred speed.
Pro Lots of depth
EUIV is a simulation of global politics and war. There is a relatively limited set of choices you can make under normal circumstances: hiring advisors to improve your capabilities, hiring troops, about two dozen diplomatic actions in peace, and a number of different peace deal options when terminating a war. However, these interact to produce a large number of interesting decisions that affect your outcomes.
If you want to annex a neighbor, do you declare a holy war on them, or do you fabricate claims on their territory and demand that they "return" this land to you? Do you ally a much larger nation that might try to force you to be their vassal? Conversely, do you try to improve relations with a much smaller neighbor in order to become their suzerain overlord, or do you attempt to conquer them directly and risk pulling their larger allies into a war?
On top of that, there are hundreds of events that can occur once certain preconditions are met. Some of them are specific to which country you're playing as. Some require you to hire the right set of advisors.
And if you don't keep your country's internal affairs in order, you may find yourself on the wrong end of a peasant's war or facing other national disasters.
Pro You get to chose how to play
You can either expand with colonies, martial might or be peaceful and attempt to ally neighbouring nations.
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 Games can take a very long time
Due to the in depth, meticulous gameplay mechanics, the games can take weeks to finish which some people may not have the patience for.
Con Steep learning curve
When you start out, it can be overwhelming. You have a country and three thousand infantrymen -- what can you do? You decide to attack your neighbor -- and they cut you down like reeds. You start over as a bigger country and attack a smaller neighbor -- and suddenly you're in a war against several large countries at once. You start again and this time you find a weak neighbor with no allies. You crush them and bring them under your control -- and suddenly you find revolutions popping up everywhere.
Even after you've learned the basics, you'll still find yourself wondering: if I declare a holy war, will it cost me diplomatic power to annex territory or not? And it's often hard -- certainly in ironman mode -- to undo decisions, so small mistakes and misclicks can end up costing you a lot.
The game does give you guidance in the form of alert bubbles in the upper left of the screen, informing you of the things it thinks are most relevant, and paying attention to those can at least show you what you might want to think about. In the later patches, the user interface has been improving to help reduce surprises -- and the game mechanics as well. For instance, rebel uprising progress can be tracked easily -- you won't be surprised by a sudden uprising of Najdi nationalists, and when you're in for a long-term peasant revolt, the game will tell you why it's happening, how to prevent it, and how to get out of it once it happens.
But simply finding all these parts of the user interface takes time playing. Determining what's important takes experience. You can pause the game at any time and find all the data you can handle, but if you're not just extracting the important parts, the deluge won't help.
Your best bet is to find videos of people playing the game with a bit more skill than you. Streaming is best -- you can ask questions, and most streamers will answer.
Con Math
This game is pure math, like every game. But in this game, you can actually calculate the outcome of an action, which makes the computer (AI) feel dumb.
For example, when you grow, you easily form an alliance with the second largest army on the map, which will accept and let you grow, grow, grow without the slightest clue that he will be next. This is weird.