The Chinese Room is aiming to deliver atmosphere and stories

Sep 23, 2013 17:16 GMT  ·  By

The Chinese Room, the team that created the recently launched Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, says that actual game mechanics do not represent the main reason that they are creating new titles because they place more emphasis on stories and atmosphere.

Jessica Curry, one of the leaders of the team, writes in Edge that her company often has to deal with questions about whether they are trying to undermine games by delivering experiences that have such limited mechanics.

She states, “Why do we feel the need to classify and name and label before we can enjoy something? Do I need to know whether or not Bach sits in the classical canon before I can appreciate his incredible music? For me, the key is whether it’s an engaging experience (or not).”

The new Amnesia title eliminated many of the main features of the original game in the series, including the insanity mechanic, in order to focus on the delivery of more elaborate areas to explore and to make it easier for all players to see the main narrative.

Curry adds, “Mechanics will probably never be our core focus as they’re not the reason we’re driven to create. What this focus isn’t is: an agenda, a manifesto, a [expletive] you, a provocation, a purge or a stance. It’s simply us being us.”

Some fans of Amnesia have been disappointed with the changes the team at The Chinese Room has made, while others believe that they enhance the core elements of the franchise.

A full Softpedia review of Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs offers more details about the story, the horror atmosphere and the mechanics.

At the moment, the studio is working on a new title called Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, which is set to be launched exclusively on the PlayStation 4 from Sony in 2014.