You wake up in your mansion, not sure where the last month has gone. Where have your two boys disappeared to? You get up and wander around the mansion looking for them. Meanwhile, the house creaks and groans around you and the sounds of gears and steam echo below.

As you search, a phone rings. A mysterious voice informs you of the terrible danger your children are in and that you are their only hope. But you must descend into the machinery below, oblivious to the horrors that await you, still wondering where that pig squeal you heard came from… or what it came from.

In 2010, Frictional Games released “Amnesia: The Dark Descent,” which became one of the most horrifying gaming experiences since the early days of “Silent Hill.” One notable feature was the sanity meter. Stand in the light and you were fine, but too long in the dark and you’d start breathing heavy and hallucinating. And to make it even more terrifying, just looking at the monsters chasing you would hurt your sanity. There was no fighting, just running and hiding.

Gaming enthusiasts, including me, were wild with anticipation for a sequel to our beloved horror game.

I got “A Machine for Pigs” on its release on September 10th, and was able to finish it within a week. It took me around three hours of play time, which is quite a bit shorter than the first game took to beat.

While the original “Amnesia” was scary, over time I got desensitized to the environment and monsters. Once the fear of the unknown was gone and you actually knew what was chasing you, it wasn’t as terrifying, which I thought would be a problem with the new game when I started it up.

I was very wrong.

The title screen actually scared me. The music, the sounds, the creepy back- ground image. It had the perfect feeling to it. And it kept this feeling for the first half of the game, where I never saw the monster, but oh did I hear it, pig squeals and all.

Once I actually encountered the monster, it was completely horrifying, but after the third time, the game definitely lost some of its scare factor. However, after that it shifted to being more story driven, and I think it really helped.

I am a firm believer that a game with a good story is a good game, and this is no exception. Even though this was a bit shorter than the prequel, I really enjoyed the experience.

Right now, It’s $19.99 on Steam for PC, Mac, and Linux, so if want to be scared out of your mind and enjoy a good story while you’re at it, give it a try.

I give “Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs” 4 Man-Pigs out of 5.