The player controls a fellow named Philip as he unwillingly explores an abandoned mine complex full of the usual stuff: unpleasant situations, dark secrets and hostile creatures. Hungry hostile creatures.
So, let's dissect this sucker:
Graphics: The game is 3D, with a first person perspective. By present day standards the eye-candy is nothing amazing. This is especially evident when the player encounters living creatures. However, the graphics are perfectly adequate for the task at hand and can look rather pretty when turned up to maximum.
Sound: Nothing superb, but does the job well. Everything you expect to make a sound will do so. The music sets the tone nicely and changes to suit the situation. Various ambient sounds give the game a ton of atmosphere. Subterranean rumbles, unintelligible whispers in dark corners, the skittering of things with way too may legs - it's all there. There isn't much voice acting, but what is there is good stuff.
Gameplay: Consists of puzzles, combat and stealth - all built on a sturdy physics base.
- The puzzles are fairly standard fare for the genre. Finding and combining items, then applying them to the environment. A bit of straightforward code-breaking. The puzzle difficulty is nothing extreme (if I can do them, anyone can).
- The combat is challenging, fun and requires some actual planning and tactics (more on this later).
- The stealth is of the hide-in-the-shadows variety. You can also use distractions and improvised traps as you see fit.
Storyline: Fully satisfactory. The story is mostly revealed through notes, diaries, newspaper clippings and deranged graffiti that the player comes across. This has always been a personal favourite in terms of story mechanics. Unfortunately the beginning of the first game is kinda corny (out intrepid protagonist seems to have some daddy issues**). Luckily that is soon left far behind as the narrative progresses.
Drawbacks: Happily, there isn't too much to be mentioned here. There is the occasional physics glitch ("why did that dead enemy just fall through the floor?") but no show-stoppers. There is also a bit of a learning curve associated with the controls. But with a bit of practice you'll soon be swinging hammers and pitching crates like a pro. Lastly, it would have been nice to have more then three types of hostile creatures. I hold out hope that there will be more variety in the next game. (But hey, Lugaru only had two and that worked out fine, right?)
Misc Comments: My favourite aspect of this game is that it isn't Resident Evil. Your character is not some steroid casualty he-man bristling with firearms. He's a university researcher. Furthermore, there aren't guns and ammunition stacked in every corner. So when two starving guard dogs walk around the corner and catch your tasty scent, do you whip out your 3000-round-per-minute minigun and blow them away? No. You f*cking run. Oh, and did I mention that those dogs can run significantly faster then you? Bugger. Should you choose to fight, you will have to do so with what you have on hand. In a typical situation this might consist of an empty toolbox, a propane canister, two packets of beef jerky and your trusty pickaxe***. The cool thing is, that small selection of items offers you at least three ways out of said situation.
Also, Penumbra is a moderately scary sort of game, with creepy atmosphere aplenty. Odd muttering and heavy breathing from behind locked doors. Howls echoing down dark passages. Large, leathery and pulsating eggs. Even saving the game is a bit creepy. I would rate the scariness above doom 3****, but well below the first AvP game*****.
Last of all, the main reason I am posting this overly verbose and poorly written review is that the company who made Penumbra, a four-man indie outfit with assorted contractors (sound familiar?), are doing a promotion thingy where they offer all three games for five dollars (US). It ends after this weekend though. (Yeah, I should have posted this on Friday. I was busy being chased by the aforementioned starving guard dogs.)
Here's the link to buy them.
Here are a of couple of reviews if you want a second opinion. They're better written then mine. And shorter. And they have screenshots.
tl;dr: Good, cross-platform game for five dollars. Got your attention now, you illiterate philistine? Now scroll up and read.
*Why must so many games and movies and books use "requiem" in the title?
**What is it with heroes having daddy issues? It is possible to be male without harboring deep-seated angst relating to one's father you know.
***The most fearsome weapon in the game. Yes, I'm serious.
****At least Doom gave you a shotgun. Plus the scares were of the rather crude jack-in-the-box variety.
*****Those marine levels gave me nightmares. Nothing beats agile clicking things with tails. And flickering lights. Brrrr...