Game recommendation: Penumbra Series for $5 USD

[Zhukov]

A little gem I was alerted to a couple of days ago, Penumbra is an episodic adventure/survival horror series. There are currently three episodes available, titled Overture, Black Plague and Requiem*. (I have only completed the first game so far, so I do not know if more are on the way.)

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.

The physics system that supports nearly all aspects of gameplay, from opening a door to swinging a weapon or throwing a flare, is solid and almost glitch free. The player can apply this system in a number of ways. Every liftable item is a potential projectile. Crude staircases can be thrown together in a pinch. And if something hungry and toothy is on your trail, you can close a door and construct a barricade from a wooden pallet and two chairs. The bottom line is that, unlike in many other games, when you find yourself thinking, "Hey I should be able to X", you usually will be able to do X.

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...

[Jimmy Jazz]

got it a while ago, quite a gem of a package. for five bucks no less. as tony the tiger would say:
"IT'S GREEEAAT!" i would say I'm close to beating it, although i didn't get the five buck thing.

[blood-shard]

i played their beta gameplay of overture 2 years ago and beat both of the original games one year ago and i must say its a good game, Clearance rocks xD a parazite whit humor hows that for ya ? XD

[TheBigCheese]

I love the game engine in itself, but I've never really played past the first few levels. Not sure why, just never got around to it.

The game engine, with the completely dynamic physics interaction is tons of fun to play with.

In the demo of the game that can be downloaded for free, I was able to build a complex mechanism with the boards and bins and objects in a room to get myself up to the top of a bookshelf. From there I built catwalks across to the otherside of the room, and climed across to open a grate on the ceiling. I traveled through the air ducts and came down in a room, in which my screen went black and the game crashed.
Turns out that the grate wasn't even supposed to be accessible, since the demo was also a beta of sorts, but it's amazing that I was even able to get there with only the physics objects.

[Count Roland]

there's no combat in the second or third episodes is there? also I might mention that mikko tarmia did the music for them in case anyone doesn't know, they're really fun.

[Zhukov]

Sadly, the second game is nowhere near as impressive as the first. You no longer have the option to fight, not even by throwing things (I want my pickaxe damnit!). Also, the enemies are able to break down doors and push objects aside regardless of their weight, so barricading no longer works.

And then there's Clarence...

(spoilers follow)

I really really like the idea of a hostile sentient virus having an existential crisis in the players head. The concept is extremely neat. Unfortunately, the implementation is... rather less neat. A viral hivemind should not use a name as commonplace as "Clarence". It should not talk in straight english. And it certainly shouldn't talk in some sort of stereotype hillbilly accent. What the hell were the developers thinking?

On the other hand, the second game is still creepy and still has cool puzzles.

[Renegade_Turner]

Yes, because you are in a position to say what manner such things would manifest themselves in.

[Zhukov]

I am in a position to say that such things manifesting as outlined above is distinctly unimpressive, bordering on laughable.

[Jimmy Jazz]

Might i point out this interview with the people who made Penumbra and the rest of the games you're playing. and the next one there making.

i'm not sure, but i think the reason for no weapons in the second and third is that many people found the fighting too easy. or too hard. and so they got rid of the weapons. to make you seem weaker thus making the game scarier.

its a guess... or is it!!?

[TheBigCheese]

Yeah, that was the thinking.

No weapons means you just have to run, which is a heck of lot scarier than if you know you can hurt the beast with a weapon.

[Lugaruman100]

Is it too late for me to say anything about it?

[TheBigCheese]

Is it too late for me to say anything about it?

I don't see any problem with it.

[Grayswandir]

I really really like the idea of a hostile sentient virus having an existential crisis in the players head. The concept is extremely neat. Unfortunately, the implementation is... rather less neat. A viral hivemind should not use a name as commonplace as "Clarence". It should not talk in straight english. And it certainly shouldn't talk in some sort of stereotype hillbilly accent. What the hell were the developers thinking?

On the other hand, the second game is still creepy and still has cool puzzles.

Being that its a virus, and its in your head affecting your mental state, it could be the player hears the hivemind and his conciousness is manifesting it as Clarence, the grammar-nazi hillbilly. Or maybe the hivemind takes on the unassuming posture of Clarence, the sweet-talking hillbilly while it slowly sucks out your spinal fluid and eats your kidney's with some fava beans and chianti, fft, fft, fft.