I've noticed a trend in games I really enjoy, which I will relate to by typing more words: I like games that are brave. In this age where every FPS tries to be Halo and every not first person person anything ever tries to be God of War, considering I liked neither game it's no surprise that I dislike most games that people play. I am, however, a huge fan of Silent Hill 2, or I would be if the combat was a) tolerable or b) totally avoidable.
This is where Penumbra comes in. Penumbra: Overture is a seamless blend of Myst style adventure, Half Life 2 physics puzzles, Silent Hill 2 atmosphere, and Silent Hill 2 not puzzles. I should also mention Resident Evil 4, because the horror of Penumbra is not entirely atmospheric, there are some jump outs, something Silent Hill 2 wouldn't be caught dead doing, but these are few and well executed, basically a response to people saying Silent Hill 2 was all atmosphere with no scares. Overture does fall into the trap of horrendous combat, with melee weapons one uses by holding down the right mouse, and the failing it around, all the while you have no ability to move, and the enemies are too fast for this to be effective. I'm not going to say this is entirely a fault, because it really forces the sneaking aspect of the game which is flawlessly executed, and made more intense with a panic mechanic wherein if you stare too long at something that may want to have you be less alive than you are at current, you will panic and reveal your position. The result of all this is whenever there's something around that isn't horribly fond of you breathing, you can only take quick glimpses of it, which I feel adds a lot to the miasmic atmosphere. There is no combat that cannot be avoided, but a lot of the time you have to be damn near perfect. Also, the puzzles make sense! They're all logical, some may be hard but none of them feel unfair, they're hard because they're clever, not illogical.
Black Plague attempts to solve some of the problems in Overture in a very No More Heros 2 way: If people don't like it, remove it! Combat has been heavily scaled back, you can no longer use weapons, your only offense is picking up near by objects and throwing them gravity gun style, which is horrendously ineffective, but once again forces sneaking. Another addition to Black Plague is a deeper storyline, don't get me wrong, Overture had one, but Black Plague's is much more in depth, and much more interesting.
Lastly is Requiem, which solved the still present combat issues with in a final solution esque manner-get rid of things that actively want you dead. This does not subtract from the brilliant atmosphere at all, I feel, and there are still enough environmental hazards to kill you a few times over. This isn't as story driven as Black Plague, rather, it's more like a cross between Portal and Myst, and very well done I will say.
So the point of the words previous five hundred and twenty five words is this: Penumbra is $20 for all 2.5 games, get it now, it's not perfect but it's something original, it's fun, scary, and it will haunt your dreams.
PS.
The games are short, they took me about four hours for the first two and an hour for the last one.
This is where Penumbra comes in. Penumbra: Overture is a seamless blend of Myst style adventure, Half Life 2 physics puzzles, Silent Hill 2 atmosphere, and Silent Hill 2 not puzzles. I should also mention Resident Evil 4, because the horror of Penumbra is not entirely atmospheric, there are some jump outs, something Silent Hill 2 wouldn't be caught dead doing, but these are few and well executed, basically a response to people saying Silent Hill 2 was all atmosphere with no scares. Overture does fall into the trap of horrendous combat, with melee weapons one uses by holding down the right mouse, and the failing it around, all the while you have no ability to move, and the enemies are too fast for this to be effective. I'm not going to say this is entirely a fault, because it really forces the sneaking aspect of the game which is flawlessly executed, and made more intense with a panic mechanic wherein if you stare too long at something that may want to have you be less alive than you are at current, you will panic and reveal your position. The result of all this is whenever there's something around that isn't horribly fond of you breathing, you can only take quick glimpses of it, which I feel adds a lot to the miasmic atmosphere. There is no combat that cannot be avoided, but a lot of the time you have to be damn near perfect. Also, the puzzles make sense! They're all logical, some may be hard but none of them feel unfair, they're hard because they're clever, not illogical.
Black Plague attempts to solve some of the problems in Overture in a very No More Heros 2 way: If people don't like it, remove it! Combat has been heavily scaled back, you can no longer use weapons, your only offense is picking up near by objects and throwing them gravity gun style, which is horrendously ineffective, but once again forces sneaking. Another addition to Black Plague is a deeper storyline, don't get me wrong, Overture had one, but Black Plague's is much more in depth, and much more interesting.
Lastly is Requiem, which solved the still present combat issues with in a final solution esque manner-get rid of things that actively want you dead. This does not subtract from the brilliant atmosphere at all, I feel, and there are still enough environmental hazards to kill you a few times over. This isn't as story driven as Black Plague, rather, it's more like a cross between Portal and Myst, and very well done I will say.
So the point of the words previous five hundred and twenty five words is this: Penumbra is $20 for all 2.5 games, get it now, it's not perfect but it's something original, it's fun, scary, and it will haunt your dreams.
PS.
The games are short, they took me about four hours for the first two and an hour for the last one.