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Penumbra: Black Plague
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Graphics & Sound:
The adventure game is an interesting genre that, for the most part, has seen its heyday and now finds its innermost workings and defining features more prevalent in other genres. I am a fan of the overall theme of adventure gaming, when done well. Penumbra: Black Plague is the second and final game in a series of FPS based adventure puzzle games. You usually associate the genre with over the shoulder views or taking a step even further back with static 2D frames where you point and click for your character to move to that spot. There are several modern features that have been added to this older genre that make things interesting. Is it enough to rekindle the genre as a whole? Maybe, maybe not, but it is a unique game to be sure.
The graphics are decent enough to get the point across; however, you are looking at an extremely basic pallet of colors and assets. You are going to be seeing the same dirty and drab walls and passageways for the most of the game. Same thing goes for your enemies. I know that the look is supposed to bolster the spooky feeling of the game, and for the most part it did. It was just that the repetitive visual stimuli from the graphics built up, I dare say, a type of resentment of having to look at them over and over.
The sound was expertly handled. The smallest details of simple sound effects were well timed and played a huge role in portraying the spooky overture of the game. Not to take a thing away from the game, but to compare it to other well done spook games, I would put the overall effect up against games like DOOM III or F.E.A.R.. I can only mean this as a compliment, trust me, especially when you compare overall budgets. |
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Gameplay:
You play the role of Phillip who has found his way to Greenland, of all places, to discover the fate of his long lost father. His journey pushes upon his worst fears, and even the fabric of his sanity may not hold up. You drop right into the middle of this adventure when you wake up in a locked room. As far as introductions into a game go, there is little information for you to go off of. Totally in the dark, you work your way through puzzle after puzzle, moving closer to your goal of finding your father.
Gone are the days of simply clicking on the screen and just waiting for something to happen. With the physics system, you will have to move around in order to make things happen. For example, in order to open a door, you will have to do more than just click the door. You are going to have to use mouse movements to push the door open. Come to think of it, this would have done well as a Wii adaptation instead of a PC game. Who knows, I may be jumping the gun as they have basically made the game for every other computer-based use including Linux. Maybe not for pocket PC, but again I may be jumping the gun.
Again, to take nothing away from but to bring a familiar imagery to mind, there are several F.E.A.R.-like sequences that are going to raise your heartbeat a little. These too are all just pieces of the puzzle that are going to lead to your father. |
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Difficulty:
A game like Penumbra: Black Plague takes me back past the days of the point and click adventure and even farther back to text games with its unexplained and all-too-easy drop into the middle of madness. As easy as the plot point is, the game itself is very difficult to get going. There is little preliminary information, save some cryptic leading on about past and future events. There is a tutorial which vaguely points you in the direction of object interaction, and a few combinations, but it fails to point out the depth of this mechanic. I am not saying this is right or wrong, but it does split your audience on the grounds of true stick-to-it challenge lovers, and people who expect more information to get the ball rolling. I happen to love exploration, but was frustrated with the initial difficulty of the game. The beginning difficulties aside, the game itself is equally difficult with all of its puzzles, twists, and combat.
The puzzles themselves are at least physics-based, so you don't get that arbitrary puzzle feeling right off the bat. By this I mean games that say they are puzzle games, but in the middle of a space ship crashing, you have to solve a word puzzle to connect wires. Soon however you start to lose that suspension of disbelief and wonder why they have a room with no doors, a table, and a mirror and you have to get out. |
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Game Mechanics:
The physics system for Penumbra: Black Plague looks great. There were a few catches in the way some items would interact, but with a change in my body positioning, they always righted themselves. Again, the trick was knowing how in-depth the system actually was without having to learn the hard way. Movement in the game actually felt a little cumbersome. I didn't think it needed to be as fluid as a high speed shooter, but movement in the area felt a little awkward. The actual battle sequences showed the basic nature of the game and proved it could not have gone far as an actual FPS without the physics-based puzzle featured.
This game may not have all of the necessary elements in gameplay to warrant the highest marks all around. It does need to be commended on taking a system and taking full advantage of its power in gameplay mechanics. This game's looks and movement made it difficult to maneuver, but its sound and overall goal to scare you every chance it got made it very unique to play. For its humble price, I will say this is a good pick for a true puzzle lover. You should not let the FPS feel fool you or you may be let down. This is a puzzler from beginning to end, so hang in there and don't let the game get the better of you or your wits. |
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-WUMPUSJAGGER, GameVortex Communications AKA Bryon Lloyd |
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows 2000/XP, Processor: 1Ghz, Memory: 256MB, Video Card: Radeon 8500/GeForce 3 (GeForce4MX not supported)
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Test System:
Dell XPS DXP061, XP Pro, Intel Core Quad, 2GB Ram, Gforce 8800GTX |
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