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VideoGamesSuck.com :: View topic - Penumbra Series
Penumbra Series is a set of 2 games pt1(overture), pt2(black plague) and an expansion of pt2 which is a set of puzzles only. It is basically a horror game which is based inside a mine in Greenland. Its not just horror, there is a story as well and you have to solve puzzles to proceed forward. It is def not an fps as you cant kill ( in a limited way only)
Graphics/engine
This is an inhouse game using its own 3D engine. Initially the guy did it for his thesis and later changed it from 2D to 3D. I like the fact that he then later decided to make a game out of it. If you know graphics coding, then you very well know the problems that one faces in the industry today. Braving all that & releasing a title is a great accomplishment…..ok ahem. The graphics in the game are not top notch or mind blowing, but it does what it is supposed to do and it does it very well. Let me tell you the game never crashed!! I played part 1, part 2 and the expansion all rock solid! So from a technical point of view I am liking this engine very well. It has dynamic lighting and real time effects. The water effects are nice too. It is using pixel shaders, so it is still respectable. The physics are okk, they don’t have to be that realistic like dick sliding in a frictionless pussy…but watch out for the boxes in water level in the expansion, they behave strangely. In time it will mature into a fully bosomed engine, just like your moms fully bosomed delicious ass.
The Textures in the game are not phenomenal and wont give you an erection of sorts. In pt1 series they are a bit dull and dated. In fact I was going to quit the game after playing for about 20mins. I only continued because I had nothing better to do. Yeah I had already watched too much porn leading to porn over saturation. You know like you get bored and look at other porn like bisexual porn and devilish chicks with dildoes….anyways but I am glad I kept playing the game because its actually a great game. The part2 textures and lighting are much better. Use of varied textures would have made it more realistic, but still the developers have used other tricks to add the realism and the horror atmosphere is not compromised. Just turn on AA 4x and all the setting at max quality if your pc can handle it. just setting AA hi makes a big difference. Obviously it is a low budget game, but who said you cant have fun with a cheap side alley ho eh?
Audio
You might think that since this is a low budget game the sound might be shitty like the cheap farts from old people. But then would you be disappointed if I told you where wrong? The audio is Excellent! The sounds adds another dimension to the game and fills in void created by the limited textures. In fact it is the sound that breaths life into the game. The voice acting is also excellent, except the voice of the virus in pt2 which is irritating. But overall its all professionally done. Don’t forget this is a small company unlike ea or ubishit. The music is minimal, but there are scores in between that are nice. Being a horror game I think the sound/audio has created the atmosphere very well. I am giving my nod of approval which I rarely do so.
Gameplay
Game play is based on a hybrid of horror 3d and puzzle games, so in that sense it is quite unique. The engine allows you to pick objects in a unique way in 3d, that makes you feel part of the environment. Like turning valves opening and closing drawers. You will be collecting keys, codes, various tools to solve puzzles in order to proceed. All this is stored in the inventory, accessed by pressing the tab key. Some of the instructions for the puzzles can be found on notes lying around. And as you are doing this the characters will interact with you thru the radio. You will sometimes need to mix some of the inventory to get the solution to the puzzle. The puzzles are not hard to solve, but are well thought out. Opps I forgot not every1 is smart like me, so I correct the above to “The puzzles can be solved depending upon your level of intelligence" For example if you are some1 like, some1 like…er mihai, then for certain you will NOT be able to solve the puzzles with your limited intelligence. No way dude! But on that other hand even if a slight reflection of wisdom shines on your face, you should be able to manage.
AI/Combat
The game has minimal or zero combat. So if you are being followed by reapers or evil creatures you have no option other than to run (L shift key) and hide in the dark. Sometimes you can use the gas cans to kill the evil creatures. In some cases you will be in a situation like a closed room with some reapers where you have to solve a puzzle to finish them muhahaha
Keys
Since it is a pc only game you don’t have to worry about consolities. However in pt2 some times you have to do stuff quickly before the evil things come and get you! In such situations turning a valve can be very irritating. The best advice is to rotate the mouse in a radial fashion either clockwise or counterclock wise. Also in the pt-2 expansion always keep the box above the water, other wise it will become very turbulent.
Story
You play as Philip. In pt 1 you receive a letter from your long lost dad to a location in Greenland where you proceed to meet him. So you find your self in a desolate spooky mine. From here onwards the story reveals to you as you play the game solving puzzles and going deeper into the mine and uncovering the deeper plot involving surrealism and alien artifacts and also of the secret organization. You do meet several charaters, though not face to face but either thru radio or by collecting notes. You will often be collecting notes to fit pieces of the story. I know that’s not much of a story, but if you’re an ass and you want to read go ahead
The story takes you from one section of the mine to another. These sections have been constructed from different times in history. Initially you are placed in a part of mine that was constructed in the 1800s or something and then you go to other parts like a british bunker in world war II and in pt-2 to the archaic sections and finally in 2000. The pt-2 expansion is just puzzles, imo it doesn’t have a continuation of the earlier parts. It is to be played like the portal game which is fun too.
As your moving in the mines the questions you want to know are
1. what is this place
2. what connection does this have with your dad
3. why are the creatures in this place so evil?
4. why are there sounds/wispers coming out from the walls
5. why does my dick smell in a funny way?
Start spoiler
In the process you eventually come to know about
1. Tuurngait virus
2. The artifacts
3. The hive mind
4. The archaic organization
End spoiler
…….and so I complete another game feeling very proud of my achievements. I am a natural winner, “A winner is me!”
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Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:59 pm
berzerker
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Joined: Nov 01, 2006
Posts: 2350
I finally managed to get a copy of this game too (mine is called Penumbra Collection BTW), once I have time to play it I might write something about it too.
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:43 pm
Pogma9
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Joined: Nov 19, 2008
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bah, fuck all this low budget/rent shit.
2D shit, indie shit....all a overreaction to modern games, unfortunately, they just plain suck.
Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 5:25 am
berzerker
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Pogma9 wrote:
bah, fuck all this low budget/rent shit.
2D shit, indie shit....all a overreaction to modern games, unfortunately, they just plain suck.
If you say so.
It got pretty good reviews on release 5 years ago, but if you want to pass a potentially good game because of a preconception that it is old and indie and therefore must suck, that's your loss.
I'd say what have you got to lose by being a bit more open minded? You opened you mind to swords and sandals RPGs already, that's a start, now open your mind to jesus and your soul may still be saved.
Last edited by berzerker on Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total
Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:38 am
craterface
Poopypants
Joined: Jun 26, 2009
Posts: 356
indie-games can be good. since they have to make games from a low budget, it's logical that they only work if they have faith in the project. you won't see generic CoD BS from an indie developer. The idea have to be original because that is their only asset to compete with big fishes who can allow themselfs to give money to produce shitty boring ass games too.
Games like The Void or Amnesia are awesome if you allows them a chance.
And by that I mean playing with it for more that 2 hours. I'm saying this because these games don't want to impress you right from the start, you have to go further and then they suddenly get better and better. And by the end they will be awesome. Now with most games made by big and famous developers, it is usually the opposite. They start out good, everything's looking great but then they became super boring and I just loose interest after a few hours.
Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:36 pm
Pogma9
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Posts: 2522
berzerker wrote:
I'd say what have you got to lose by being a bit more open minded?
Money and time....
Also, it's possible that 2012 will be the greatest year for PC racing sims, and I'd rather put my time into those, or Skyrim.
Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 2:31 am
Pogma9
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Posts: 2522
Another thing is that I prefer 1st person, even though Skyrims 3rd person is better than FO3/NV....but The Witcher for example looks weird and also seems to be swarms of opponents all the time.
Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 2:52 am
berzerker
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Pogma9 wrote:
Another thing is that I prefer 1st person, even though Skyrims 3rd person is better than FO3/NV....but The Witcher for example looks weird and also seems to be swarms of opponents all the time.
I'm not sure what to expect of the Witcher either (sometimes it sounds like Gothic, which I love, but apparently it is more like Baldur's Gate, which I never could get into), but at any rate they are non-consolized and high quality PC games so it seemed worth some effort. Therefore I just bought both Witcher games and I'll find out shortly. Also got Mass Effect in the process, so I'll have my hands full the next few months.
Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:23 am
Pogma9
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If I do buy Witcher2, it'll be a steam sale on my next PC{hope to keep my existing one for about 12mths longer}.
I'd be surprised if I like the combat in the Witcher but who knows, maybe the rest of the game can carry it.
What would be epic is FO4 on Creation Engine+HD textures and steamworks mod dls for late 2012, but have my doubts about a 2012 release, either way, I hope they move away from the ugly gaymbro engine.
Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 10:40 pm
Fallout4
Ubertard
Joined: Nov 14, 2011
Posts: 125
Pogma9 wrote:
If I do buy Witcher2, it'll be a steam sale on my next PC{hope to keep my existing one for about 12mths longer}.
I'd be surprised if I like the combat in the Witcher but who knows, maybe the rest of the game can carry it.
What would be epic is FO4 on Creation Engine+HD textures and steamworks mod dls for late 2012, but have my doubts about a 2012 release, either way, I hope they move away from the ugly gaymbro engine.
I would be willing to wait until 2014 if it meant that they could change to a new engine that could have more NPCs during the "big" battles or other times when it calls for it. Like President Kimball's speech in Fallout New Vegas was attended by I think 8 people. That sort of kills the immersion.
Either way I'm pretty sure there will be no chance of a 2012 or even 2013 Fallout 4. I'm hoping they can make the wasteland look more like a wasteland like in Fallout 3, in New Vegas it was not very atmospheric.
Somehow Fallout 3 seemed like a Masterpiece with all of its awesome DLC making it an ENORMOUS game. Definitely deserved 10/10 game of the year. But New Vegas had too many story lines that required huge numbers of NPCs to be in the audience or in battle and instead there were only like 4 or 5 people. THe battle of Hoover Dam, which was supposed to be the final showdown between Caesar's LEGION and the NCR was fought by like 16 people. Not really a legion.
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 10:12 pm
Pogma9
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I suppose the longer we wait, the better the GFX/physx and the more likely we'll get steam integration....I just restarted Skyrim with 6-7 steam mods, all work a treat, but I've had plenty of drama's trying to get FO3/NV mods to all work.
Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 5:46 pm
Dick_In_Your_Ass
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berzerker wrote:
Also got Mass Effect in the process, so I'll have my hands full the next few months.
I reallt hope you didn't get MASS EFFECT 3.
Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:54 am
berzerker
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Joined: Nov 01, 2006
Posts: 2350
Dick_In_Your_Ass wrote:
berzerker wrote:
Also got Mass Effect in the process, so I'll have my hands full the next few months.
I reallt hope you didn't get MASS EFFECT 3.
No, the first one. I don't think I'll be touching 2 and 3.
Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:04 pm
berzerker
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Joined: Nov 01, 2006
Posts: 2350
berzerker wrote:
I finally managed to get a copy of this game too (mine is called Penumbra Collection BTW), once I have time to play it I might write something about it too.
Played it for a few hours and it reminds me a lot of Thief (part 1 and 2 that is), both graphically and sound-wise (which is a good thing because Thief 2 is still one of my favourite games) and the whole atmosphere of the game is also quite similar. Controls are somewhat cumbersome, but there is some logic to it so I probably need to get acquainted to them a bit more. Puzzles are fairly logical and quite interesting so far, I just ran into a sound based puzzle though, I hate those. I also don't like the enemies, I particularly hate spiders in games.
Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 6:29 pm
berzerker
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finished part 1 in the meantime and didn't like it too much. Controls suck in combat and timed sequences, enemies suck and overall too many annoyances in this game. I do not like the story much either. The atmosphere and puzzles are nice though.
Part 2 is supposed to be better, I'll give that a shot too.
And the graphics are much better than Thief 1/2 of course. more like Thief 3 actually.
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:32 pm
_Master_
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Posts: 1711
berzerker wrote:
finished part 1 in the meantime and didn't like it too much. Controls suck in combat and timed sequences, enemies suck and overall too many annoyances in this game. I do not like the story much either. The atmosphere and puzzles are nice though.
weirdo...but then again doesn't come as a surprise.
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Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 5:34 am
berzerker
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Joined: Nov 01, 2006
Posts: 2350
_Master_ wrote:
berzerker wrote:
finished part 1 in the meantime and didn't like it too much. Controls suck in combat and timed sequences, enemies suck and overall too many annoyances in this game. I do not like the story much either. The atmosphere and puzzles are nice though.
weirdo...but then again doesn't come as a surprise.
How many dogs and spiders were you able to kill then? I avoided all dogs (except 1, which I had to hit 10 times or so and could only kill him because he couldn't reach me, otherwise he'd killed me long before I could have seriously harmed him) and had to outrun the spiders (which was often impossible, resulting in a yet another reload), fighting them was virtually impossible with these horrible fighting controls. You had to press and hold the mouse button and then swing to hit anything with the pick-axe or hammer, but often pressing did nothing, leaving you defenseless, and swinging resulted in stabbing, which obviously is not really effective with a hammer or pick-axe, why did it allow you to stab in the first place, there is nothing in the game you should stab with).
And did you like the second sequence in which you had to avoid this big worm, where you had to combat controls in order to smash a few wooden fences, and ended in a room where you thought you had to turn a valve (where controls sucked most), only to find out that (after dozens of deaths) that you had to smash the pillar in the room instead of turning this valve? I don't mind dying and reloading in shooters and RPGs, I don't like it in adventures.
I'm halfway part 2, this is better indeed, both graphically and (most importantly, swallow this pogma) gameplay-wise. There you have dream-sequences or whatever they are though, these are annoying.
I do not see what problem you had with managing the floating boxes while swimming (in part 2, unlike your 'review' claims there are none in part1), this was the same in the original HL for example.
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 11:34 am
_Master_
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Posts: 1711
berzerker wrote:
How many dogs and spiders were you able to kill then?
basically avoided most of them and hid in the shadows. i play for the story and the atmos
berzerker wrote:
And did you like the second sequence in which you had to avoid this big worm, where you had to combat controls in order to smash a few wooden fences, and ended in a room where you thought you had to turn a valve (where controls sucked most), only to find out that (after dozens of deaths) that you had to smash the pillar in the room instead of turning this valve? I don't mind dying and reloading in shooters and RPGs, I don't like it in adventures.
was a long time ago and exactly dont remember. but i think i figured it out it was the pillar without any effort.
berzerker wrote:
I'm halfway part 2, this is better indeed, both graphically and (most importantly, swallow this pogma) gameplay-wise. There you have dream-sequences or whatever they are though, these are annoying.
honestly i dont remember, but yes the gfx was better with some physics elements. the gravity thing is pretty cool
berzerker wrote:
I do not see what problem you had with managing the floating boxes while swimming (in part 2, unlike your 'review' claims there are none in part1), this was the same in the original HL for example.
yes i do remember i had some annoyance there. anyways i did enjoy playing both the titles.
have you played Amnesia The dark decent yet?
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Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 3:06 pm
Pogma9
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berzerker wrote:
(where controls sucked most),
Bad controls immediately disqualifies a game for me.
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:53 am
Faestus
Tard
Joined: Apr 14, 2012
Posts: 41
Just because it's old doesn't mean it's crappy, pogma. Pretty much quite the opposite. Well unless it's horror I guess, but even then...
Also I know a lot of great racing games that were made before 2012 that are legen- wait for it... Like Flatout, Mario Cart, F-Zero, -dary!
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