Penumbra: Overture Review

Penumbra Overture falls onto a different pedigree when it comes to the survival horror game genre. Yes, there are those frequented spook scares and appearances by overwhelming numbers of enemies – something that doesn’t happen often, but somehow works towards the game’s natural merits when you finish them off with your handy pickaxe. But when all is said and finished, we’re looking at a very exhilarating experience in itself, reaching for the same pleasurable sight when creativity comes into play more often than localization and expenses for a game. I will go as far in saying that this semi-low budgeted, and marketed, game reaches far beyond many of the triple-A titles I’ve seen come out in some time.

The plot is rather simple when story-telling construct comes into play – You, the player, helms Phillip, the protagonist of the story, to crossroads of life and death. The game starts out with multiple well crafted story boards while the narrator, Phillip, shares how he mournfully dealt with his mother’s passing and how her death would open a new chapter into his life. Receiving a key to a safety deposit box, once belonging to his long lost father, he secured his instincts as any human would’ve and went to it. In his findings he recovered documents indicating some place in Greenland. Needless to say, you soon find yourself on a boat to the frozen wasteland.

You start the game with the simplest necessities, a flashlight along with a glow stick, in case of battery shortages, a notebook where Phillip will write down clues and objectives, while also providing storage for myriads of documents you’ll come across. Apart from the previously mentioned items, a majority of puzzles being solved in the game will require some type of wit to reach various goals since little or no description is given as to where to obtain objects needed to complete a current objective, just one of its many indie-game routes of being merciless. And I must admit, if I was not personally intrigued with this game, I would have probably not gotten past the first quarter of the game. Another fixation may have been the MacReady-esk outfit (for those two fans of The Thing, 1982) that Phillip appears to be wearing on the front cover (may vary on edition). All in all, if the game isn’t going as you planned just make believe you’re in a good video game adaptation of The Thing.

As far as the combat system goes, it’s one of the few complaints filed toward this game. Though the Wii-mote style swinging aspect can be intuitive and fun in some cases, if it wasn’t for the clever puzzles and impressive physics-heavy objectives, the swinging would get quite boring. Though definitely not one of the games beneficial structures, the combat is practically laughable at points; and involuntary movements caused by twitchy controls can cause the death of a few mouses. Unless you are big on motion-control, you will probably have to retry a lot of sections because of the lacking combat system. Along with hammers and mining picks, you’ll also be granted ranged weapons (for lack of a better word) and be given dynamite, which seems reasonable since you are in an underground mining facility.  Though powerful and ranged, I didn’t see myself using them more than a few times at the beginning of the game, usually because of Phillip’s inability to accurately throw a three pound stick.

Since the melee is rather rubbish throughout a majority of the game and the ranged weapon system renders ineffective during many battle inclinations, you’ll usually find yourself in stealth mode for a good portion of the game. This is something that I found myself hating while loving every minute of.  Despite the game’s conspicuous combat flaws, it more than makes up for it with a handy and semi-realistic stealth system. While in hiding, you’re vision adjusts quickly to the surrounding darkness and turns a shade of blue to aid your movement. You’re rendered invisible and will not have any foe lurking your way unless you stare in its direction for too long. Similar to the “sane-effects” in Call of Cthulhu, Phillip will become exceedingly nervous when staring at a foe for too long, making him pant and quiver heavily - releasing your whereabouts to nearby enemies. This refreshing aspect to the stealth system entices a broad way of playing out events. And if an enemy detects you, you’ll most likely be reaching for your pickaxe ready to bash its head in before it even reaches you; the hard part will be actually hitting it.

Pennumbra Overture caters to fanatics of the horror genre. With that said, it is deffinately worth giving a try as long as you don’t come into it with expectations of something that it’s not. If you’re not sure about purchasing it, I highly suggest downloading the demo. Though certain technical aspects decree the game from being fantastic, there should be enough there to keep most players compelled. And if all goes wrong, you can always pretend to be MacReady.

Tags:

PC Games

Report Post

Digg it   StumbleUpon   Facebook it   reddit