Penumbra Overture

[h1]Penumbra: Overture[/h1] [h3]Awkward and Disappointing Survival Horror[/h3] [h3]Not really worth trying[/h3] Penumbra: Overture is the first entry in a survival horror series, featuring basic physics-based mechanics, puzzle solving, resource management, and escape room-style sections. Honestly, this title feels more like a 3D point-and-click escape game than a first-person survival horror experience, mainly because of its heavy emphasis on item puzzle-solving and object interaction over exploration, combat, or real tension. I can't really recommend this title due to its unpolished gameplay, resolution problems, repetitive level design, and confusing story. It is a fairly nostalgic experience that no longer holds up particularly well by modern horror game standards. [h3]Gameplay[/h3] This game feels incredibly outdated, featuring a rough and unusual combat system for the genre it belongs to, along with a very limited enemy variety that aren't really threatening or frightening. Enemy AI is particularly terrible, with enemies frequently getting stuck on walls and other parts of the environment, making these encounters feel underwhelming and forgettable. Most of the puzzles are…

It was fairly short; you could probably beat it in about an hour and a half if you know what you're doing. The interaction system's neat and the combat was novel, although encounters got trivial when I found out that I could just [spoiler]rush the enemies and stunlock them to death[/spoiler]. I never found the distraction items useful because of this. I never really found myself terrified, mostly because the lighting was messed up and I essentially had night vision. I couldn't find a brightness slider in the options (not that I looked really hard) and the gamma slider didn't seem to do anything. The flashlight was relegated to a close inspection tool and flares went unused. The only time I got so much as scared was when I fell into a deep body of water, and that's just because I have severe thalassophobia. There was also one time I got completely softlocked and had to reload a previous save. Luckily, saves are rather frequent and the softlock only occured because I was manhandling a dysfunctional lever like a braindead ape. The puzzles are good. The only time I had to look up a walkthrough was because of a personal mistake ([spoiler]I can't read morse code[/spoiler]). I had fun dur…

Penumbra.

i love and hate this game, i love frictional games and have played most of their games on steam, but this one is a bit older and might feel a little more agitating than most (freaking dogs that i hate), but its worth it if you really like this franchise. the story is really well made, i just wouldnt play this game again lol but im happy to finish it too.

Starts off pretty scary. Then the scary is not anymore and just gets in the way but in a fun way. very good story and the puzzles are fun and challenging.

I presumed this would be a primitive and simple game that I'll go through before getting to Frictional's later games, but I was wrong. The game is genuinely impressive in so many aspects - the lighting, the atmosphere, the sound design are all excellent. The story is also good (though the delivery was confusing sometimes) and I especially loved the story of another character whom I'll not name (you'll know if you finish the game). The combat can be clunky but I got used to it eventually - enemy variety was sparse but okay considering the length of the game. I want to reiterate how much the game oozes atmosphere - I took screenshots throughout the game and just walking through and interacting with everything in the game was super immersive. Finally, there were some good scares, but I think the highlight for me was just walking around and exploring - the quiet parts. Highly recommended, though be ready for some jank.