"A Disappointing End To A Promising Series"
(SPOILER WARNING!!!!!)
Released in 2008, Penumbra: Black Plague , (the second title in the now cancelled " Penumbra trilogy") ended up being a giant disappointment to me. All three major positive aspects from the original game suffered setbacks (atmosphere, puzzles, and story), with only minor improvements in textures and lighting being obvious from the get-go.
The atmosphere was great at the beginning, as you wake up in a bloodstained, "abandoned" underground facility that the player discovers deep within the mine from the first title, Penumbra: Overture . However, not even an hour into the game and you run into its biggest flaw: Clarence. This abomination of a "character" is literally stuck in your head until the rest of the game, and makes horrible jokes during some of the scariest or most emotional moments! A deformed, horrifically deranged monster who is about to tear you apart? Clarence screams in your ear, "KILL THIS MONKEY HE'S RIGHT HERE!" Finally finding your dad, the main reason Philip started his journey, only to discover that he has committed suicide because of his dreadful actions as head of the facility? Clarence chortles, "HAHA THE OLD BLOKE OFFED HIMSELF!" It breaks all level of emotion and seriousness within this title, and single-handedly ruins the game. He is one of the most terribly written characters I have ever come across in my time playing video games, and makes me wonder just what in the hell the writers over at Frictional thought he would accomplish for the experience. While this negative is definitely a major one in this title, it contains many other glaring issues with the puzzle sections of the game as well as the story itself.
The puzzles are, for the most part, the same that were in Penumbra: Overture , if not more common. Yet there are no more interactions with the pickaxe and hammer because combat was removed entirely from this game. This sounds good at first, but removes a large part of interactivity with the environment as well as overall immersion. This disappointed me heavily, as I expected an improvement upon the original system rather than the complete removal of it. One particular alchemy puzzle was nice, though it is much more refined in Amnesia: The Dark Descent , and definitely isn't enough to pull this game from its poor existence.
Finally, the story was completely rushed and torn to shreds. Apparently some issues with Frictional's previous publisher, Lexicon Entertainment, prevented a third game being developed, so it became apparent that the game had to tie up a lot of loose ends with the plot despite only having one year separated from the previous game. The characters are lackluster, even downright atrocious (**** you Clarence). The ending is also very cryptic and doesn't conclude in a clear manner at all, and even after reading a plot synopsis, it still left a bad taste in my mouth. The game also is much shorter, as the other title (disregarding idle time) took me around 6 hours, whereas this title barely took me barely 4 hours to finish. An expansion, Penumbra: Requiem was released later in 2008, but was more of a puzzle game that added little to the game's plot than a full-on sequel. Therefore, the Penumbra series was killed off, leaving fan mods to deal with continuing an abandoned story.
Overall, I hate having to Not Recommend this game, because it does tie up the plot of the series. But it just has too many glaring issues to ignore, and ultimately drops the ball on what could've been a fantastic series. Frictional Games would go on to make Amnesia: The Dark Descent , one of the greatest horror games of all time, but I am still disappointed at the lack of finality for their first series. An apparent fan-made "sequel" is now available through a mod for Amnesia: The Dark Descent , titled Penumbra: Necrologue , but I still would have liked to see where Frictional could have officially taken Philip for the last leg of his journey.
Final Verdict: 3/10 (Poor)
(SPOILER WARNING!!!!!)
Released in 2008, Penumbra: Black Plague , (the second title in the now cancelled " Penumbra trilogy") ended up being a giant disappointment to me. All three major positive aspects from the original game suffered setbacks (atmosphere, puzzles, and story), with only minor improvements in textures and lighting being obvious from the get-go.
The atmosphere was great at the beginning, as you wake up in a bloodstained, "abandoned" underground facility that the player discovers deep within the mine from the first title, Penumbra: Overture . However, not even an hour into the game and you run into its biggest flaw: Clarence. This abomination of a "character" is literally stuck in your head until the rest of the game, and makes horrible jokes during some of the scariest or most emotional moments! A deformed, horrifically deranged monster who is about to tear you apart? Clarence screams in your ear, "KILL THIS MONKEY HE'S RIGHT HERE!" Finally finding your dad, the main reason Philip started his journey, only to discover that he has committed suicide because of his dreadful actions as head of the facility? Clarence chortles, "HAHA THE OLD BLOKE OFFED HIMSELF!" It breaks all level of emotion and seriousness within this title, and single-handedly ruins the game. He is one of the most terribly written characters I have ever come across in my time playing video games, and makes me wonder just what in the hell the writers over at Frictional thought he would accomplish for the experience. While this negative is definitely a major one in this title, it contains many other glaring issues with the puzzle sections of the game as well as the story itself.
The puzzles are, for the most part, the same that were in Penumbra: Overture , if not more common. Yet there are no more interactions with the pickaxe and hammer because combat was removed entirely from this game. This sounds good at first, but removes a large part of interactivity with the environment as well as overall immersion. This disappointed me heavily, as I expected an improvement upon the original system rather than the complete removal of it. One particular alchemy puzzle was nice, though it is much more refined in Amnesia: The Dark Descent , and definitely isn't enough to pull this game from its poor existence.
Finally, the story was completely rushed and torn to shreds. Apparently some issues with Frictional's previous publisher, Lexicon Entertainment, prevented a third game being developed, so it became apparent that the game had to tie up a lot of loose ends with the plot despite only having one year separated from the previous game. The characters are lackluster, even downright atrocious (**** you Clarence). The ending is also very cryptic and doesn't conclude in a clear manner at all, and even after reading a plot synopsis, it still left a bad taste in my mouth. The game also is much shorter, as the other title (disregarding idle time) took me around 6 hours, whereas this title barely took me barely 4 hours to finish. An expansion, Penumbra: Requiem was released later in 2008, but was more of a puzzle game that added little to the game's plot than a full-on sequel. Therefore, the Penumbra series was killed off, leaving fan mods to deal with continuing an abandoned story.
Overall, I hate having to Not Recommend this game, because it does tie up the plot of the series. But it just has too many glaring issues to ignore, and ultimately drops the ball on what could've been a fantastic series. Frictional Games would go on to make Amnesia: The Dark Descent , one of the greatest horror games of all time, but I am still disappointed at the lack of finality for their first series. An apparent fan-made "sequel" is now available through a mod for Amnesia: The Dark Descent , titled Penumbra: Necrologue , but I still would have liked to see where Frictional could have officially taken Philip for the last leg of his journey.
Final Verdict: 3/10 (Poor)