The Penumbra series is very different from other horror PC games. Titles such as Penumbra: Overture and Penumbra: Black Plague focuses on stealth and puzzle-solving instead of out-and-out gun play. Penumbra games exude a distinct flavor when it comes to horror adventure games.
Penumbra Series
The Penumbra series is very different from other horror PC games. Titles such as Penumbra: Overture and Penumbra: Black Plague focuses on stealth and puzzle-solving instead of out-and-out gun play. Penumbra games exude a distinct flavor when it comes to horror adventure games.
Penumbra evolved from a simple tech demo to a full-length series, courtesy of an excellent physics based engine and immersive gameplay experience. A first person survival horror adventure title, the Penumbra series consists of two full-length games and an expansion pack. The first two games, known as Penumbra: Overture and Penumbra: Black Plague, draw players to their mysterious plot, while the expansion pack Requiem (of Black Plague) challenges gamers with awesome physics-based puzzles.
The Penumbra series is quite different from other horror PC games like Resident Evil. All three games rely heavily on puzzle-solving elements and give little importance to combat. Players will have to explore, examine, collect objects and use them to solve various challenging puzzles.
Important Features of Penumbra Games
Puzzle-solving and object-interaction has always been an integral part of Resident Evil and Silent Hill horror PC games, but Penumbra involves interesting physics-based puzzles, thanks to the advanced Newton Game Dynamics physics engine. Players will have to pick up an object exactly as they would have picked up in real-life, but mainly by clicking on it and holding the mouse button to suspend it in mid-air and then releasing the button to drop the object in the desired location. Due to this unique aspect in object- picking and interaction, solving even the easiest puzzles in Penumbra games can be much difficult than imagined.
There are several reasons why someone should include Penumbra in his or her horror PC games collection. Firstly, Penumbra games are downright scary. The dark, cold Arctic atmosphere is just enough to scare your bones off. Secondly, it involves cerebral ways to combat monsters. You can use stealth and tactics to divert a monster’s attention, thanks to the advanced AI, which responds to noise and light in real time. Therefore, this gives you an opportunity to escape a scary situation strategically.
Penumbra: Overture
The first game of the Penumbra’s episodic horror games, Overture tells the story of a physicist named Philip, who, in his attempt to find out the mystery behind his deceased father’s letter, gets trapped in an abandoned mine in Greenland. In order to escape, Philip plans to explore the deeper vicinities of the mine only to discover a series of strange and gruesome events. Hideous creatures including abnormally large spiders, dogs and earthworms confront Philip’s scariest imagination as he tries to escape from them. He further discovers a secret society through mysterious documents scattered inside the mine.
Penumbra: Overture has many instances of object interaction and puzzle solving besides combat. The graphics are quite realistic and the chilling atmosphere will remind you of John Carpenter’s The Thing. The game emphasizes more on stealth and puzzle-solving than combat. However, you can fight with monsters using melee weapons or create crude traps from nearby objects to kill any hideous monsters.
With immersive physics-based puzzles and scary situations, Overture is a must for your Horror PC games collection.