 |
Published by: Got Game Entertainment |
Penumbra: Overture - Game Review (PC)
By Flaviu Volosciuc
Published: May 21, 2007
Print Short conclusion
Overall the game is above the average, and it's an example of low-budget quality. Personally I'm looking forward for the next episode.
Gameplay: 75
A good but difficult gameplay. The story is not very consistent, but being an episodic game, there is an excuse. If you are not a fan of stealth or horror games, you have few chances to end it or to like it. But for those who are into horror games, this game it's an example of success (the result of a wise mixture between dark ambiance and stealth action) . Ruled by the Newton Game Dynamics engine, the gameplay is all about interaction. An innovative approach of the developers but at the same time really hard to use it in some moments. I'm talking about the in-game battles which can become very frustrating and even impossible to achieve if you are attacked by more than one enemy. The direct gestures mode for the tools usage gives you freedom when you have to manipulate something, but gives you only headache when you have to use it to fight the enemy. In this mode you cannot move freely the character, so in general you are just a target. If you still want to fight, your only chance to defeat the enemy is to predict his moves and hit always when he is down. This goes with the dogs and spiders, but with th worms the only solution is to run.
Graphics: 78
There was no need to use extremely realistic graphics in order to create a horror ambiance. Instead Frictional Games used a brown-gray colors palette for textures, a smooth blur effect, heavy shadows, and grainy visuals effect similar to Call of Chtulhu. All these elements combined amplifies the horror ambiance reaching at some points creepy levels.
Multiplayer: N/A
Sound: 81
From the beginning Penumbra Overture was meant to be a low budget game, but the developers made no compromise with the voice acting. The actors performing the voice acting really did a good job. The voice of Phillip is affected by fear while the voice of Red is marked by insanity. The other environmental noises are the creaking floors, the growl of the zombies, the swish of the spiders, etc. The background music is defined by pianos or drumbeats sections and is present only when monsters are near you, or important events will happen. There is a constant morbid vibe coming from these musical moments.
Hardware: 80
No high system requirements are needed to run the game. I have to say that it has the has the same requirements like the tech demo. It's enough to have 512 MB and GeForce 3 Ti to run the game without any problem. Though there are some frame problems when you run into the light. But I personally don't claim anything regarding the price this game has been offered.
Hide Comments (0)
Although it does not include all the patch notes, I thought I'd add this now so you get the general idea of what will change in the next major World of Warcraft Patch 2.4.0.
The image on the Blizzard Entertainment Splash Page is updated, continuing to raise expectations that an announcement is forthcoming from this weekend's Worldwide Invitational event.
Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that The Sims Castaway Stories for the PC is on store shelves across Europe.
Tornado & LightHouse PhysX Mod maps for UT3 ready for download now.
Although Pro Street has been released, EA continues to create new patches for Carbon.
Welcome back, LEGION. Indeed, Joe Kucan is back, portraying the legendary self-proclaimed prophet Kane, through 20 years of Command and Conquer history: past, present and future. The 13 missions spread story explains what happened to the Brotherhood of Nod right after the Second Tiberium War, and fill the history gap left by the original Command and Conquer 3. And then of course some more, the action takes us a bit more into the future, showing just a sneak peak of the shape of things to come.
"A murder?...a suicide?...an accident?...a coincidence?... Follow the evidence and find the moment of truth. It's all about the evidence and more like the show than ever" We'll see...
The stellar "Sins of a Solar Empire" hits our PCs with a unique interesting new combination of game genres and a few cool ideas that should draw the attention of quite a few strategy fans. The newcomer Ironclad Games managed the impossible and created a competitive title indeed. But aside from all the prays and high marks this game received overall, its approach on RTS and the mix of elements it brings, one can find some things that will bother a few players and that will eventually influence the grades of this review. Ok, let's take it from the top.
Sherlock Holmes, the worlds` greatest detective, created by Arthur Conan Doyle is about to face his biggest challenge so far: Arsene Lupin, the worlds` greatest thief, created by Maurice Leblanc. Who is going to win this battle of wits? Who is going to be victorious, and, most importantly, who would you like to see as the winner?
I thought a bit about how to start this. While saying that Silent Hunter IV is the best submarine simulator out there is true, it doesn't mean much, especially for new players. Saying it is one of the best simulator games out there is again accurate, but again, a bit of an understatement. Why? Well because... despite the high complexity and realism involved, Ubisoft Romania managed to develop a game that is appealing to the beginners as well, in a certain degree.
Lineage II had it share of success. At the time the game was released, it was one of the most beautiful MMOG on the market. To take its place as the most beautiful MMOG, the Ragnarok Online (or RO) developers from imcGames created Sword of the New World: Granado Espada.
We were able to take part in 2 battles and what we saw pleased us. The transition to the 3D helped the game and gave it a better view on the battlefield. You can move the camera and this way you get a better look at the action. The units are amazing and their animations are clean and good looking. Same goes for spells and effects: you will love what you see.
Last week I began to search some new independent games. Suddenly I stumbled upon this interesting racing game called Nitro Stunt Racing. The title sounds non-original but the content tends to be if not original, at least interesting.
In a perfect world, everything is controlled by a balance between Chaos and Order. But what happens if things start to get messy and a great evil is about to unleash an epic conflict onto the universe? This is what NCsoft decided to unveil and also explain why Aion is a MMO bound to have success.
So here I am back on the road with a BMW. This time in Race 07 demo. The only racing-simulation game that really impressed me at GC. But only with the help of the Steam client which probably will become the "god" of online distribution! Anyway a big minus for this decision of playing the game only through Steam.
must have rogue macros
must have priest macros
must have mage macros
must have druid macros
Just for you, some Medieval 2 cheats.
| GC: Reachin Technologies & Frictional Games announces the release of HaptXTM enabled version of Penumbra: Overture - Episode One August 24, 2007 Reachin Technologies and Frictional Games announces the release of the HaptX enabled version of Penumbra: Overture - Episode 1. Penumbra: Overture is a first person adventure game which focuses on story, immersion and puzzles. Instead of using violence to progress the player has to use his/her wits to guide the main character Philip on his quest to unravel the past. HaptX is a state-of-the art Haptics Engine, enabling the game player to actually feel and physically interact with the game environment and everything that he or she sees on screen.
[...] |
| Penumbra Overture January 16, 2007 Frictional Games really did it. Their project will become a commercial release. [...] |
Please log in to access this section.