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| 20 FEB 2010 at 10:09pm | |
FnordSchattenjger  Posts : 2751 Joined: 15 SEP 2008 Location: SE, Stockholm Status : Online | I recently picked up penumbra for next to nothing, thanks to a friend recommending it to me (well, actually she spent the better part of an hour trying to talk me into playing the game...), and I must say, i'm not disappointed. There have previously only been one game that scared me so much that I had to turn it of, and that was System shock 2 (early parts, in the med-bay, and it was in 2000 or 2001), so I don't see myself as a being easy to scare, but penumbra really did hit a weak spot. You are alone, in an underground complex in Greenland. Well, alone might not be the right word, but you would wish that you were. There are things in there, horrible things. And you are not a soldier. Fighting is really not a good idea in this game, as your character panics when he sees something horrible, and you don't have access to any real weapons. As of yet, I have only managed to get a pickaxe (and I previously had a hammer), but these are meant to be used on object in the world, like wooden planks that are in the way, not monsters. The game has a really good physics engine, and you have to use it in order to survive. A lot of objects can be moved, and have a mass that you have to take into account, some object are light enough to be thrown (at enemies, if you have to), but for the most part you want to use them to block doors, and avoid enemies. What really impressed me about the game tough was the sound. Any good horror needs good sound, and the sound in this game was incredibly creepy. There are some rather large spiders in there, and you can hear them run around bellow you, above you and inside the wall. You can also hear nearby creatures as they make noises, and this is what makes the game so darn creepy. You know that they are there, close to you, and you know that if they find you, they will kill you. If you have not picked this game up yet, you can get all 3 in one set for next to nothing. What I also found out after having bought the game is that it's made by a very small developer, 5 employees in total. But you can't tell that this was designed by a small team with a small budget while playing the game, because the engine that they designed is great (they named their engine HPL... I wonder what they might be referring to...), and the game is incredibly well done. You know that this was designed by some people who really know what good horror is. Silent hill does not have anything on this game!
Current Let's Play: Crusader: No Remorse |
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| 21 FEB 2010 at 1:37pm | |
semihSorcerer Apprentice Posts : 209 Joined: 25 OCT 2009 Status : Online | |
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| 21 FEB 2010 at 3:54pm | |
FnordSchattenjgerPosts : 2751 Joined: 15 SEP 2008 Location: SE, Stockholm Status : Online | It does have action elements, but there are also some proper puzzle solving in there. It's not a pure adventure game, but more along the line of a hybrid. Still, I would probably see this as being closer to an adventure game than an action game. Also, the weather I have here is really ideal for this game. It's snowing, in fact it's so much snow on the ground that it's knee high for me (and i'm 190cm!). Neither subway nor busses works because of all the snow & the cold so it does also feel rather isolated. And here I am, playing a game where the main character is isolated in northern Greenland, where it's so cold outside that going out will mean certain death for him (the game starts of with your character being forced to find shelter because of the snow & cold).
Current Let's Play: Crusader: No Remorse |
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| 22 FEB 2010 at 3:23am | |
LisaAnnIntergalactic Janitor  Posts : 45 Joined: 19 JAN 2008 Status : Online | |
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| 22 FEB 2010 at 7:07pm | |
semihSorcerer ApprenticePosts : 209 Joined: 25 OCT 2009 Status : Online | |
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| 23 FEB 2010 at 10:04pm | |
Luther10Intergalactic JanitorPosts : 14 Joined: 17 JUL 2009 Status : Online | |
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| 24 FEB 2010 at 11:56am | |
FnordSchattenjgerPosts : 2751 Joined: 15 SEP 2008 Location: SE, Stockholm Status : Online | I played trough Silent Hill 1 & 2 without once feeling like turning of the game because of, and I played both games in the dark. I found the main character to be too powerful in both games, monsters were not a threat, and thus not scary. The worst part of the whole silent hill series was the long alley that you had to walk trough in the beginning of silent hill 1. Siren is a game that I have not played, so I can't comment on it. Good horror is to me when you feel helpless, you know that something is out there and if it finds you, chances are that it will kill you. Sound is very important in horror, as it should always hint at the fact that "something" might be out there, near you. If the sound is slightly unnatural, then it gets even worse. Visual horror does very little to me, my mind is far too quick to rationalize away anything that might look scary, it's far worse at dealing with things that sounds scary. Blood & gore is only disgusting, and it often pulls me out of the horror atmosphere altogether unless it's used very well. Sadly penumbra looses a bit of it's horror feel a bit further in the game. It's still a great game, and far scarier than most horror games that I have played.
Current Let's Play: Crusader: No Remorse |
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| 24 FEB 2010 at 7:35pm | |
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| 24 FEB 2010 at 8:24pm | |
FnordSchattenjgerPosts : 2751 Joined: 15 SEP 2008 Location: SE, Stockholm Status : Online | This game must really have managed to hit one of my soft spots, if no-one else found it particularly scary *smiles* I did not have any problems with the silent hill games, and call of cthulhu had one part that I found really creepy (the sewers).
Current Let's Play: Crusader: No Remorse |
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