Penumbra: Requiem
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Penumbra: Requiem is the expansion for Penumbra: Black Plague and this time the developers have chosen to go in another direction than the earlier parts of the series, was it a good choice or do we want more of the same? Read on and see …
More of the same or?
In earlier parts of the series, Penumbra has strongly focused on horror and adventure with a lot of puzzles. The first games Overture and Black Plague was in the first-person view and gave the horror adventure genre a fresh breeze with a innovative use of the mouse to perform various actions such as dragging boxes or open doors.
What made the Penumbra series great was the incredibly creepy atmosphere and at the same time, having an engaging story with top-notch acting and manuscript. Penumbra Requiem takes the series in another direction, the game retains the same engine, same graphics, the same control scheme but takes away what made the previous games good, the horror.
What happened when you ask? The expansion Requiem continues where Black Plague stops and takes the main character, Phillip, through several levels where you must solve various puzzles in order to move forward. If there is a game to compare it with it would be Valve’s Portal. To get past each level you have to find X number of keys and then get through a portal. Unlike Overture and Black Plague, which had a goal and all the puzzles acted as barriers to move the story forward, Requiem takes the player through various levels of puzzles.
The story in the game is rather special, but not to spoil anything after you’ve played this game you’ll get some answers about the Penumbra-series story.
Puzzle without inventory
Unlike previous Penumbra games you no longer use the items in inventory in order to solve problems. Most puzzles uses the game’s excellent physics engine and they you will have to move various heavy objects in order to either create bridges, putting boxes on pressure-sensitive plates, balancing a scale, in order to reach the goal. None of the problems are especially difficult and the game itself is not that long, maybe 2-4 hours depending on how good you are at solving the various problems.
Final words:
Requiem is a puzzle / adventure game, that’s it. Why? Since the horror is no longer there, there are no dark secrets. Penumbra: Requiem is not a bad game but it lacks the things that made the Overture and Black Plague great, so if you like puzzles or if you are bored, you could take a look at it.
