Posted on: July 30, 2013
jreaganmorgan
Games: 42 Reviews: 6
Scary, but frustrating.
Yes, this game is scary. But intuitive gameplay is not a strong point here. Immersion is the key word. Immersion is broken by frustration. Your immersion is broken when you are screwed over by the terrible checkpoint system. Immersion is broken when you struggle with a combat system that is quite literally clunkier than QWOP. And your immersion is broken when you have to face the same monster or deathtrap your fourth or fifth time. Penumbra is inferior to Amnesia in every way, and anybody that tells you otherwise is lying and needs to be whacked. Amnesia understood a few subtleties not yet mastered in Penumbra, such as a checkpoint system that preserves your progress after death and doesn't waste your time like Penumbra does. (Speaking of which, staggering checkpoints doesn't increase tension or make a game scarier. It wastes time.) Amnesia makes dangerous sequences intuitive enough that the player can get through them on their first or second try. And Amnesia completely ditched the terrible immersion breaking combat and designed the game from that standpoint. Penumbra isn't bad, but it will test your patience.
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