Posted on: October 24, 2021

Ahmn

Games: 278 Reviews: 111

Some of frictional games best!

I played these some ten years or so ago now and they still pop up in my mind now and then! I'd say the first two parts are some of the best Frictional Games have made. They focus heavily on the narrative and atmosphere. They aren't really horror games per se, they are more like exploration and puzzle games with lots of dialogue, notes etc and scary sections here and there. As I remember it, they kind of gave up on making games like this as they were about to go bankrupt. Luckily enough they found massive success with Amnesia and have since then gone back to their old ways. If you preferred Soma to Amnesia, you should give these a try.

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Posted on: February 12, 2022

yarow12

Games: 298 Reviews: 14

4.2hrs & 10 years later review

I never finished playing this game because it's terrible. Not terribly made, but terrible to experience. It's just too darn scary. And the immersion doesn't help. **** that dog. And **** that spider.

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Posted on: July 13, 2024

ratpak

Verified owner

Games: 147 Reviews: 72

Before Amnesia came Penumbra...

If, like me, you enjoyed Amnesia: The Dark Descent and want to see what Frictional Games produced before that, then the Penumbra games are definitely worth a look. You can clearly see the DNA of Ammesia in these games, which are first-person survival horror games where avoiding confrontation is key to surviving. In Penumbra: Black Plague, the story continues from the previous episode, Penumbra: Overture, showing the protagonist Philip moving away from the abandoned mine setting of the original to explore an underground research base. In Penumbra: Requiem, the story continues, but the focus is all on puzzles. There are no enemies. Like Anmesia, this is a game best played at night, with the lights off and headphones on!

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Posted on: January 16, 2025

ethor76

Games: 3 Reviews: 2

I love Penumbra

Penumbra is a fantastic game. I recommend it to anyone who loves playing horror games. The first two are an absolute experience. I think I liked them even more than Amnesia, ultimately. The third can be skipped because it's just puzzles, but Overture and Black Plague are must-plays for any horror fan imo.

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Posted on: October 5, 2015

aeonized_91

Verified owner

Games: 177 Reviews: 3

The origins of Amnesia the Dark Descent!

I you have played Amnesia or Soma you might think that Penumbra is a bit dated in terms of graphics and gameplay. It's story is unique though and the setting reminds me of The Thing, but it's very different because only that The Thing takes place on Arctica and Penumbra on Greenland is the only common denominator. Penumbra is a vastly scarier experience because you play a lonely character, Philip, who is looking for his father whom he never met. Penumbra is originally an experience split into three pieces, Overture, Black Plague and Requiem. Overture is a suspenceful mystery in a dark place with occasional puzzles, an interesting story and a few modest scares. No jumpscares here! Black Plague steps it up a few notches by being A LOT scarier, there are a few segments where you'll be doing a bit of running akin to how a game of Amnesia the Dark Descent usually goes. Requiem is a puzzlegame that concludes the previous titles and brings a bit of closure to the first two installments. Requiem isn't a scary game as far as I can remember and the reason might be that Black Plague did too much to scare the player and progressed the story so much that Frictional would have to invent a few more things to top Black Plague. Requiem is worth a playthrough if you want to know what happens after Black Plague. On the whole, Overture is a more original title (except it's the only one where you can use items as weapons). Black Plague is scarier because of the introduction of certain enemies and the removal of any weapons or items that could be used as such. Requiem is a storydriven puzzlegame, not much of a horror game honestly.

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