Awesome game that still stands tall against the tides of time, 25 years later. Clever level design, nice polished look from the late years of the PS1, fun puzzles (that btw don't involve jewels or cranks), solidly told plot. There's nothing not to like about this game, and if you're familiar with the RE series, you will feel home right away. It just ticks those boxes that only Capcom games can. Bummers: the alternate outfits are unlocked from the beginning and you get the thing you used to have to play thrice through the game for, right after one single playthrough. Highly recommened. Now go and kick some dino ass, cause playtime is officially over, kiddies.
While LBA aged quite well in terms of graphics (released one year after Alone In The Dark 3) and sound, there have been made some very nasty gameplay decisions. Movement doesn't feel fluid- every (well made) animation is fully executed, no matter if there's a giant deadly log on your heels or an enemy shooting bullets in your face (due to pointless zoom IN, but no zoom OUT, often the only way of locating enemies is walking until they spot you with their infinite ammo weapons- and then you're most likely screwed) Combat can feel awful at times: you strike with a ball that shoots in a straight line from you. Getting killed because you missed the enemy by 1 inch (OVER and OVER... enemies don't halt to wait for you aiming at them) can be a PITA. Jumping challenges are NOT funny or entertaining. They weren't in AitD, and here they are neither. I called guiltless Twinsen some bad bad things while playing this game. It's not bad at all, in fact it's quite funny at times. But don't say I didn't warn you. Without the glasses of nostalgia I gotta give it very solid 3 stars.
That's a pretty entertaining oldschool point & click adventure with lots of puzzles, most of which however of the 'give scissors to the guy who asked for scissors' sort. Not very challenging for someone familiar with the genre. You might like the nicely animated graphics and, most of all, the well-made trashy c-movie plot settled in the 1950s, with tough-talking heroes and monster creating evil geniuses on secret islands... and savable women of course. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
These games aren't bad, really. But do they deserve the full 5 stars glory? You might happen to come across some flaws that just are due to a indie developer's technical limits and lack of experience. The maps consist of many labyrinth-style corridors, that serve as connection between the puzzle rooms. If you don't choose to kill your enemies (of which you're capable in the first game) you will waste some time hiding from the same beasts over and over again. Speaking of which: their animations look rather stiff, although Frictional did some nice work to conceal it. You won't ever meet a living human being down there, which may be because of formerly mentioned technical limitations. Story is solely told via diary fragments and other documents. That makes for some good story telling possibilites, but lacks a decent staging. I really liked to play throught the games (exept for the physic puzzle game Requiem that is more of a promotion video for the developing team), but I have to be honest enough to see that Penumbra has its moments when it just isn't good. If you're into some good old vintage castle crawling, have a look at Amnesia, which improves the idea behind Penumbra in almost every way without falling short. Very solid 3 stars.
Great game. Its bandwith of challenge reaches (depending on your gamepad skills [and I really advice you to play via pad]) from easy to... well, challenging. I can't share other reviewers opinions on its difficulty (you remember Mario World's Special Zone? well THAT was hard), but anyway: as soon as you're up to collect each Electoon the game unfolds the next level of challenge. Great graphics (never seen a 2D game this beautiful before), great music, great stage design. Great greatness. Too bad there isn't more of "end game content" and the mass of unlockable player figures turns out to be not quite the mass on the second glance. Plus they all play the same, so collecting additional Electoons isn't as rewarding as it seems to be. Also boss fights aren't easy but since each boss has its scripted pattern of movement the fights don't really put your dexterity to the test, but rather your memorization skills. Well without any further spoiling: if you like the classic kind of platforming (with its inherent simplicity of gameplay) get this game! If you don't but want to watch some really passionate game design, consider getting it (how about today? half the prize, double the fun).
