So I'm maybe halfway through this second game in the series and I'm quite enjoying it. Yes, it's dated. But it's good gaming. I'll begin with a brief recap of the first, or rather my thoughts on it. I'd say Penumbra: Overture was a pretty good game. The atmosphere was good and though at times the nature of a computer simulation still broke the mood I was routinely pulled back in enough to have a surface level foreboding. The couple of instances of genuine fright I'd call a significant accomplishment. I scare easily at movies, but not video games since reload is always floating in the back of my mind. The pacing was good, though the storyline didn't really hold together for me. Good puzzles in general with a satisfying mix of modes with some find the foozles, secret codes, and a number of crunchy physicsy tricks. All in all, a good play though not outstanding.
The second one is getting more interesting though. It starts at about the same tone as the first leaves off (which is quite fitting) but rather quickly begins to change. So for background, it becomes quickly apparent that there's some kind of virus floating around turning living things into... other nastier things; as the game says 'zombies for lack of a better word.' Rather predictably (it is a psych-horror game after all) you are infected. This becomes apparent within the first quarter or so of the game. You follow the symptoms as described in the many documents you pick up. And then you get the voice in your head. It's creepy. It's a tad irritating. It's clearly awakening and you can literally see it progress in its growth cycle as the infection becomes more entrenched.
But that's not what made me type this out. What strikes me is the way the designers lead you along the path of the infection. In ep. 1 the character talks quite a bit. 'I should do this.' 'Maybe this will get me some answers.' Particularly at the save points (creepy artifacts whose place in the plot I haven't fleshed out yet, but which clearly have a place rather than simply being tired old game mechanics). In ep. 2 the character starts out talking just about normally, but once you get clued in that you're infected the player begins talking less. And the infection, 'Clarence' he calls himself though I don't know if that pronoun really applies, talks more. And more, and for the love of WASD would you shut up already... but I digress. But the art of it is in the way you don't really notice it while you're playing. Only if you think back do you clearly see that you're now playing what amounts to an automaton for an infectious disease that only has free thought when he moans about wanting to stay in the creepy artifacts forever while saving whereas before you were playing a human being with emotion, motivation, and an educated mind. This, this is what's well done (not that sentence, ugh, the game is well done). This elevates the series to a damn fine game. Neither game really deserves that moniker on its own merits, you have to play them both. Ideally back to back.
So, now I need to go see how Black Plague ends and what Requiem brings.
Epilogue: Thoroughly enjoyed the end of Black Plague. Always nice to see someone's sincere take on manipulative alien gestalt beings. Went on to Requiem looking forward to more of the same. But, ah, it isn't. I cleared the first level, was completely thrown by the female voiceovers. Looked around briefly at the second level then quit out and headed to the internet to do some research. Skimmed 2 or 3 reviews (which clearly I should have done before buying it but it was on sale, so meh) and quickly realized I'd been had. Ah well, at least I didn't buy it when it was new or at full price. Total playtime? 38 minutes according to Steam. Definitely not worth the trouble of a full playthrough. :(
