[Vaporak]

This game is so good. Basically every horror game isn't really a horror game, they're action games that use visual themes from the horror genre. This is how to actually do horror games, and it's GOOD. I really hope the developers do well with this release so they can stay in business. :(

I am never, ever, stepping foot in water again for the rest of the game.

[Animator]

Just bought this on steam. Can someone tell me if the Penumbra games are any good? I realized there is a gold collection and penumbra overture or something at steam. Dunno which one I should get to play the first one.

[Joseph Merrick]

penumbra overture is the first. penumbra black plague is the second. both are good

["God's Beard!"]

This is how to actually do horror games, and it's GOOD.

More like FPPac-Man, am I right?

[~Kinggi~]

5 minutes in i can already tell this will be glorious. Frictional MAKE MORE GAMES LIKE THIS PLEEEEEEEEASE. Ill buy em at 50$

Fuck, the first thing that came to mind in the first area was actually one of my favorite games from my younger years, Shadowgate. Location seems perfect.

Game also looks amazing.

[Anton Sugar]

penumbra overture is the first. penumbra black plague is the second. both are good

Overture is worse than Black Plague, IMO, because of the ham-fisted combat. Think Trespasser, but in a horror game. Not very fun and actually detracts from the game because it's so sloppy. Black Plague cuts a lot of this out and it's better for it.

But both games are good and memorable. I got them both on Steam's crazy summer sale, luckily!

[BobsRevenge]

Overture is worse than Black Plague, IMO, because of the ham-fisted combat. Think Trespasser, but in a horror game. Not very fun and actually detracts from the game because it's so sloppy. Black Plague cuts a lot of this out and it's better for it. But both games are good and memorable. I got them both on Steam's crazy summer sale, luckily!

Yup. I do remember enjoying Overture's story more though, and you really should play it before Black Plague. Black Plague takes place right after Overture ends, so Overture's story is still really relevant.

[filipe]

Just bought it, and have it downloading. Can't wait to get scared shitless. I haven't played a game like this since Fatal Frame 2.

[Devil Theory]

Just bought it, and have it downloading. Can't wait to get scared shitless. I haven't played a game like this since Fatal Frame 2.

Speaking of which, I want this game badly, but I'm such a pussy when it comes to survival horror games. It's the year 2010 and I can barely finish the Intro of Fatal Frame 1, and despite this fact, I'll still probably break down and buy it on Steam.

[Drinky Crow]

fuckin AMAZING horror game. this shits all over, say, eternal darkness for the handling of sanity and general OH FUCK moments. BUY THIS sayeth i

["God's Beard!"]

I'm unlocking secrets everywhere!



WHERE THE FUCK IS THE LAST ROD GODDAMN IT I'M GOING CRAZY

Back and forth through every available room like 10 times :-(

there's a door that won't budge I can't figure out how to open, and the last rod is in storage somewhere but I cant get past the last wall :-(

[Cat in the Hat]

Welp the RPS article just convinced me i'd be a fool not to buy this. Couple questions. Is the game long? Could I beat this pulling an all nighter?

[~Kinggi~]

5 fucking guys made this game?! Wat

[Max]

I'm unlocking secrets everywhere! [IM]http://imgur.com/8u59l.png[/IMG] WHERE THE FUCK IS THE LAST ROD GODDAMN IT I'M GOING CRAZY Back and forth through every available room like 10 times :-( there's a door that won't budge I can't figure out how to open, and the last rod is in storage somewhere but I cant get past the last wall :-(

It's in the Study! Find your way around the rubble! :D

[RocketDarkness]

Quick question, since I'm done for the night. About 3 hours in...

Right before the sewers, I've gone up into the engine room and correctly mirrored all three sections so that the gears are turning. However, upon returning to the central room, the water hasn't yet drained from the sewer. Is there a convenient water-draining button I've missed?

[INDIGO_CYCLOPS]

Just bought this on steam. Can someone tell me if the Penumbra games are any good? I realized there is a gold collection and penumbra overture or something at steam. Dunno which one I should get to play the first one.

The games are awesome.

[Nemesis_]

My VAIO is in repair, and I just know that Amnesia is waiting to be played. =(

[Arde5643]

Welp the RPS article just convinced me i'd be a fool not to buy this. Couple questions. Is the game long? Could I beat this pulling an all nighter?

It really depends on how much your psyche can take the taxing game - I presume you're going to play it lights out with headset or speaker set to high where you can make sure you hear everything going on in the game.

From the posts in here, you'd figure out that most people usually can only last playing the game 1-2 hour tops since it's really draining and intense.

[jim-jam bongs]

Really liked the demo... still a little worried my heart might not be able to take it in large doses but I'm game to give it a shot.

[Stike]

Guys, what did you do to me??

Bought and downloading...

Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Penumbra: Black Plague
Penumbra: Overture
Penumbra: Requiem

...all on Steam for my Mac, yay!

Definitely hyped for those games after reading all the comments here. I am a total Silent Hill nut, so I might enjoy those... right?

I have no idea what I am getting into, but I believe I will crap my pants, have nightmares every night and what not... I love it!

[SovanJedi]

Me and my friend were playing this game until 2am last night (about 5 hours straight). Jesus Christ what a nightmare. I had a really dumb-sounding scare in the Study room - never thought I'd be genuinely terrified of opening a cupboard and bones and skulls rolling out like that:lol

The sewer was intense, as was coming across the visible monsters in the Storage area. Motherfuckers. I've fixed the elevator, gone down to the "dungeon" and stopped there for the night.

["God's Beard!"]

It's in the Study! Find your way around the rubble! :D

GODDAMN IIIIIIIIT I KNOOOOOOOOOOW HABLGLABL

stupid rubble

Guys, what did you do to me?? Bought and downloading... Amnesia: The Dark Descent Penumbra: Black Plague Penumbra: Overture Penumbra: Requiem ...all on Steam for my Mac, yay! Definitely hyped for those games after reading all the comments here. I am a total Silent Hill nut, so I might enjoy those... right? I have no idea what I am getting into, but I believe I will crap my pants, have nightmares every night and what not... I love it!

Play in this order:

Penumbra: Overture
Penumbra: Black Plague
Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Requiem pretty much sucks.

[eXistor]

Can't wait to finally dig into this tonight. I've played a little bit just got the ingredients together. So far it's just as brilliant as I hoped it would be, the sanity thing really makes you nervous and I always get a sense of relief when I turn a light on. It is a bit lighter on puzzles than I would have liked, but they do their best to immerse the player in the game and difficult puzzles would probably take you out of the game too much.

[Zenith]

Right before the sewers, I've gone up into the engine room and correctly mirrored all three sections so that the gears are turning. However, upon returning to the central room, the water hasn't yet drained from the sewer. Is there a convenient water-draining button I've missed?

There are 2 levers on either side of the door to the engine room. They both lower bridges. 1 is broken (which is what you fix in the engine room). The game will give a text prompt and not allow you to alter the section once you fix the lever.

Requiem pretty much sucks.

Requiem gets a bad rap. It does have a story and it has 1 sucky puzzle in the form of thoe floating platforms.

[chris121580]

I'm unlocking secrets everywhere! WHERE THE FUCK IS THE LAST ROD GODDAMN IT I'M GOING CRAZY Back and forth through every available room like 10 times :-( there's a door that won't budge I can't figure out how to open, and the last rod is in storage somewhere but I cant get past the last wall :-(

This took me forever to figure out. Go to the window in the study by the rubble and break it with the vase in front of it. Go out the window and 2 the right jumping windowsils and you can go in the window to get into the study where the third rod is. This part frustrated me because I spent all my time looking for a second jar to put the 2 liquids in and couldn't find one

[Visualante]

Can't wait to finally dig into this tonight. I've played a little bit just got the ingredients together. So far it's just as brilliant as I hoped it would be, the sanity thing really makes you nervous and I always get a sense of relief when I turn a light on. It is a bit lighter on puzzles than I would have liked, but they do their best to immerse the player in the game and difficult puzzles would probably take you out of the game too much.

That's the most droll part of the game. It starts getting good in about 10 minutes.

["God's Beard!"]

This took me forever to figure out. Go to the window in the study by the rubble and break it with the vase in front of it. Go out the window and 2 the right jumping windowsils and you can go in the window to get into the study where the third rod is. This part frustrated me because I spent all my time looking for a second jar to put the 2 liquids in and couldn't find one

Yeah, I just figured it out about 10 seconds ago. I must have run past it a hundred times. I assumed it had to do with the adjacent roomwith the scull drawer since it was the only place past the rubble. I mean, if you didn't seethe cracks, there was no reason to believe you had to be around there.

After all that time I wasted, I can't believe the solution was to pile every chair on the center table. I mean, how would they expect me to figure that out?



Wait a second. If I've solved the puzzle, what was behind the door that wouldn't budge?

[Anton Sugar]

The window actually audibly and visibly cracks after you walk back from the deadend rubble hallway. Just have to have your speakers turned up and pay attention :D

["God's Beard!"]

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

FUCK THIS CASTLE FUCK THIS BLIND PAC MAN BULLSHIT

I lit a torch while I was creeping through the darkness, and it illuminates a monster standing 5 feet from me which SCREAMS BLOODY MURDER, so I run the fuck away back to the first room, slam the door behind me, and the instant I try to pick up a rock to block it, it SWINGS OPEN INSTANTLY so I run again and try to climb up on a statue I was standing on before WHY CANT I JUMP HIGH ENOUGH

WHY CANT I JUMP

so I turn

BAM GAPING MONSTER JAW

DEAD

The window actually audibly and visibly cracks after you walk back from the deadend rubble hallway. Just have to have your speakers turned up and pay attention :D

Then I must have missed it the first time because a monster came out of the room and I nearly shit myself running back to the central chamber.

[chris121580]

In case you guys haven't figured it out yet, all of us playing love this game. It's really incredible how engrossing the entire thing is

[subversus]

I just went into laboratory and had to stop. The game is really unsettling.

["God's Beard!"]

Ok, so this time I set up 2 roadblocks with a door in between in case I got chased by a monster, and sure enough, I did. I ran like fuck, hearing it breathing down my neck, vaulted over the first roadblock(a row of upright barrels) then ran around the corner, slammed the door, and hopped over the second(two giant unliftable wooden blocks wedged into a couple pillars and backed up by a few large stones), then kept running and jumped onto the statue I was using earlier to observe.

I wanted to see if the monsters were strong enough to lift things I couldn't, or if they could jump.

I couldn't tell if the monster got stuck at the barrels or what, but the music kept blaring with high pitches screams and monster noises. I was hoping he just couldn't find me, but he was lasting a lot longer than I was expecting, and I was too scared to go back around the corner to see if he was stuck or not.

So I turned off the game again.

["God's Beard!"]

For clarity:

[_tetsuo_]

:lol :lol

[Anton Sugar]

So I turned off the game again.

:lol

[INDIGO_CYCLOPS]

I've gotta hop back into this today, I made a minor dent in progress, about an hour and a half, but haven't had the chance to continue. I personally love reading the GAF comments. Frictional has really made horror in games relevant, if you ask me. The constant, lurking fear and tension is just unbearable sometimes. Amnesia, and Demon's Souls, the only two games to ever fill me with such dread.

[Zeliard]

God's Beard, lol

I've set up a couple of roadblocks to stop monsters. I'm always too creeped out to actively look back and see if they're working, though.

I know you're not meant to fight the monsters, and I think that's very cool and rare, but it would also be cool if you could sort of indirectly fight them by setting physics-based traps. Though I guess that would perhaps need more of an "open world mansion" (similar to Arkham Asylum) to do effectively.

Someone noted earlier that they got scared at one point because they thought the A.I. would stop chasing them after a certain point, and it didn't. That also happened to me. :lol I ran away from one of them and into another room, closed that door and then darted into another room, and then went to the adjacent room from there at which point I cried in a corner. Then I hear some noise and I turn around and the fucker is standing right there.

I resumed the game two hours later.

[Dizzy-4U]

You know, I haven't played the game yet, but I keep coming to this thread for all the comments. They are all pretty hilarious :lol

[_tetsuo_]

You could kind of indirectly fight the wolves in Overture. Get some meat and throw it in those steam cages. I was...... SO excited when I got a chance to kill those damn things.

[Anton Sugar]

You could kind of indirectly fight the wolves in Overture. Get some meat and throw it in those steam cages. I was...... SO excited when I got a chance to kill those damn things.

You can just throw rocks at them to kill them too.

[Stike]

the fucker is standing right there. I resumed the game two hours later.

Hell, I played Silent Hill 1 back in 1999 in the dark with headphones.

11 years later, I dont know if I can still make it through such a game :lol

[Zeliard]

I haven't played a game that's creeped me out like this since Silent Hill 2, and I was younger then. Probably the only piece of media between then and now that has evoked a similar feeling has been playing the first STALKER, though it's a bit different in that case due to the genre.

And someone brought up Demon's Souls - there are some obvious thematic similarities there, and this game probably reminds me more of Demon's Souls than any other game, but DS wasn't necessarily scary so much as it was unrelentingly tense (this also goes for a lot of the attempts we've had at horror games in general). This one is both at the same time.

It's difficult for me to disagree with John Walker of RPS' assessment of Amnesia as probably the most successfully frightening game ever made. It's not a field with a huge amount of contenders, unfortunately, but I think Amnesia goes about doing it in a way that would excel even if there were. The minimalist game design style is one of the major elements, I think, since it just adds to the feeling of lonesomeness.

[epmode]

You can just throw rocks at them to kill them too.

I got pretty good at killing them with the wrench or crowbar or whatever it was.

[Stike]

I am actually sitting here in the dark, alone, and afraid to launch the game(s). :lol

...will sidetrack my mind with some cereals :P

[clip]

Spoiler free event just transpired.

I was searching around a new area, and saw something lurking down the hall, I ran into a room to hide but it found me and I bolted out the door back down the hallway. I turned a few corners, assuming I'd lost it, but no. I turn around and it was right behind me. I then proceeded to actually scream out loud, and threw myself backwards while simultaneously throwing my mouse out of my hand, hitting the adjacent wall.

First time a game has done this to me, I LOVE IT.

[Nemic77]

For my second playthrough I'm messing around with the game.cfg file to increase the insanity effect when there is no light and the oil consumption of the lattern. I found that during my first playthrough I missed on most of the worst insanity effects because either I had plenty of oil or timber to light my way...

I hope that with these changes I can make the game harder.

Spoiler free event just transpired. I was searching around a new area, and saw something lurking down the hall, I ran into a room to hide but it found me and I bolted out the door back down the hallway. I turned a few corners, assuming I'd lost it, but no. I turn around and it was right behind me. I then proceeded to actually scream out loud, and threw myself backwards while simultaneously throwing my mouse out of my hand, hitting the adjacent wall. First time a game has done this to me, I LOVE IT.

:lol :lol Actually, earlier in the thread, I described a similar reaction to an event much like yours.

[HK-47]

God's Beard, lol I've set up a couple of roadblocks to stop monsters. I'm always too creeped out to actively look back and see if they're working, though. I know you're not meant to fight the monsters, and I think that's very cool and rare, but it would also be cool if you could sort of indirectly fight them by setting physics-based traps. Though I guess that would perhaps need more of an "open world mansion" (similar to Arkham Asylum) to do effectively. Someone noted earlier that they got scared at one point because they thought the A.I. would stop chasing them after a certain point, and it didn't. That also happened to me. :lol I ran away from one of them and into another room, closed that door and then darted into another room, and then went to the adjacent room from there at which point I cried in a corner. Then I hear some noise and I turn around and the fucker is standing right there. I resumed the game two hours later.

These are Lovecraftian monsters. Physics traps probably wouldnt deal with them unless you displaced them like imploding the floor so they fell down and didnt have a way back up. Plus you run the risk of making it too gamey.

["God's Beard!"]

Nah, physics traps actually work.

I don't know if people should know that, though.

[Zeliard]

Well I'm not clicking that link until after I finish the game. ;)

["God's Beard!"]

Ok, I might be fucked. So I reloaded my game to figure out what the fuck was happening. I waited around again for the monster to lose interest. 10 minutes later, music's blaring. So I peek around and look towards the door, but it's covered in shadow. I slowly fall off the statue, creep over to the door and use my lamp to look through.



Nothing there, even peeking around the corner, I can see about to the barrels but no monster walking around. Ok, I figure the barrels stopped him, so I SLOWLY open the door. The barrels are covered in shadow, so I creep a little closer and start the lantern again.


Nothing again, but I still hear the music, and monster noises are louder than ever. At this point, I'm pretty satisfied with my barrels, and the monster must be barreling up and down the hallway looking for me. I turn, thinking about catching my breath, when I see something that took it away, sweat instantly flooding my whole body.


Little dots coming out of the corner of the wall across from me. They would appear and reappear rapidly. It hit me: The monster path-finding fucked up, and it got stuck in the corner before the barrels, the model clipping through the wall as it tries to run towards me. In any other situation, I would be laughing my ass off in victory, but well, here's the updated map:



I'm trapped. There's no other exit from this room, and suddenly I have no idea whether my roadblocks will do anything at all. On top of that, this monster is fueled by Mountain Dew™, and won't stop for anything. if I jump over the barrels to bait him, I could very well die instantly. I don't want to die.

Well I'm not clicking that link until after I finish the game. ;)

It's no spoiler, but people should figure it out themselves, you know?