Penumbra Overture Reviews

stupid spiders and stupid dogs, i hate them i would die for red

One of the best horror games ever made with the dumbest combat mechanics ever implemented. Never has a man standing on a crate with a small hammer been portrayed with such invincibility as in Penumbra!

the game isnt too challenging puzzle wise just keep your wits about you. its a solid horror game its been years since ive played it. greater atmosphere and sound design. story from all the notes and journals was very intriguing. i forgot that this is part 1 and it continues in black plague.

Really good story with a cliff hanger for the next in the series. Red is such a good character with amazing development. Super fun puzzles that don't hold your hand. Plus I died, a lot. A+.

Its like if Half Lifes physics system was combined with the isolate atmosphere of The Thing. Incredibily creepy, thick atmosphere with some amazing puzzles that is further enhanced by the physics engine. Note this is episode one of the story and the Black Plague is needed to finish the story. The writing is also really great and makes for this eery build up which establishes a great mystery.

Glad to have played this, it was like seeing the start of what has made Amnesia great over the years. If you've played the other Amnesia games like I have, I'd 100% recommend the Penumbra series (and at the time of writing this review, I have yet to play the next two titles). Having so many ways to play it, whether stealthily or focusing on combat, it was just fun all around. Of course this game is a little dated, but I seriously think that's what adds to it's charm, figuring out what to do, where to go, all without much in-game tutorials made me feel more immersed than any Amnesia game ahead of this games time (even if the few in-game tutorials are a little cheesy with the wording, it still adds to the charm lol). If more horror games had this type of approach rather than hand-holding the player, I'd feel current modern games would be so much more scary. Please give this series a shot if you've come to appreciate what Amnesia has offered you, I doubt you will be disappointed, and can even see for yourself how the developers have evolved their own mechanics over the years.

Rough but charming game that is essentially a foundation of what Black Plague, Amnesia and SOMA would be in the future. Despite being allowed to carry a melee weapon and freely kill whatever monsters you may encounter it still keeps you on your toes with the intense ambience and the very rusty looking environments, the physics engine is very fun to play with with how much interactivity it allows, although there isnt an option to freely rotate items until Black Plague implemented it. Despite claiming to be a "horror game", Penumbra can often be somewhat comfy to play as it has an emphasis on puzzle-solving similar to Silent Hill or Half-Life instead of focusing on combat and chase encounters like in modern games. I wish there were more horror games with locations, themes or gameplay design similar to Penumbra's. Although if they were made with today's standards then they'd likely just be boring jumpscare simulators with no interactivity whatsoever.

It's alright, kinda janky but fine for an indie horror game, I wasn't really scared, it was still fun to complete it. Buy it on sale.

Utterly fantastic. If you like good writing in your horror games, absolutely buy this. It goes on sale often and it is absolutely worth the cheap price. I love this game.

This is the OG grandpa of Amnesia and Soma. It's an interactive playable Lovecraft novel. If you've read At the Mountains of Madness or similar "spooky adventure into a scary place" works by HP, this game was tenderly hand-crafted for your playing pleasure. It doesn't have the best horror, or stealth, or graphics. But the vibes... the writing... This game is a special treat for its target audience.