Penumbra: Black Plague

The survival-horror genre went through a few changes in the last decade, ever since Silent Hill made it clear that fear does not necessarily mean a lot of monsters and a huge arsenal to deal with them. Instead, being helpless and terrified works much better on the human psyche, especially if you never know exactly who or what is after you.

Penumbra: Black Plague aims to continue the story from the first episode, Overture, as well as introduce a variety of new mechanics to the formula and make the gameplay that much more intuitive and natural. The horror factor has been refined as well, since you no longer have to deal with the enemies by fighting them, or by using elaborate physics puzzles to incapacitate them.

In fact, you now have to run and hide whenever something doesn’t feel right, or worse, when you happen to see something coming toward you. The darkness is both your greatest enemy and your best friend, since it can conceal you and keep you safe, but it does the same for the creatures that hunt you. Thus, you must be cautious using flares and flashlights, since you can easily give out your location and there is no fighting back.

The developers did a good job at adding useful new functions to the interface and the gameplay itself, since everything moves and feels much smoother now. Objects can be picked up by holding the mouse click, as well as rotated and thrown across the room at various distances, depending on their size and weight. Drawers and doors can also be pushed or pried open using the mouse, which really does wonders for the atmosphere.

As far as the puzzles go, they have really stepped up from the previous episode, which might also make them a bit more difficult, especially if you are not familiar with the adventure genre. Most of them are very logical and intuitive, however, such as the one in which you have to get a soda from the soda machine by bashing it with a brick you can find nearby. Moreover, most of them are physics-based, so you shouldn’t be afraid to try things that would work in real life, because they just might work in the same way in the game as well.

In the end, Penumbra: Black Plague really achieved its purpose and brought the series the recognition it deserves. Everything about this second episode is shinier, smoother and more functional, which makes the experience that much more satisfying and memorable. However, it is also quite horrific and traumatic, so you should definitely take it slow if you don’t want your pacemaker to require a bit of service time.