(03-27-2013, 08:45 PM)Statyk Wrote: What Nackidno said. I like Penumbra's atmosphere and story more than Amnesia, but Amnesia was much better in regards to gameplay mechanics (moving, looking, interaction, etc) and I felt more scared playing Amnesia than Penumbra. It's a mix between the two for me. They both have their pros and cons.
I feel the atmosphere created through the story was superior but in terms of sound design atmosphere and level design was worse, and I have not been scared of monsters ever since I gained a rock, which I'm lethal with. That's a massive problem with Penumbra. I think penumbra thus far is incredibly well designed though, and the monster encounters, though the aspect of them being killable ruins it, are far superior to amnesia's encounters which were just jump scares.
Not sure I agree with that. Most of them were a surprise but that is not the same as a jump scare, in fact the first encounter in both Overture and Black Plague can be considered a "jump scare" going by that vague definition. Penumbra: Black Plague even has several actual jump scare, all of which are foreshadowed and don't end up fitting the general definition of "jump scare". Taking advantage of players not being ready for the encounters is an excellent way to make people nervous and therefore make the encounters more tense IMO. Throwing startling but harmless entities or events or worse yet images at players is the definition of jump scare: Cheap scares for a temporary effect.