Slightly disappointed by Penumbra Overture

[flcn27]

I just completed Black Plague. It was much creepier than Overture. I soon started to hate the black&white floors. The chase scenes and the scenes where you are in a room with an infected are the best parts of Black Plague imo.
I'm not sure what you mean with the body, Brute. Do you mean the guy who was sitting with his back to a wall? It was a bit scary to see him but I expected him to move or say something .
The ending was awesome too. Overall I'd say that Penumbra has better puzzles and more variety than Amnesia but I still think that Amnesia is scarier. I found it harder to immerse myself in Penumbra. Somehow I just felt more connected to Daniel than to Philip. Maybe the combat system in Overture and the focus on puzzles in Black Plague prevented me from fully immersing myself. It is also possible that I got used to the horror because of Amnesia. I've never really been scared in Black Plague. There were some shock moments, sure, and I've been cursing the dogs/monsters a few times, but I was never so terrified as in Amnesia.

Still, these games are great so thanks Frictional Games (if any of you guys happen to read this) for creating these awesome games! Gonna play Requiem now and then I'll download some mods for Amnesia.

[Brute]

@flcn27
You are kidding me! I mean the body in the kennel: The kennel with the dog houses. The body falls from the ceiling, when you want in the creepy dark corridor??? Have you miss this?
Well than my dear student. I would say you have done a good job, and you are now ready to play Requiem! Good Luck!
I also found that both games had their shock moments, so Penumbra is scary because of it's claustrophobic atmosphere and good storyline, and Amnesia due to it's Sanity System and the fear for the darkness and the enemies, while you walking in a scary castle, where in every corner could been your worst nightmare!

@Googolplex
Dude I had more physic bugs in Penumbra. That's starts with flying boxes, strange acting doors, strange acting enemies...
Well and I think that the physics feels "rustier" than in Amnesia. Object rotation and moving was really slow and strange. It is way better in Amnesia. No wonder. Frictional Games had upgrade the engine.
And the fight system:
It was an atmosphere killer, because the enemies were ridiculous easy to kill. I always had killed the enemies before exploring. In Amnesia, I was sitting in a closed. What could been more creepier... hmm....
But it is ok. That's only my opinion!

[Googolplex]

Dude I had more physic bugs in Penumbra. That's starts with flying boxes, strange acting doors, strange acting enemies...
Well and I think that the physics feels "rustier" than in Amnesia. Object rotation and moving was really slow and strange. It is way better in Amnesia. No wonder. Frictional Games had upgrade the engine.
And the fight system:
It was an atmosphere killer, because the enemies were ridiculous easy to kill. I always had killed the enemies before exploring. In Amnesia, I was sitting in a closed. What could been more creepier... hmm....
But it is ok. That's only my opinion!

I had no physic bugs in Penumbra. And the object moving was more realistic compared with Amnesia.
Because the objects in Penumbra felt more heavy. They have a weight, you really feel the mass. When you open a heavy door, then it feel heavy. In Amnesia the physics are too intensive. Heavy boxes feel like weightless. I think this is not an update, this is a deterioration.
And the enemies are not easy to kill and the game's goal yet is not to fight enemies.

[Brute]

Yeah, that's true. But dude. Tell me please what the hell could the Shelter do pack in such small boxes?
The doors were funny imo, because the enemy "runs" the door open. And when the physic should been correct, than every door in the shelter needs to been oiled. I found them in Amnesia better, because in Penumbra you couldn't run in a room and slam the door in front of a monster...
I think all felt to heavy...

[flcn27]

I'm not sure about the doors in Penumbra. Sometimes it felt pretty "realistic" and creepy that they're so slow but when you're being chased you just want to slam them open. Maybe Frictonal Games should take a look at Rainbow Six 3. In that game, you can slowly open a door by scrolling with your mouse or you can quickly open it by the press of a button.

You are kidding me! I mean the body in the kennel: The kennel with the dog houses. The body falls from the ceiling, when you want in the creepy dark corridor??? Have you miss this?

Ah you mean that body! Yeah he scared the hell out of me! I was running for my life because I thought the dogman was chasing me and then suddenly that body fell on top of me..

It was an atmosphere killer, because the enemies were ridiculous easy to kill.

It's not just that they're easy to kill. They're also easy to spot.
In Penumbra: Overture, you always see the dogs before they see you. They have scripted patrol patterns so they're really easy to evade. The big maps full of cover also help a lot. The combat system makes it very easy to kill them but I chose not to do that.
In Penumbra: Black Plague, the infected aren't that much of a threat either. It's easy to just run past them and outrun them. They're also easy to spot (because of their flashlights).

Amnesia was a totally different story for me. I was frightened every time when I opened a door. I always had to remember the way back to a hiding spot, and create new hiding spots as I made progress. There could be a monster behind every door and just the sound they make was enough to make you terrified. Outrunning them was almost impossible, my golden rule was to never look back because those brutes are always RIGHT BEHIND YOU

I guess Penumbra would be a lot more scary if it had some kind of insanity system, more scripted encounters with monsters (like monsters behind doors), a bigger focus on hiding (including the ability the hide in closets or other similar spaces) and no combat system (although Black Plague fixed that).

I see Penumbra and Amnesia as two different subgenres though and I hope Frictional continues making games for both. Penumbra is more focused on puzzles/story while Amnesia is more focused on fear (hiding/ambient sounds) and dealing with yourself (learning more about yourself, dealing with insanity).

What I like the most in both games are the scripted monster encounters. For example, in Penumbra where you get chased by infected or when you get trapped in a room with an infected and need to lure him somewhere to lock him up or kill him. And in Amnesia, the part where the game tells you to "quickly hide in the closet" and similar monster encounters.
These games are not about replay value anyway so these scripted encounters only add to the fear factor imo. Too many enemies with static patrol patterns make you feel too powerful.

[BrooksyFC]

I've just finished Overture over the weekend. Loved it to bits. I also played Amnesia first, but this still had a few nice elements to it like the puzzles and combat (which I used once then realized that dogs take a long time to kill haha)

I felt bad for red in the end, didn't really pay much attention to what he was saying throughout the game, but I think helped the game a lot with him talking to you. Kinda made the game a bit more interesting and kinda gave the player a time to relax and listen without worrying out monsters chasing you.

Gunna be playing Black Plague next year once I upload the rest of Overture onto my channel. Looking forward to playing it, looks a lot scarier than Overture.

[RawkBandMan]

I see Penumbra and Amnesia as two different subgenres though and I hope Frictional continues making games for both. Penumbra is more focused on puzzles/story while Amnesia is more focused on fear (hiding/ambient sounds) and dealing with yourself (learning more about yourself, dealing with insanity).

I honestly think Amnesia was just as story based as Penumbra. You have to read the notes, look in every room, etc. to be able to get the story. The story is very deep and makes much sense.

[KvRaiden]

I bought the Penumbra Collectors Pack off Steam. The problem is when I went to my games library, Penumbra Overture was the only one that launched. Both Black Plague and Requiem do not. When I try to play it, It says validating files, then I stops and says that the Steam server is busy. This cant be the case, because I've been trying all day and night for a week. Can someone please help.
(I use a Mac)

[Klavijaturista]

I wasnt scared much except for the spiders but thats just coz i have arachnophobia

[Funman]

Dude, I love Penumbra vs. Amnesia fights.

I played Amnesia first and was amazed with every single aspect of it. Then I heard about Penumbra and about all the claims of it being better than Amnesia. When I finally got Overture and played, I was disappointed. I mean, I knew it was older than Amnesia, but still... I didn't feel connected to Red at all. I mean, I guess everybody feels something when they hear those cries of agony, but that was it. The story seemed to have holes, etc. Also, I can say that after playing Amnesia I was literally not actually scared as I was in Amnesia a single time in Penumbra. My heart kinda leapt at the rock worm chase, but that was really it. The combat was...bad. Black Plague was much better, better scares, better story, better atmosphere, better everything. I played Requiem for like half an hour and got too bored to continue. I'm trying not to hate on Penumbra here, they were still good. But... I don't know.

So, overall, Amnesia was better. It fixed everything from the Penumbra games, and if you've played Justine, you know about the chase in the Dungeon which is, in my opinion, one of if not the scariest ever moments in a game.