The oil lamp flings dimly in an abandoned mine, discarding bizarre shadows to the cold stone of the walls. There are hundreds of meters of solid breed above the head, and it seems that there is neither blue sky, nor fresh air, and the bright sun dreamed in a dream. Loneliness, cutting off from the whole world, the fear of darkness begins to play their vile games with reason. Simpleable rustles, the sound of a half drops from the ceiling and … Voice. He comes from the gaping mouth of the mine, from this ominous darkness, but as if it arises from the depths of the brain. And mutters, mutters one understandable tongue twister for him. You need to get up and go to get out once. But here is the paradox: the only way to salvation lies there, below, since the blockage cut off the road back. And with each meter of advance in the unknown hope melts.
Going down to hell
And everything starts with the death of the mother of the protagonist, whose name is Philip. Exactly after her funeral, he receives a letter from his father, who disappeared immediately after his birth many years ago and whom everyone had long considered dead. But it turned out to be only a message from the past, the time when the priest disappeared. In this will, he asked his son to burn the documents left thirty years before in the bank cell and never remember him again. But Philip, being in nature inquisitive, ordered his father’s inheritance otherwise. It turned out that these papers were written in an unknown language, which even scientists from the university could not decipher. The only understandable notes led to the mysterious coordinates in the snowy wastelands of Greenland. Fascinated by the mystery of the past, the hero of the game goes there in search. But he could not even imagine that he was waiting for him behind the meter snowdrifts of snow.
The traveler turned out to be no, and instead of organizing an expedition, Philip hired a fishing boat, who brought him alone to the shores of the largest island in the world. Leaving the boat, he quickly lost its orientation during the snowstorm that began and began to freeze. Therefore, when some hatch leading underground caught my eye, it seemed to be salvation. As if not. The old staircase could not stand the load and, together with an unlucky researcher, collapsed down. It’s good that he was alive after the fall, but the path back was closed. Around there were old army supplies, empty cartridges-obviously a military bunker of the time of the Second World War. It was necessary to explore the structure and find a spare exit.
Quite standard for the horror genre plot PENUMBRA: overTure At first it does not cause special emotions. As always, we find ourselves in a kind of secluded place shrouded in a secret. It becomes clear very quickly that it is not so secluded, and there is someone else here. However, although you are waiting for it, the first meeting with this creation is guaranteed to deprive the player of more than a hundred nerve cells. Remember one thing: there are no weapons in the game as such, pistols and machines are not lying here at every step. The maximum that you can count on is a hammer and a minerry chirus. However, how to fight them and how powerful they are, and most importantly, what the creature growls around the corner is not clear at first. Therefore, you try to sneak into a neighboring corridor on tiptoe, when suddenly an evil roar is heard very close Cazimbo Casino revisione and two burning eyes appear from the darkness. It seems to be familiar to Silent Hill And Resident Evil The dull dog inspires such primitive horror that I want to press the exit button in the menu.
Secret PENUMBRA: overTure In the atmosphere of constantly oppressive fear, when in a few hours spent in the dungeon you do not meet a single person, nor living, nor dead, only rust, fog and the thickening darkness around. Gradually, low ceilings begin to cause attacks of claustrophobia, but instead of escaping to the expanse, you have to crawl along a narrow scree. And now you make your way through this hole, illuminating the path with a luminous stick, and suddenly you hear the vile squish of mucus nearby, immediately behind the nearest turn to the right. Overcoming yourself, you look there, but too dark – the stick illuminates only a couple of meters, and the batteries of the flashlight sat down. Take yourself in your hands, get a little more. And you will have a nose to the nose with the masonry of huge eggs, which … damn it! Which, it seems, are starting to hatch right now! Convulsive throwing in search of the back road, hungry chatter of creatures behind the back … and a dead end. This is the end, the trap slammed shut.
The gameplay is filled with such terrible moments to failure, the whole game is the quintessence of horror and despair, and these are still flowers. I remember for a long time acquaintance with a stone worm, and how I fled without looking back from this pulsating toothy mouth. But the last scene of the episode … This is just a masterpiece worthy of Stephen King and Howard Lovecraft. Not a word more – you yourself must experience these sensations, so that then not sleep at night.
Physics of fear
Swedes from Frictional Games scheduled their masterpiece almost on the knee. Initially, the game was a technological demo of the engine with unique physics. He allowed to smoothly push the drawers from the nightstands, open the doors, twist the valves, etc.D., Moving the mouse. Thus, an unprecedented level of interactivity was achieved, at which the player could realistically interact with the environment. The popularity of that demonstration version of the technology was so great that it was decided to create a full -fledged adchenchura with first -person view in the Survival Horror genre.
Most puzzles in PENUMBRA: overTure tied just in physics. From a simple compilation of boxes to climb over the fence, to deadly walking with an explosive mixture along the edge of the abyss. Inadvertently drop – everything will fly into the air. There are also standard tasks for the quest: to solve the code for the door to hints, prepare a bomb from improvised chemical components according to the recipe from the book. Not without objects, which, as in the good old days, should be clicked on game objects. However, their use is so logical that it is practically never necessary to resort to a stupid intake.
Unfortunately, in their desire to make what is happening more realistic developers sometimes cross the line. For example, instead of conventional strokes with a kirka, she now needs to wave, firing with the mouse from side to side. It seems barely possible to get along the enemy, since the sight is absent. The swing occurs slowly, the camera stubbornly does not want to turn towards the enemy, who enjoys the hitch with pleasure and kills the protagonist. The battle is generally the weakest place of the brainchild of Frictional Games, for which you want to mercilessly scold and scold. The battles are not only inconvenient, but also flagrantly monotonous.
Taking into account the origin PENUMBRA: overTure Do not pay attention to the graphics. Simple models with rough animation, low-resolution textures, a minimum of special effects-all this somehow does not even annoy, but on the contrary adds atmospheric for what is happening. Because of this, the caves look even darker and uncomfortable. When working competently with lighting and shadows, the developers make you forget about the tiny budget of the project, focusing all attention to the gameplay.
The sound is impeccable. Thanks to otherworldly voices, violins, grinding, tension is pumped up, you constantly expect a danger that still does not appear to scare to death at the most unexpected moment. Music also makes a considerable contribution to the depressive atmosphere, starting with the main menu. Somehow it immediately becomes clear that nothing good awaits ahead, and the further go down the shaft, the worse the end. But this is only the first episode, of which there are so far three. We are looking forward to continuing.
Final comments
The best horror movie of recent years, capable of forcing even those who have iron nerves. A unique physical engine allows you to plunge into the gameplay head, not paying attention to the Stone Age graphics. The final scene for which it is worth going through the whole game. Indie projects are still out of competition.
Gameplay: ADVENSURA in the first person with puzzles in the spirit of Half Life 2 and an atmosphere of constant fear.
Graphics: a morally obsolete picture capable of, nevertheless, to give gloomy atmospheric personnel.
Sound: a terrible symphony of dark dungeons, driving.
For a long time?: Many points want to go again.