Note: This review contains spoilers for the end of Penumbra: Overture. It's highly suggested that you complete that game before reading onward.

Penumbra: Black Plague is the second installment in the stealthy survival horror series by Frictional Games. The story begins close to where its predecessor, Penumbra: Overture, left off. It sees the protagonist Philip waking up alone in a locked room, right where he was knocked out by an unseen entity at the end of the first game, with only vague, ominous clues to point him in the right direction. While strange growls fill the air, Philip finally discovers that he's in an underground research facility in Greenland; one that belongs to the Archaic Elevated Caste, a secret organization that's dedicated to discovering and researching ancient knowledge. As his goal remains unknown, Philip stumbles through the facility in search of answers, only to have his mind invaded by one of the many infected entities who roam the dark chambers; one who names himself Clarence, and proceeds to constantly taunt Philip on his journey.

Those who were critical of Penumbra: Overture may find more fun with its successor. Penumbra: Black Plague removes all of the cumbersome, clunky combat from the original game and instead replaces it with more stealth-based gameplay. At no point will you have to fight any monsters, but almost all of the creatures are easily avoidable and have terrible AI. The hit collision is also pretty awful, and in most instances I was able to run right by an infected without them being able to land a hit on me. Additionally, the zombies are more laughable than scary but in all fairness this title did release over 10 years ago now. Most of the enemies look the same, with there only being three different models and one color variation.

Another element that Frictional Games changed in this follow-up release is the note system. The company received a lot of criticism for basing much of the original story within notes, and while this game does still have 20 documents to find, there is a lot of voiced dialogue as well; whether it be from Clarence mocking Philip, or from the mysterious Amabel that he's trying to find and save. There are even a few instances where the underground research facility's intercom system comes on to announce something. It creates a lot of deeper immersion, and it's the core element that really makes this title feel like Amnesia before Amnesia, just less polished and arguably a lot less spooky.

Even though there's not anything jaw-dropping about Penumbra: Black Plague's enemies, don't completely discount its scare-factor. The atmosphere still manages to instill a sense of dread and tension, and it creates a perfectly horrifying aura of being totally and utterly alone in a foreign place. The entire game ends up being about the unknown; of what's around the next corner, of what order to do things in, of even the next objective or end goal. The developers really did an amazing job putting players in the shoes of a character who has absolutely no idea what's going on, or any clue as to what to do next until that something is found. This can also make for some difficult gameplay at times unless you're using a guide. Almost all of the puzzle solutions make total sense when you figure out what to do, but they still manage to remain enigmatic and challenging.

It's surprising just how well Penumbra: Black Plague has held up over the last decade; everything from the graphics, to the audio, and most importantly the gameplay. It strongly resembles Amnesia in many, many ways; it's even more of an Amnesia release than that series' second game. With that said, it's not entirely polished and there are some failures here and there, such as the bad AI, along with the wonky swimming mechanics that will sometimes just drop you to the ground, and also the fact that many items in the game are unnecessary; the flashlight and its batteries, along with the flares, just aren't needed since the infinite glowstick is more than capable of providing enough light in every situation. However, it's a high improvement over Penumbra: Overture, and it set the foundation for Frictional Games as a whole.

The Horror Network Curator | Group Click for Gore

[b]Note: This review contains spoilers for the end of Penumbra: Overture. It's highly suggested that you complete that game before reading onward.[/b] Penumbra: Black Plague is the second installment in the stealthy survival horror series by Frictional Games. The story begins close to where its predecessor, Penumbra: Overture, left off. It sees the protagonist Philip waking up alone in a locked room, right where he was knocked out by an unseen entity at the end of the first game, with only vague, ominous clues to point him in the right direction. While strange growls fill the air, Philip finally discovers that he's in an underground research facility in Greenland; one that belongs to the Archaic Elevated Caste, a secret organization that's dedicated to discovering and researching ancient knowledge. As his goal remains unknown, Philip stumbles through the facility in search of answers, only to have his mind invaded by one of the many infected entities who roam the dark chambers; one who names himself Clarence, and proceeds to constantly taunt Philip on his journey. Those who were critical of Penumbra: Overture may find more fun with its successor. Penumbra: Black Plague removes all of the cumbersome, clunky combat from the original game and instead replaces it with more stealth-based gameplay. At no point will you have to fight any monsters, but almost all of the creatures are easily avoidable and have terrible AI. The hit collision is also pretty awful, and in most instances I was able to run right by an infected without them being able to land a hit on me. Additionally, the zombies are more laughable than scary but in all fairness this title did release over 10 years ago now. Most of the enemies look the same, with there only being three different models and one color variation. Another element that Frictional Games changed in this follow-up release is the note system. The company received a lot of criticism for basing much of the original story within notes, and while this game does still have 20 documents to find, there is a lot of voiced dialogue as well; whether it be from Clarence mocking Philip, or from the mysterious Amabel that he's trying to find and save. There are even a few instances where the underground research facility's intercom system comes on to announce something. It creates a lot of deeper immersion, and it's the core element that really makes this title feel like Amnesia before Amnesia, just less polished and arguably a lot less spooky. Even though there's not anything jaw-dropping about Penumbra: Black Plague's enemies, don't completely discount its scare-factor. The atmosphere still manages to instill a sense of dread and tension, and it creates a perfectly horrifying aura of being totally and utterly alone in a foreign place. The entire game ends up being about the unknown; of what's around the next corner, of what order to do things in, of even the next objective or end goal. The developers really did an amazing job putting players in the shoes of a character who has absolutely no idea what's going on, or any clue as to what to do next until that something is found. This can also make for some difficult gameplay at times unless you're using a guide. Almost all of the puzzle solutions make total sense when you figure out what to do, but they still manage to remain enigmatic and challenging. It's surprising just how well Penumbra: Black Plague has held up over the last decade; everything from the graphics, to the audio, and most importantly the gameplay. It strongly resembles Amnesia in many, many ways; it's even more of an Amnesia release than that series' second game. With that said, it's not entirely polished and there are some failures here and there, such as the bad AI, along with the wonky swimming mechanics that will sometimes just drop you to the ground, and also the fact that many items in the game are unnecessary; the flashlight and its batteries, along with the flares, just aren't needed since the infinite glowstick is more than capable of providing enough light in every situation. However, it's a high improvement over Penumbra: Overture, and it set the foundation for Frictional Games as a whole. [h1]Rating: [b]4.0/5.0[/b] - Excellent, highly worth playing.[/h1] The Horror Network [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/28221963/]Curator[/url] | [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/thehorrornetwork]Group[/url] Click for Gore