User Reviews (1 - 11 of 12)

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Enjoyable

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I really enjoyed this game. I'm a horror fan and have to say the horror element was well implemented. I also really love the controls. It's very innovative and fun once you get used to it. They way you interact with objects reminds me very much of the Wii, except with a mouse. The storyline holds my interest and I can't wait for episode 2.

Tried demo, then instantly downloaded the full version

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: June 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I tried the demo on my mandriva linux distro and was so hooked, I downloaded it at their main/offical site. I'm glad this game works great under mandriva linux, because it certainly is keeping me in suspense
This is fun because the game allows your imagination to do the work rather than the "in your face" sort of horror. Now that's my sort of horror!
First person "shooter"? I haven't finished this, but I do know it's a First Person view.

As for the game, nice sounds and music, effects. It's more of a puzzle game; but it's also a game where you can die if you're not careful.

Linux Users: Go to this site to download the linux version of the game - http://www penumbra-overture com/buy php (replace the spaces with a period.

In the DARK

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: June 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The game controls are very difficult. You cannot enjoy the artwork as most of the game leaves you fumbling in the dark. This is only episode 1 of the series. Leaves a lot to be desired in a game. This game DOES NOT successfully combine the mechanics and interactive environment of a first person shooter with the puzzles and story of an adventure game.

Interesting game, hopefully to be continued

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: June 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a first person adventure game, not an "fps" adventure. So if you walk into this with the 'shooter' word stuck in your mind you will be disappointed. The interactive environment, which I'll admit isn't perfect, sufficiently serves its purpose once you're used to it. I didn't have a problem with it at any time... well... maybe there were a few mishaps with dynamite.

Speaking of the environment, it is done quite well overall. You're in a mineshaft, its gonna be dark! If its that much of a problem to you, you have your trusty torch (ie flashlight, which is dependent on batteries - GASP, realism) or you have your glowstick, which is infinite (whoops, there went the realism). Both provide certain advantages over the other. You will often find yourself without any light source however, as you do have to sneak around quite a bit. Fortunately they implemented a "night vision" feature into sneaking, which helps significantly in the earlier stages of the game.

And why do you have to sneak around? Well just running around an empty mineshaft would be somewhat boring and easy. So there are feral "creatures" that you must avoid. Sadly, sneaking is the only effective way to bypass them, as they CANNOT be killed with weapons (there is a way to kill them later on, and at that point it is a dish best served steaming). A smack will simply knock them back, then you're supposed to run for your life and hide, but that is a rather tricky endeavor as they don't go down for long. The eight legged friends which appear later on can be killed with two good swipes, but as they usually come in groups which eat you alive, you're once again forced to find an alternative method of dealing with them.

This brings us to the combat system, which is by far the most aggravating part of the game. You must click, move the mouse one way, then move it the other way. Sounds easy, but in mid swing your movement is limited (due to the fact that your mouse is preoccupied with swinging) while your target is moving like Muhammad Ali, dancing around you until its ready to strike. When you only take 3-4 hits to die, you will die... often.

The combat is the only, truly bad part to the game. The fear/horror factor was implemented quite well, with the environment, lighting and sound all adding to tense moments. I didn't say much about the puzzles because there isn't that much too them, they may only challenge you for one of two reasons: you didn't find that one important document, or you need to re-read everything you've found. Everything else is simply like other adventure games, where you may find yourself loading often after taking a wrong turn or not hitting a switch in time.

NERVE RACKING-TENSE

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 8
Date: July 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

ONE MAN LOOKING INTO THE FATHER'S PAST AND DEATH???? VERY INTENSE AND NO RECOMMENDED FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. FIND YOU WAY OUT.

Very frustrating

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: August 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game was frustrating to me. The controls (using the keyboard) were clumsy and sometimes difficult. Instead of concentrating on the story and trying to solve the mystery, I spent most of my time repeating a puzzle or trying to get through a task in order to move on. I did not enjoy this game; thank goodness for the forum available online. I don't think I would have completed this game without the hints and advice given through the forum. When I finally finished this game, I was just glad to be done with it. I won't be looking for the sequel.

intel not supported

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 7
Date: September 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Be careful when purchasing this game that you do not have an Intel Graphics Card. Intel is not supported by this game and your game will not load. I'm still waiting for a refund...

Great potential that falls on it's face

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: September 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game could have been fantastically suspenseful if not for the horrible controls. I'm not a fan of FPS games where the camera is only from the characters eye for 2 reasons. First, controlling the action is nearly impossible; you just don't have the right perspective. Second, the ever present fish-eye lens. Are they trying on purpose to make me sick & give me a whopping headache? Why torture the audience?!

It is possible to create a game where the mouse & keyboard work seamlessly together and the action seems second nature. That doesn't happen in this game, I blame this mostly on the forced first person perspective. The controls are set up fairly straightforward and intelligently, but it stops there. The game first starts out with very helpful explanations how to perform certain actions as you need them. However, complex actions (such as turning a wheel) were very difficult to perform and little help was offered as to how to do them. I spent a great deal of time just trying to get the character positioned correctly so that I could perform actions. Then my action icon would disappear if I didn't do it just right or I accidentally dropped an item. I was forced to move the character around in an attempt to trigger the action icon, and many times it would trigger and disappear immediately.

Not all of the action possibilities were covered and I was left in the very beginning trying to figure out how to move a bookcase. I tried all sorts of positions and tools, only to find out that I was supposed to grab it and walk backwards (in effect pulling it onto myself).

Another problem is actually seeing the game. I had to play it at night, with all the lights off, with the brightness and contrast turned up to max on my monitor and even then it was still hard to see. Totally unacceptable.

As for the game itself, it is definitely suspenseful and scary. It really had some first class scares in it, and unlike some scratchy-type games, these scares are intersperse throughout the game. I really think this is one of the scarier games I've played, with great atmosphere. Most of my fear came from the unknown. They successfully utilized sound (or the lack thereof) to scare the bejeezus out of me. Unfortunately, the frustrating controls really break the mood and, for me, ruined the overall game.

If you like the FPS fish-eye lens type games, you will definitely like this one. If you are more like me, but want and interactive suspenseful game, allow me to recommend "Indigo Prophecy", which I like to describe as 'WOW'. :)

Lots of crashes, very unstable game.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: January 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Not only did this game crash many times on me while playing, it crashed my computer! On my final time of playing this game I got several crashes back to the desktop. Then when I tried to restart my computer, I got the blue screen with an "unmountable boot volume" error. I had to use my XP recover disc to recover my computer system from this problem. Thankfully, using the recover disc worked. If this hadn't have worked I might have had to reformat the entire hardrive.

I have an Nvidia 7950 with a quad processor, plenty of RAM, and pretty recent drivers. I was also using the latest 1.02 patch for the game itself. Also, if you enable the hardware sound option when you first start the game you will get an immediate crash back to the desktop for that.

Despite all the crashes, I did manage to complete the game. The game is short... real short. And, all the areas look the same. You are basically in some underground abandoned mines the whole time with a brief period out the snow at the beginning and at the end. Also, this game did not scare me one time. I played with the lights out and everything.. and nothing. You want to play a truly scary adventure pc game, play the recently released Darkness Within In Pursuit of Loath Nolder. Now, that is one truly frightening game experience. Darkness Within is one of the best adventure games I've ever played.

The only thing cool about Penumbra Overture is that you can pretty much take any object and toss it around with very realistic physics. That's it. And, the combat in this game is very, very frustrating. I know the developers did not want the user to run and gun this adventure but really... there are jumping spiders and dogs that will surely frustrate the average gamer with no saves but at certain points. There is a way to alter the user file to use quick saves but these can contribute even more to the many crashes.

The instability of Penumbra Overture and the possibility of majorly messing up your machine is really not worth it. I am very leery to try any other episode in this series now.

Great Game, no tech support

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: February 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I started playing this game on an ATI X1650 Pro video card. Ran great, looked great, great game. I have since bought an HD 2600 Pro card and have had nothing but problems. The game freezes if you go to the options page and randomly during game. Patched the game, and now I have horrible graphics. Can not even continue the game due to such horrid graphics. The distributor of the game, Got Game has no tech support, and the instruction manual gives the developer support site. The developer has made a patch, but it only works on the version of the game bought from their website. They have so far given no response to the many that have purchased a retail CD version of the game. Be very wary when purchasing the game, or any game from the developer, frictional games. Great game, horrible support.

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