We’re very much looking forward to the second (and now concluding) part of the Penumbra series. The first game was impressive for all manner of reasons, from the self-made and often remarkable 3D engine, to the excellent tension it creates, so we’re keen to see what happens next.
On that note, some screenshots of Penumbra: Black Plague have been released, which tell us… almost nothing. While the first game doesn’t offer much combat (thank goodness – it was best avoided), it does at least have interesting machines, strange puzzles and bubbling flasks of chemicals. Let’s hope these are just a really poor bunch of choices, and that Black Plague isn’t going to be an experiment in walking through barren rooms. The rest of the pics are below the divide – click on each for the full size version.
Worthy of note is the figure appearing in the distance in the above picture. What with the games deliberately not including other people.
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The screenshots they released for the original were also really crap. But the game wasn’t. :-)
“Dude, did you see that gray wall? Wasn’t it awesome?”
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Is it just me or does that first screen look like the training level from Deus Ex?
Hope they’ve overhauled the awkward control scheme a bit, too, and improved the voice acting.
Also had a weird problem with the first one, in the way it taught you how to use the controls. I don’t mind when games put instructions onscreen (”Right Mouse: Throw Object”) but when they’re mentioned conversationally by the narrator, like in Overture (”I can always throw the object I’m holding by clicking the right mouse button”) it breaks the immersion.