BlueDemon's Archive

[This is a Mini Review, shorter and more direct] Penumbra: Requiem is a first-person, adventure puzzler expansion for Black Plague. Developed by Frictional Games, published by Paradox Interactive, and released in August 2008. Six months after Black Plague's release. /// Premise An expansion pack focused on strict puzzle-focused levels, absent of survival horror mechanics, with bits of lore that further explore some underdeveloped side characters. /// Is Requiem is Episode 3? I gotta get this out of the way. People often confuse Requiem as Penumbra 3, or Episode 3, when it is just an expansion DLC for Black Plague. "Requiem won't be the 'third episode', though. It's less the series conclusion, and more the epilogue. I consider the story to have ended with Black Plague" - Tom Jubert, lead writer of Penumbra series. 2008 interview with RPS. /// Structure Penumbra: Requiem is an abrupt switch from the survival horror genre to a horror-themed puzzler. It consis...

[Consider this Part 2 of the Penumbra: Overture review ] Penumbra: Black Plague is a first-person, horror game developed by Frictional Games , published by Paradox Interactive , and released in February 2008. Running on Frictional's in-house HPL Engine . /// Premise Picking up immediately where Penumbra:   Overture left, right after leaving the mines behind and entering the secretive research facility, Philip finds himself knocked out and imprisoned by unknown entities. After a hasty escape and possibly being infected with a Xeno virus, Philip must find a cure, while piecing together the truth of this place and his father. /// Structure and pace As the direct sequel to Penumbra: Overture, the two are intrinsically linked. I will be skipping over the more basic mechanics that have stayed the same, focusing on what has changed or improved instead. For a more detailed overview of the basics, I suggest reading the Overture review, as the bulk of its core mechanics have carried over t...

Penumbra: Overture is a first-person survival horror game, developed by Frictional Games , and published by Lexicon Entertainment in march 2007. Running on in-house HPL Engine . It received a direct sequel a year later called Black Plague . /// Premise Set in the year 2001, it follows the story of thirty years old physicist, Philip Buchanon, after receiving a letter from his supposedly dead father, instead of following the letter's instruction to burn several documents, Philip follows a series of clues that lead him to a mysterious location in uninhabited northern Greenland. There he finds a series of modern underground tunnels below an old World War II bunker. What was his dad doing there? What hides deep below? /// Structure What started as a tech demo for the HPL Engine, would a year later be polished up and shipped as Frictional Games debut title. Overture is a mix of survival horror, first-person gameplay, and puzzle elements. The player is lent some freedom to explore hub-l...

Painkiller is a first-person shooter running on the Pain Engine, debut title of the Polish studio People Can Fly, it was published by DeamCatcher Interactive in April 2004. About a year later, it was re-released in its current Black Edition form which includes the Battle out of Hell Expansion. I will focus on the original game and not the Unreal Engine 3 remake called Painkiller: Hell and Damnation pushed out the door by Nordic Games in 2013, with less content, recut story, and it removed levels to be resold as individual DLC. It's just awful, I recommend sticking to Black Edition. /// Premise After a deadly car crash with his wife, Daniel Garner finds himself stuck in purgatory, an angel named Samael offers him a deal, become Heaven's Hitman, kill Lucifer's generals before a full war escalates, and he will be granted Heaven ascension and meet his wife again. With the hell horde marching through Purgatory, Garner has no time to waste. He signs the pact. /// Structure The ga...

Deep Rock Galactic is a co-op first-person shooter developed by Ghost Ship Games and published by Coffee Stain . Officially released May 13, 2020, after two years in early access period. /// Premise Congratulations miner, you have been hired by the Deep Rock Galactic Space Mining Corporation, to be part of the mining operations of Hoxxes IV, the single most lucrative (and hostile) planet in the galaxy. Infested with Glyphid killer bugs, Mactera, and all sorts of deadly creatures. That's where you come in, to subjugate a wild planet, we need the most tenacious, strong-willed, underground survivalists we can find. Mighty Dwarfs. /// Structure Deep Rock is a horde shooter with an emphasis on exploration, teamwork, and continued progression. There is no definitive end to it, and your mileage may vary based on how engaged you are in its core gameplay loop and progression systems. The more you play, the more content you come across naturally, flowing well in a simple but addictive loop...