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Bargain Bin Games Revue - Round One

 by Eddie Turner on September 1, 2008 12:00 AM EST
34 Comments | Add A Comment
34 Comments

As I informed you earlier, a survival horror game is included in this round of games, and Penumbra: Black Plague is it. (Ed: You Are Empty doesn't count, unless you consider the survival horror aspect of actually wading through the game.) However, this is not your typical horror title. Yes, the game is very scary, and yes, your goal is to get from a really bad situation to a more desirable one. So, what's different? Well, for starters, you don't have a gun at your disposal. In fact, there are almost no enemies or monsters to deal with throughout the game. I know what you're thinking: how can this be a survival horror game without the element of survival; without the horror? For those whose minds are bewildered at this point, rest assured that both elements are present in a big way.

Part Half-Life and part Silent Hill, Penumbra: Black Plague is the spawn of Penumbra: Overture, a game that made its debut as a free download just last year. The game takes place in an abandoned research facility whose halls and corridors are creepy enough to give Hannibal Lecter the willies. While the game's opening sequence does provide some back-story, your identity is unknown. What you do know is that you've awakened in a substation of this dark and musty lair with no clue what lies beyond the room in which you begin.

Black Plague, much like its predecessor, plays like a standard first person shooter, but with a style of gameplay that is deep-rooted in the adventure genre. You simply move about freely using the standard WASD control scheme along with the space bar to jump. However, your interactions in the game are all done with your mouse. As you move your cursor over objects that can be moved or manipulated, a little hand appears in its place. Instead of simply clicking on objects to move them, you'll actually interact with the environment with the movement of the hand icon. For instance, if you choose to open a drawer, you'll need to hold down your left mouse button and drag it open to see what's inside. If you come to a door, you might choose to just open it just enough to see what's inside before you bolt through it. How fast objects move is dependent upon how fast you choose to move them. This simple yet intuitive control scheme is implemented perfectly for a game that's heavy on these types on interactions.
 
 
As you take on the game's physics puzzles and brain teasers that enable you to progress from one area to the next, you'll collect various objects that are added to your inventory to use when the situation calls for them. You'll also come across bits of information made available to you via computer terminals that you'll hack. One of the things you'll learn is that the facility you're lost in suffered a viral outbreak that left many dead and others infected. I stated earlier that there are almost no monsters or deranged enemies in the game, and this is true. Still, I feel compelled to shed a bit more light on the subject.

(Ed: Spoiler Alert!) While the vast majority of the game is void of any life other than your own, you will encounter a few of the infected aimlessly wondering the halls. However, you can simply walk around them as they don't seem to make much of an effort to attack you. Also, you do meet up with a single enemy in the game. His name is Clarence. However, Clarence does not take a physical form. Instead, your dealings with him consist of voices that appear to be inside your character's head. Early on in the game, you'll only hear Clarence moan and groan, adding a bit more eeriness to the atmosphere. As the game progresses, he begins to speak to you and even tries to manipulate your actions. While a clever addition to the game, Clarence's presence eventually goes from creepy to annoying as he simply will not shut up. Even with these elements thrown in, most of Black Plague's heart pounding moments are purely situational. Much like in F.E.A.R., the game keeps you jumping with little surprises rather than full-on assaults. This, along with heavy exploration even in the most confined of areas, provides a unique experience that you won't find in many other games.
 

Weighing in with merely four or five hours of gameplay, Penumbra: Black Plague can be completed in one or two sittings. While this might be a turnoff to some, the game is worth its weight in gold and is a lot of fun to play while it lasts. With a price tag of only ten bucks, the game is easily more enjoyable than many of the blockbuster titles out there that last twice as long at five times the price. Penumbra: Black Plague is truly in a league of its own and is a blast to play though. Save for the kiddies, I have no problem recommending the game to any gamers with a spare Hamilton.

I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist. Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.
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  • boboko - Monday, September 8, 2008 - link

    >"I've never been a fan of forcing pageviews on an article, my thinking is always that if an article is good enough it'll attract its own traffic, regardless of how it's structured.
    Thanks for the feedback"


    If you would like some more feedback, it is the ability to "print" an article on one web page, rather than being forced to click through it one paragraph at a time, that has made me a regular on your website, and a VERY seldom visitor to a certain site whose initials are T'sHW.

  • EglsFly - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link

    I think you left out the best Bargain Bin game that is FREE...
    America's Army
    FPS Shooter developed by the Army based on the Unreal Engine.
    Has over 9 million registered users, and ranks in the Top 10 Online played games. AA is available at:
    http://www.americasarmy.com/">http://www.americasarmy.com/

    There are also FREE stat tracker sites where you can track your frag rate, map time, compare to other users in the "User-Top" lists etc..
    such as, http://aaotracker.com">http://aaotracker.com

  • Calin - Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - link

    Most everyone knows about America's Army, so it really wasn't qualifying for this kind of article. Also, I don't think you can find America's Army on shelves - but I might be wrong on this.
    As for now, a random sampling of 5 low cost games shows that they are mostly worthy of their cheap price.

  • JarredWalton - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link

    I should mention that I have never in the ~4 years I've been with AnandTech heard him complain or discuss traffic for a type or class of article. I've also never heard him say, "that idea for an article suck...." At the end of the day, we write about what we find interesting or pertinent, and hopefully we're similar enough that our interests pass on to the readers. Passion for a subject tends to be the bigger concern than what the topic happens to be.

    I think if readers like an article, and more importantly tell us they like a type of article, it's something we will continue to do. If you absolutely hate certain types of articles, sound off on how they should be changed and we'll try to accommodate. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. We can't please everyone all the time, of course, but we try.

    (I'm just sad the first couple of people hated my little quotes for the pages. I mean dang, I spent like 30-60 minutes trying to find something appropriate on some of those games! *Sniffle*) ;-)
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