

Thus does the mystery of the mine keep you moving forward while the dread it instills makes you want to turn back, keeping you edging forward and jumping at every flicker of the lights. Imagination is always more enticing and terrifying than fact. All of this is complimented by the frequent ramblings of an unseen character named Red who has control of a shortwave radio which he uses to contact Phillip now and then, Penumbra's tale is told in the best tradition of Lovecraftian storytelling, wherein much is implied, but never fully stated. Some contain clues to aid in the solving of the various puzzles that serve to obstruct Phillip as he tries to find either his father or some answers. Each one contains fresh information pertaining to the nature of the mine, its history, and its victims, of which there are many. Overture, like many games before and after it, conveys its plot through written notes that must be collected by the player during the course of exploration. Determined to learn his father's fate, he sets out alone to investigate, before summarily getting lost in a blizzard and climbing down an access shaft to escape the elements. Phillip, of course, disobeys and reads the papers contained within, which lead him to an unmarked mine in the frozen wastes of Greenland. The missive instructs him to destroy the contents of a safety deposit box in Mayfair which he has just inherited, and to ask no further questions. These themes run strong in Overture, as the story opens with Phillip, a 30-year-old physics teacher, receiving a letter from his father (who he has been told died before he was born) shortly after his mother's funeral.
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His famous Cthulhu mythos, which was opened to the public domain for expansion by other writers on his death, is full of cases of scholars and men of science who stray too far off the edge of the map and discover things so horrible that they are driven to insanity as a means of coping.

Fear of the unknown is a powerful theme throughout his works, as is the concept of ‘forbidden knowledge’. Lovecraft, best known for his popularization of the genre of ‘cosmic horror’ and being a card-carrying racist. Penumbra‘s story bears heavy signs of influence from the works of H.P. Overture takes all of this into account in its efforts to spook the player while providing an engrossing experience, working hard to build an atmosphere so thick with dread you couldn’t cut it with a bloody cleaver. Puzzles are often included as barriers to progression, while stealth is emphasized and combat is either discouraged or nonexistent. It’s most classic iteration is that of the haunted house, where scripted surprises and roaming terrors seek to keep the player on their toes and tense with anticipation. Penumbra: Overture was the first installment in that trilogy, and despite its age, should be given due consideration from any true survival-horror fan, for though it is not without flaws, it is just as deserving of recognition as its younger, more well-known cousin.įor those less well versed in gaming nomenclature, survival-horror is largely what it sounds like: a game that focuses on the survival of the player character as they struggle to endure in a hostile and terrifying environment.
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Before the release of their seminal masterpiece however, they were better known as the creators of the Penumbra trilogy, a series of games that laid the groundwork for their terrifying magnum opus. Frictional Games have been touted as the masters of the modern survival-horror genre ever since their release of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a game that reminded gamers everywhere what true horror was really about.
