Review: Penumbra Overture Ep1 game

In a market flooded with formulaic film tie-ins and samey sequels, innovation is something that the video game world frequently lacks.

There’s not a massive independent scene in the way there is in, say, the music industry either. But occasionally a little gem slips out and surprises anyone who happens to be paying attention.

Frictional Games’ Penumbra Overture Episode 1 resolutely defies classification. If we were to invent a genre, we’d probably go for ‘First-person Psychological Horror Action Adventure’, but even that lengthy epithet doesn’t really do the game justice.

In Penumbra Overture you play as Philip, who comes home from his mother’s funeral only to receive a letter from another parent – his father, who died 30 years earlier. Understandably perturbed by this, Philip treks off to Greenland in search of some answers.

The game rejects the traditional point-and-click method used by most adventure titles in favour of a 3D first-person alternative. Interaction with the world around you involves making use of the game’s unique physics system. Opening a drawer, for example, requires clicking with the mouse and using a downwards motion to ‘pull’ the drawer towards you. Similarly, whacking something/someone with a weapon means slashing your mouse in the direction you want to whack.

The truth is that Penumbra is only partially successful in this respect. The way things work when you attempt to interact with them can sometimes be a little unpredictable and a lot of trial and error is required.

The game is also very short (though it’s also very cheap and presumably further episodes are on their way), and both its visuals and audio are a little rough around the edges. Nevertheless, Penumbra Overture is an extremely intelligent and genuinely chilling experience that requires you to use your wits to survive. Definitely worth checking out if you’re bored of shooting at zombies.