Freaky Fridays: Penumbra: Black Plague Review

Welcome to the first of our series of ‘Freaky Friday’ reviews, where we post write-ups, reviews, or other forms of written commentary on anything: game, movie, book or whatever otherwise considered ‘freaky’. Tonight we’ll be reviewing the indie hit Penumbra: Black Plague.

The first time I played the Penumbra games, I was truly blown away; it was early 2009 and I’d just picked up the Penumbra collection on Steam. I’d never heard of the Penumbra games, so after noticing the ads I asked some of my online friends if they had ever played the games, or knew whether they were worth the buy. One player remarked that I should ‘buy it if you like [sic] shit-your-pants horror’.

On that anecdote, I can safely say that Penumbra definitely makes good on that claim. From the haunting, melancholy melodies of the title screen, to the grimy, gritty, dimly lit hallways, and downright horrifying discoveries made by the player-character Phillip, the whole experience just echoes with feelings of isolation, vulnerability and claustrophobia.

A particularly effective mechanism in the Penumbra games is the powerful use of off-screen space; you might be creeping through a dank, rusted hallway, and whilst you know the world extends far beyond what you’re seeing, you have no idea what lurks ahead or behind you; pathways previously presumed safe could prove deadly on a subsequent visit. The elements in the off-screen space can have a very real and direct impact on the player. 

In fact, the off-screen elements are one of the primary sources of Penumbra: Black Plague’s fear factor. You instinctively know, as you navigate the decaying labyrinthine installation, through both primary and secondary sources of information that whatever they were doing here has created some god-awful abominations that want to see you and everyone else dead. They’re referred to as the Infected, and sometimes ‘zombies’, though that hardly applies as the monsters roaming the decrepit facility are certainly more than reanimated, shambling corpses. They have a higher level of consciousness, and even utter phrases and re-direct their attention towards Phillip’s location should the player walk loudly or bump movable objects.

As previously mentioned, the enemies in the game are predominantly the Infected; former humans whose consciousness has been surpassed by the Tuurngait virus. Other hazards include laser-triggered explosive charges, and poisonous gases, which Phillip must find some way to circumvent. The most glaring element of enemy encounters in Penumbra: Black Plague, is that you don’t have any effective way to fight back. If an Infected gets a lock onto you, you’ve either got to run away and find somewhere dark to hide, escape to another room or area of the facility, or die. However I’ve experienced some weird AI glitches; one encounter had me pinned into a dark corner with an Infected tearing into me, when he suddenly stopped, uttered something about ‘target lost’ then wandered out of the room even though I hadn’t really done anything, but somehow my presence in a dark area of the map had affected the monster’s perception of a target’s visibility. It didn’t make any logical sense, and even though I was alive I was left more confused than anything else. There also have been times that the AI’s detection abilities seemed inconsistent, where the Infected could essentially hear a pin drop, yet moments later the same Infected couldn’t hear Phillip in full sprint. Apart from a few AI glitches, the monsters are otherwise a strong threat, which leave Phillip in an otherwise fragile state.

Visually, Penumbra: Black Plague is a mixed bag. While the atmosphere is appropriately foreboding, with cracked computer monitors and glass panes, rusted metal walls and tables, and grimy floors, on a technological level the game is unimpressive; for a 2008 game, the textures are low-resolution and muddy, the Infected models, and world assets look low in polygonal count too. That’s not to say the game looks terrible- it’s effective at delivering a compelling and foreboding environment, with a gritty colour palette revolving around earthy, rusty browns, mottled greens and dirty greys. It’s effective, but from a technological standpoint, it looks much more dated than a 2008 game.

Sound is where Penumbra: Black Plague really shines; the music is eerie and unsettling at the best of times, and at the worst, paralyzing with sharp fear of the unknown that lurks in the shadows; perhaps most intriguing is the unconventional nature of the soundtrack- composer Mikko Tarmia took great liberties with constructing a compelling and distinctive soundscape with which to paint the haunting and foreboding world of Penumbra: Black Plague. In addition to the more conventional orchestral scoring, there is also a distinctive set of unique electronic sampling noises worked into the pieces, as well as custom percussion and threatening, sharp tones striking in the presence of impending danger.

Another effective function of the game’s dynamic soundscape is that the music is often responsive to events occurring in the game; completing objectives such as finding an important item, unlocking a locked door or restoring power are often accompanied by a short little uplifting piece in the music, while hearing an Infected growl around a corner will likely be met by a sharp, piercing tone. The Infected also sound appropriately threatening and dehumanized; they’re not mindless shambling corpses. They’re still highly conscious, even though they’re not controlled by an independent, human consciousness and should Phillip make too much noise, his presence is met by a gravelly, discordant “Is someone there?”

Penumbra: Black Plague effectively delivers a foreboding, menacing environment, even if its visuals don't stack up to modern standards.

As direct confrontation is discouraged, the primary means for advancement through the game is through puzzle-solving. While the thought of this immediately sounds like a chore, the puzzles are in fact cleverly worked into the world Phillip traverses, so that the experience remains an organic and natural one, without the feeling of challenges needlessly tacked on for the sake of artificially extending the length of the game. An effective feature of the game is the way Phillip collects and archives textual documents he encounters through the game; these not only provide a fantastic backdrop of the rich plot behind his experiences, but they also serve as clues on his objectives without directly addressing him or what he needs to do; the fact that the player is left to fill in the blanks and attempt to work out what the document might be trying to communicate creates a real sense of accomplishment in the player upon successful completion.

Penumbra: Black Plague, in its rich, plot-driven world, paralyzing fear and reliance of aversion of combat, as opposed to big guns and machismo sees the game retaining a level of grace seldom seen in first-person videogames today. Like a good book, it’s impossible to put down despite looking a little dated.

 

However, on successful completion, there is little reason to play the game again; there is no option for a save-file carryover of data or stats from previous games, nor are there any gameplay-affecting unlockables that can be attained which may otherwise warrant a replay.

Although Penumbra: Black Plague comes across as a little dated, offers little in the way of replay value and suffers some odd AI glitches here and there, the storyline unfolds like a well written novel, and will provide players with a haunting and unforgettable experience.

Tim. S

All images are the property of their respective owners.

Images of Women in Videogames

Female Representations

The best and worse of;

Let’s face it, you can’t play the Tomb Raider games without copping an eyeful of shapely heroine, Lara Croft and her flawless figure. Nor can you flip on a game of Serious Sam without seeing an over-exaggerated male figure engaging in an endless testosterone-fuelled gun slinging rampage. Portrayals of gender in videogames is nothing new; from way back to the mid-80s with stout plumber, Mario rescuing the hapless Princess Peach in the eponymous Super Mario Brothers, to the ass-kicking Jessica Cannon rescuing Colonel Blade in SiN Episodes. 

Though these representations of gender do not go unchallenged; some groups feel that by hypersexualising their characters, videogames objectify both women and men, while others feel it falls safely into the realm of ‘fantasy’ and as such should be left at that. However it isn’t all bad, videogames have thrown a few curve-balls here and there and given us some unexpected heroes and heroines who defy the stereotypes and conventions. Through the ages, here is a list of some of the most positive, and negative representations of both men and women in videogames.

The worst of…

5. Elexis Sinclaire (SiN series)

What can be said about Elexis Sinclaire? She’s a highly successful businesswoman, biochemist, entrepreneur, and proprietor of a multinational biotechnics company. Hell, she might have even made the list of Top 5 most positive representations of women if she didn’t look like this:

 

Is it normal for female CEOs to wear exceptionally low-cut blouses exposing their 32DD (don’t ask how I know that) cleavage? Sure, you could call me sexist for picking on her because she’s a woman, but come on, did they have to make her look like a fetish model? Infact she looks so much like a fetish model, that during the official promotional trade shows for Sin Episodes, the developers hired renown fetish symbol Bianca Beauchamp to portray her; to a scarily close likeness in dimensions and demeanor as well…

An evil mastermind? Or the fantasies of socially inept, weedy teenage boys and lonely middle aged men?

AUTHORS NOTE: It was actually really hard to find pictures of her (even slightly) covered up; these might be confronting, but are as tame as they come in comparison to what the deep, dark recesses of the internet offer. Consider yourselves lucky.

4. The Black Queen (Battletoads series)

For those who haven’t played the Battletoads games, they’re a somewhat psychedelic and surreal Beat ‘em Up experience.. The enemies include fluoro spandex-wearing warthogs, there’s levels that appear to take place on a giant checkerboard in space, and the main villain is, well… This woman.

Okay, we get that she’s an evil, scheming evil mastermind, but did they have to make her look like some kind of kinky bondage queen? I mean seriously, is it comfortable to dress like that all the time? And she’s got one foul mouth too, she bags the ‘Toads incessantly using all sorts of politically questionable, potentially racist terms… She’s essentially the caricature of a deranged, dominant, and violently psychotic woman who exists somewhere in the Freudian scheme of the male subconscious.

3. The Babes (Duke Nukem series)

Let’s face it, Duke Nukem has always been about pushing envelopes. The guys (presumably guys) behind these games were about pushing gratuitous violence, crude humour and provocative women in compromising situations. Sure, the game had a definite sleaze appeal, but perhaps the most glaringly odd depiction of women is in the ‘babes’ that Duke encounters through the game, usually restrained, mostly naked (however managing to dodge the censorship bullet with strategically placed restraints).

Did they really need to make all these women naked? Don’t these women wear clothes in their day to day life? How come all the women look like supermodels? Don’t average looking, overweight, or unattractive women exist in the future? Did the aliens undress them all before binding them or something? Why did they capture only women, and no men? Why are the restraints mysteriously phallic in design? Why, WHY, OH GOD WHY?!??!!?!?!

2. Ivy Valentine (Soul Calibre series)

Is it her physiologically impossible measurements, her sultry, sadistic disposition, or the fact that she’s got more flesh on display than you’d find on the cover of Penthouse? In fact it’s all of these things. When players first fired up their copies of a Soul Calibre game, chances are they expected a fluid and dynamic fighting game, with climactic, action packed weapon-based duels. What gamers didn’t bank on getting, was a female character of such eye-popping proportions it propelled her into the realm of sex-symbol status.

Calling her outfit ‘revealing’ is a gross understatement; it looks as if one false move is going to send the whole thing to pieces; in fact it’s amazing that it hasn’t just given way to her gargantuan bust yet. How this outfit stays together, or even stays on her is a mystery to fashion designers everywhere. Or for that matter, why you’d choose to even wear an outfit this scanty if you’re going to be soon duelling it out with a sword-weilding nutcase is beyond me. Unless her approach is a heart-attack induced victory, in which case she’ll come out on top (no pun intended).

1. Princess Peach (Super Mario series)

So we’ve had insane dominatrix types, latex fetish model wannabes and women who wear next to nothing. So why does Princess Peach of the Super Mario series, in all her modesty and naïve goodwill come in at Numero Uno? Because she’s dumber than a plank of wood, completely incapable of standing on her own two feet, a constant emotional wreck, and completely and utterly dependent on a man to get her out of every jam. Let’s go through these one by one.

Firstly, she’s dumber than a plank of wood: I say this because in almost every instance she is seen, she’s been kidnapped by the same god-damn dinosaur/turtle wannabe every single time. If she’s a princess, shouldn’t she have some royal bodyguards or something? Or did she squander all the royal tax coins on a lifetime supply of mushrooms for the occupants of the mushroom kingdom or something? Well, that’s certainly explain why Mario finds them scattered freely across the world..  Hell, maybe they’re all too high to really care that she’s been kidnapped. Only when Mario, in one of his rare moments of sobriety, realizes that his potentially endless supply of hallucinogenic drugs is about to dry up does he spring into action for that one fix that keeps him going.

Secondly, she’s complately incapable of standing on her own two feet: She NEVER does anything herself; she always waits for someone to come to the castle and rescue her, and hell, even when she’s supposedly rescued and all is well, we never actually see her in any kind of governance role over the mushroom kingdom, all she does is sit there and talk pointless drivel to Mario and Luigi. Hell, she might as well be a god damn tape recorder. At least a tape recorder doesn’t bitch and moan about needing to be rescued all the time. Now, I know ‘the babes’ in Duke Nukem 3D are pretty much in the same predicament, but at least they have the sense to NOT get kidnapped again, unlike our fuchsia-clad damsel in distress.

Thirdly, she’s a constant emotional wreck. I’m referring more to her solo debut in the Nintendo DS game, Super Princess Peach. This saw a complete role-reversal and Peach was out to save Mario. Finally, she was about to get the respect she deserved… If only she’d been given some sensible powers, and not the uh, ‘emotional powers’ the she taps into.

Seriously, it’s exactly what it looks like. She gets angry, erupts into flames and stomps around when she’s mad. When she’s miserable, she runs around bawling her eyes out in a never-ending stream of tears. And when she’s happy? She waves her arms and floats through the air. No wonder this game got the nickname ‘Super PMS Peach’. Either that, or she’s been prescribed some serious psychotropic drugs.

Finally, she’s completely and utterly dependent on a man to help her out of jams. No more evident is this than the fact she completely and unequivocally relies on the heroics of one short, stout, Italian plumber to rescue her from the clutches of a monster. Geez, when’s she gonna learn to get the job done herself? Not just in the games, but even in the cartoons, most of the time she sits around talking nonsense and expecting the Mario brothers to go and sort out the problems that she’s mostly responsible for. Now compare this with some of our other contenders; Ivy Valentine doesn’t depend on anyone, she’s a vicious fighter with a sadistic edge, who would happily rip a man a new colon. Elexis Sinclaire might have the looks of a fetish model, but let’s face it, with the assets (no pun intended) she inherited, she’s created a multinational biotechnology company, and has an army of loyal men ready to fulfill every evil whim; hell, SHE’S the one calling the shots. And as for the Black Queen, she might be an evil bitch with a completely irrational hatred for toads, sunshine and all things wholesome, but at least she’s proactive about it.

That’s more than we can say for dear ol’ Peachy.

The best of…

5. Jill Valentine (Resident Evil series)

I’m a little mixed with including Jill Valentine, since recent incarnations of the character have purported a significantly more sexualized image, so I’m basing this overview off of the Resident Evil 1-remake design, probably her least sexualized appearance. That’s what makes Jill so interesting in this game; She’s not sexualized like so many other contemporary female characters; especially when you consider the advances in virtual physics and higher polygonal resolutions that was taking place at the time; so what did this amount to for most Japanese games?

 Yep… Bigger, bouncier, more detailed, exposed breasts.

It was nice to see Capcom keeping true to the character and having Jill maintain her dignity; plus I think it was cool to see a female character shown as an equal as the other male characters without being hyper-sexualised; in some ways she was tougher- she ends up rescuing them and pulling them out of danger, without displaying a typical form of feminine ‘weakness’ that earlier games tended to perpetuate. In fairness, she did have a little less health than her male counterpart, Chris. Although this functions as a form of gameplay balance, as Jill winds up wielding some badass weapons the guys don’t get to play with.

4. Samus Aran (Metroid series)

Samus was likely the first major breakthrough for a strong female lead in videogames; she’s an intergalactic ex-army soldier turned bounty hunter commissioning dangerous assignments from the galactic federation, many of which involve her taking on the feared alien race known as the Space Pirates. Samus usually appears in her trademark yellow and orange armor, though recent titles have seen her appear more prominently unarmoured while interacting with various characters.

Gaming webzine Joystiq called the discovery of Samus’s gender as female the greatest moment in Nintendo’s history, while Game Informer dubbed it the greatest twist in video game history. And for good cause; she was the first powerful, independent woman of gaming; she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty or venture to the deepest, darkest, most dangerous recesses of planets and get the job done. The job, which would usually involve either wading through lava, gunning down hordes of hostile monsters or navigating hazardous terrain to collect rare artifacts. Kind of like Lara Croft, but with more dignity and less cleavage.

3. Corporal ‘Tequila’ (Aliens Vs Predator 2010)

She’s got more sass than pretty much everyone else here, but, she deserves a slot in the positives as she manages to avert death where her comrades become the main course of the buffet to the Aliens. She also guides the male player, ‘Rookie’ through most of the game until they meet and press on forward together.

However, she’s got the distinct feature of actually being useful; the other AI (artificial intelligence) controlled friendly humans (who are a mix of other males and females) are utterly hopeless at keeping their organs intact; they’re lousy aims, don’t know how to retreat or use their environments. Most of the time they don’t even see the aliens advancing, despite being decked out with the latest in image-tracking technology.

Luckily Tequila’s got some brains to go with her technology; although she still manages to get captured and impregnated with an alien chest-burster, but that’s a minor nitpick given how many times she’s saved your ass.

2. Jade (Beyond Good and Evil)

Beyond Good and Evil was somewhat of an anomaly of gaming. The heroine, Jade, is a photojournalist, not a soldier or bounty hunter. She also opts to operate in a stealthy, athletic manner, preferring to avoid conflict, but more than capable of kicking some ass should the need arise. She’s on a mission to uncover the truth about a war with an alien threat.

The heroine, Jade exhibits a quiet elegance in her demeanor; she’s got no interest in showing herself off, and is depicted in quite realistic proportions. Even ethnically, she’s an interesting example; though she bears an almost androgynous appearance, she’s almost racially neutral; she bears characteristics resemblant of Anglo-Saxon, African, Asian and Latin heritage. Play magazine described her as the "ultimate thinking man's (and woman's) heroine". A title well earned.

1. Alyx Vance (Half Life 2)

Anyone who’s ever played Half Life 2 (and its episodic installments) and its subsequent episodes will be well-familiar with Alyx Vance. She’s the daughter of one of Gordon Freeman’s old coworkers from the Black Mesa facility from the first game, and from all accounts, she’s a hell of a lot more of an asset to the Gordon than her old man was.

Through much of the episodes, Alyx, of African-Asian descent is an indispensible ally; there are moments when the player is completely defenseless and dependent on her sharp wit and reflexes to cap off the advancing Combine and their extra-terrestrial hordes while frantically searching for a way out. She’s the all-purpose kick-ass partner; she’s significantly attuned to her surroundings, and can usually spot things before Gordon gets a fix on them.

Not to mention that she takes after her father’s scientific background; she’s a keen inventor and a brilliant scientific mind. Out of some recycled military hardware and other scraps she and her father created well, this thing:

It’s simply referred to as ‘Dog’ by her and others, but it’s one of the most powerful assets in the game, able to hurl gigantic boulders and objects at threats with ease, while being seemingly indestructible. Way to go team Vance!