Penumbra: Overture First Impressions

So I am finally giving Penumbra: Overture another go after the severe physiological trauma it inflicted on me a few years ago.  And it already does not look good; As I clawed ineffectively on the mine's entrance as the blizzard sucked at my strength and numbed my extremities I knew that this playthrough would be no better then my first. Penumbra: Overture is a great game; It is a graphical adventure with the best and all encompassing physics of any game I have ever played, it is a stealth/action game that gives you a choice of hiding or fighting. But most of all it is a horror game that is many times more scary then anything I have ever seen and often leaves my with a racing heart after an encounter.

But now I hear banging from the deep and know that I must go down there, that there is no other way. It seems like far to good and unique of a graphical adventure to succumb to the fear and leave the game in some dark forgotten area of my hard drive.

Gallery: Hammerfight

My review and mini-review of Hammerfight.

Gallery: NightSky

My mini-review of NightSky.

suteF - Review

suteF is the direct sequel (once called a remake) to Fetus, and is the third game that tells the tale of Aramas in the Abyss. Like Fetus it revolves around him and his dead self Bob talking revenge upon Fetus, I assume for bringing him to the Abyss, by killing him. This time around the visuals, puzzles, story, horror atmosphere, and mechanics have been expanded and improved. Another aspect of the game that I saw as an improvement over Fetus is the number of denizens of the Abyss that you interact with, and all of them interesting and unique characters. The game is advertised to take about two hours to complete, which I think if anything is more of a minimum which could grow to be somewhat longer if you get stuck for long periods of time on any of the puzzles.

One of the best improvements over Fetus is the gameplay. The added abilities really lead to better and more challenging puzzles, and some real brain teasers. In suteF you still have the ability to wrap around the screen when you move off of it, change gravity's direction when stepping on the special platforms, and move boxes around to block lasers and activate buttons. Additionally, you have gained the ability to jump/climb up platforms directly beside and one to two levels up, and even to grapple boxes and walls to pull then to you or you to them up too three squares away. These two new abilities actually come and go with the loss and the gaining of the grapple and with the breaking of your leg in a fall for the jumping, which prevents jumping two squares up but leaves the single square height still attainable. And some aspects of the world are even different, for example some puzzles will change while you move around; Which might seem like it could make the puzzles simply impossible, but it seems like a lot of care and thought was given to make then still completely possible and yet still complicated and fun.

One of the most interesting aspects of the game to me were the interactions with the various different incarnation of yourself; Whether they were from the past, the future, or simply alternative presents I do not know, but they added a lot more depth to the story, and added a level of cooperation and partnership and to an otherwise empty and hostile environment. These incarnations also manage to add an additional level of horror to the game. Because instead of simply seeing corpses, in suteF you are often show the death of a fellow incarnation and even get to interact with an incarnation of yourself that has been driven mad by the Abyss.

The gameplay is very similar to Fetus, but with the noted additions. It is at its core a physics platformer, were the goal is to make it to the single large TV (visionometor) to be transported to the next area, while sometimes having to turn off the smaller TVs along the way. This is accomplished for the most part by using the wrap around effect of the edges of the screen and by switching the direction of gravity for you and any other objects you push into the area of the gravity switchers. Additionally, their are lasers you have to avoid and buttons to turn on and off platforms.

All in all I think it is a great game. It takes the great atmosphere from Fetus and fully realizes it. It takes the already good puzzles from Fetus and just ups enjoyment and the challenge. It takes the already great minimalistic graphics and makes them better. And most of all it takes an interesting, although convoluted, plot and characters and adds more depth. So for all of these reasons, and a few others, I will say that suteF is hands and feet above Fetus, an already good game, and well worth a play-through.

suteF can be downloaded here.

Fetus

Fetus is a simple dark horror physics puzzle platformer. It has nice simplistic visuals, and an ever expanding arsenal of gameplay. While the visuals look perfectly dark and horrific, one thing that I think was missing was matching gameplay. For the most part it is hard to die and it is never in a gruesome way; But this is made up for in multiple other areas. For one the ending is very scary and lives up to the horror visuals. Additionally, the music is top notch and really adds to the experience. One of the more interesting parts of the game for me was that the game never explained anything and you had to figure it out through trial and error. For example, near the beginning of the game you pick up a follower, a ghost called bob. This ghost has a pretty interesting twist to it in my opinion, which is left up to player to figure out and I am not going to wreck the surprise. So while Fetus is not a great game it is a good game.

Edit: as of a few weeks latter I really have to say that Fetus has grown on me, it is a very memorable game that is well worth a play-through.

Hammerfight

Hammerfight (formerly Hammerfall) is a physics action adventure game available for the PC on Steam. It is one of the most innovative games I have ever played, and that is saying a lot. The graphics are good, very good actually for such a small title. Additionally, it has a branching plot that is universally praised and adds quite a bit or replayability. The physics are great and quite a lot of the environment is destructible.

You play as a little battle copter thing, moving it around with your mouse, with a 2D side view. You can attach various battle implements to your machine {shields, swords, maces, guns, throwing weapons} and your main attack method is flying in circles at the right speed and angle to swing the weapon and hit your opponent. Their is a lot of skill involved; It is not easy to get the weapons swinging properly and their are different ways to go about trying to do so. Additionally, your weapons can be used to disarm your opponent or to block their strikes; Hitting an enemies weapon just right and with enough power can knock it off of their ship, giving you a huge advantage; And your weapon is the most sturdy and indestructible part of your ship and is excellent at blocking and deflecting blows. Also, instead of going for a strong hit you can try to push the enemy into a wall, damaging him and lining him up for a devastating attack, or another foe, damaging and entangling then both and throwing them out of position.

The main game consists of a series of area battles, some with hordes of enemies poring into the area, others with a few hard enemies, and still others which are boss battles. Periodically you are asked to make a choice, your answer dictates which path you follow; Additionally, how you do in some battles and challenges dictate your next branch. In addition to the main game their are a few very fun mini games, that will give you weapons and upgrades if you do well in them for use in future mini games or the main game. The most notable of these mini games is one modelled after a simplistic version of baseball and another similar to soccer. And if you are interested in multiplayer you can play with up to four mouses hooked up to one computer.

The weapons are very diverse and interesting. Not only can you add singing stones to add special attributes to your weapons, but all the weapons play very differentially to begin with. The swords are very sharp but short, you need to get closer to your enemies and will not be able to build up as much energy in your swing. While conversely the maces, in general, are connected to your machine with a chain (which enemies can pass though) and are blunt and heavy (in general) allowing you to give a huge punch to anyone in a wide circle around you. Multiple weapons/armour can be attached at the same time, the limiting factor is mostly their weight, the more you pile on the heavier and therefore slower you will be. The game is moderately loot/upgrade based, you can acquire weapons and upgrades by either winning them in a match, picking them up from your fallen enemies, or buying them. These weapons are stored in your own personal armoury, with a stop for one of every weapon in the game.

Note:  A "version" of Hammerfight (Hammer Wars) has been released on the PSP, by a different developer. This game has differences from the original and I have never played it. This review is based solely on Hammerfight for the PC.