TItle: Penumbra - Necrologue Developer: Counter-Current Games Music Composed by: Julien Hauspie, ScoreStorm, Drex Wiln, Tiero, and Valentin Parhomenko Release Date: October 31, 2014 IntroductionBack before Amnesia: The Dark Descent was king of the horror scene, Frictional Games was busy experimenting with horror through its groundbreaking Penumbra trilogy, a saga set in the dark beneath ice and snow of northern Greenland and rooted in a descent into mystery and fear not unlike its eventual successor. However, due to a hectic development period, the series, which was meant to be spread over three equally scary installments, instead came out as something more like two and a quarter, with the final part, Penumbra: Requiem, providing an unsatisfying capstone to what should've been a much darker and complete experience. Of course, now Penumbra is old, and fast fading from memory. That doesn't mean it's been completely forgotten though. In fact, it's quite the contrary. The folks at Counter-Current Games were so incensed by the lackluster finish to the story that they went and created Penumbra: Necrologue; an alternative vision of what the trilogy's final installment should have been. Obviously, it's not for everyone, but if nothing else, for those of us who found Requiem to be more of a fart than a final trumpet call, I would say that Necrologue is definitely worth a peek. You can snag it for free on Steam, where it comes bundled with another mod in the same vein: Twilight of the Archaic, which I will be reviewing separately. You'll need to own The Dark Descent if you want to play it though, given it's a community-made mod, rather than an actual full game, but if you're a fan of Frictional Games, and interested enough in their work to be looking for this kind of thing, that shouldn't be an issue. StoryPenumbra: Necrologue pretty much requires that you have played the rest of the trilogy to understand it's plot, given it picks up right where Black Plague (the middle installment which was actually more of the real ending) finished up. Given that's the case, I'll be writing on the assumption that you've played said games, and already know most of what I'm talking about. The plot initially kicks off by stating that the majority of final couple hours of the second game was actually an elaborate mind-fuck perpetrated by your unwelcome cranial cohabitant 'Clarence', who as it turns out is not dead. No sooner do you awaken on the damp, dirty floor of the Shelter, right where you passed out at the end of Black Plague, but he gets back to simultaneously insulting and goading you. Shortly after your rude awakening, you also learn that Amabel Swanson is not dead (or so it seems) and that the message you sent calling for reinforcements at the end of Black Plague was not a hallucination. With this in mind, your driving goal becomes escape, rather than intrusion, though given the labyrinthine nature of the Shelter and the surrounding subterranean environs, this becomes harder than it sounds. What starts initially as a struggle to reach the surface soon goes awry, and Phillip again finds himself bravely running for his life and sanity in the finest tradition of Lovecraftian protagonists. There's lots of fan-service moments echoing events of the trilogy, and the game also even tries to make Requiem a bit more relevant, though how well it succeeds in that is up to you and whether or not you had the stomach to play through that travesty of a puzzle-pack The game mostly sticks to the rusty subterranean environments of the past three games, though later on it spices things up with a few outdoor sections. Regardless of the setting, the visual storytelling is pretty spot-on. Honestly, I'm not sure how to feel about Necrologue's plot. Right off the bat, it's clear the story is something of a work of fanfiction, although a reasonably well-crafted one. How well you're likely to take it depends on how dissatisfied you were with the endings that Requiem and Black Plague provided. Truthfully, the story is more of an 'expansion' on the lore of the trilogy than a stand-alone tale, with a vast majority of content being borrowed from the original series in order to pad things out. There are some subplots delivered via collectible notes, but none of them are very engrossing, and serve little function beyond enhancing the atmosphere Of course, being a mod made by fans for fans, that's to be expected, but I can't help but feel that the great tragedy here is that while they stayed true to the spirit of the narrative, they failed to do anything really original with it. That said, I much prefer the two-choice ending the mod provides by comparison to the despair-laden authorized ones. Both are much more ambiguous, in the spirit of Requiem's conclusion, but with a potential dash of optimism, if you have the will to see it. I suppose that's counter to what a Lovecraft story is supposed to engender, given that cosmic horror is all about existential terror, but frankly, I like the occasional spark of light in my dark stories; otherwise, what's the point of telling them? People play games to escape our depressing reality, not confront it. GameplayThe gameplay of Black Plague is the DNA of Necrologue, and it does almost nothing to differentiate itself. Stealth is crucial to survival, though more time is spent solving puzzles than hiding and running from monsters, which is something the game could've done with more of. Exploration is crucial for locating vital materials such as flashlight batteries and painkillers, as well as key items for resolving various logical conundrums. Of course it shouldn't be said that Necrologue is a direct clone, as it does stand apart in some small ways. There is no glow-stick in this game, only flares and your flashlight. It also plays around with your access to these sources of illumination later on, which is kind of fun since it makes a nice change of pace to have to rely on your other senses and memory to get around in the dark. There is also a new monster that makes a recurring appearance, which is faster and tougher than the old Tuurngait zombies, but not noticeably more bright. Like much of its source material, Penumbra: Necrologue is heavy on long stretches of corridor. Something about that length always helps engender dread, mostly of backtracking constantly. For those of us that love the gameplay style of The Dark Descent and the other Penumbra titles, all this is old hat, albeit a beloved and floppy one. My chief complaint I suppose is the puzzles. While clever, many of them are incredibly difficult to solve. My chief example would have to be the chemical-mixing puzzle that turns up about a third of the way in, which relies on the player looking at a map of the periodic table (ironic, since Clarence erased that from Phillip's brain in Black Plague). It's poorly explained, and relies too heavily on the player knowing what compounds are which. Compared to the explosive-mixing experiment that was the finale of Overture, it's downright cryptic. Of course the puzzles should be hard, but they should also be at least marginally intuitive and sad to say, that doesn't appear to be the case here. Sound & DesignOn the subject of sound, Necrologue gets things mostly right, switching back and forth between Mikko Tarmia's menacing soundtrack from the original Penumbra, as well as new tracks made by the mod's authors, and dead silence. For all their missteps in other departments, it sticks close to the themes of Lovecraftian horror that made the original trilogy such gold to play. Monsters are rarely deployed, but always given weight when they are. The developers have actually added a couple that didn't appear in the original games, including one that was only seen during the original tech demo for the HPL engine the game runs on. Sadly, that monster specifically seems to have the WORST sound bug, generating ear-splitting screeches fit to ruin your speakers. I can't tell if its intentional or not, but it's certainly quite horrible, and while it's probably a little late to expect the makers to do anything to fix it, it would be nice if they could. It's also clear the writers weren't native English-speakers, so if bad grammar really hurts your immersion like it does mine, you might want to be wary. Granted, the voice acting is pretty great compared to the trashy performances you often get with independent titles of any kind, but good acting can't cover bad linguistics. It's like those silly Youtube videos where people try to sing the direct translation of a Disney song from a foreign language and it comes out as word-salad. It's just a tragedy the writers didn't put more effort into translating their material for a foreign audience before hiring the voice actors to do their part. Flares make a return as a useful, yet noisy light source that should only be employed in the absence of monsters. The fact that you can never be entirely sure if there's one in the vicinity always made me hesitant to employ them, yet given there's no middle ground in the form of a glowstick, it's a risk you're forced to take this time around. In terms of the mod's graphics...well, it's Penumbra, a game made on an engine well over a decade old. it runs smoothly despite that, though there is another huge bug that the developers don't seem to have fixed yet on that front as well, near the conclusion of the game. It's not game-breaking, but it's certainly perfect for ruining immersion. Level design is more linear than in the Penumbra series, but still manages to keep things moving along at a relatively speedy pace. Overall it took me about five or six hours to finish the entire mod, though that's a rough estimate, given I took frequent breaks. It does reuse portions of Requiem's levels, which actually helps engender a sense of uncertain sanity for those of us who might've actually played it, though whether that's intentional is up in the air. Final VerdictCompared to most Amnesia mods, Necrologue is something special. It has production values, an actual story and a strong atmosphere that doesn't rely on jump-scares. Unfortunately it also still feels very much like an amateur production in some ways, plus the added downside of suffering from something like what I call 'foreign film syndrome', which I use to describe good work that sadly loses something in translation (sometimes literally). I would recommend it for the dedicated Penumbra fan, or for those interested more fun with Amnesia. Otherwise, you might want to steer clear. This is, at its core, a fan production. It was made by the fans, for the fans, and its design shows that to a considerable extent. I still enjoyed it, and I hope you do too, if you choose to look it up. And if you need another reason, well...it's free. And isn't that a reason in itself Minimum System Requirements
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For those of us who value creativity, places like Steam Greenlight, Kickstarter.com, and IndieDB are full of interesting projects and concepts that, for one reason or another, never make it to full release. Granted, most indie developers have to contend with the difficulties that come with being a 'starving artist', especially in this increasingly hostile economy, and not every idea gets the attention it deserves in any case. Still, there are a few that refuse to give in, and continue to fight for their moment in the sun, despite all adversity. I've listed a few of my favorites here with an eye to my love of horror titles for your viewing and opinion, along with my view as to their potential health and likelihood of release. To be clear, I'm judging the project's viability based on how many updates the developers have produced, as well as how much material they've released over their development lifetime. I'm also basing it on how many botched release promises they have under their belt and how long they've been under construction. Some devs are bound to be more active than others when it comes to engaging fans, and indie devs are notably bad, especially the smallest ones, so don't treat this as a perfect measuring stick for the likelihood of seeing these titles come out. 1. Allison RoadDEVELOPED BY FAR FROM HOME Anyone who enjoyed the Silent Hills Playable Teaser has probably heard about this little gem. One of a number of copycats that sprang up in the wake of the source material's untimely cancellation by Konami (as part of their devious plan to throw their entire company into a death-spiral), Allison Road strives to recapture the photo-realistic and dead-silence terror that made its inspiration a cult classic. I say 'strives' because despite apparently being cancelled itself back in June of 2016, the game sprang back to life in August of the same year, with a new development team. While nothing else seems to have emerged since then, at least as far as I could find, the game's promotional site is still up, which gives me high hopes for this spooky title. Let's just hope the rest of its development isn't as turbulent as it has been so far. Their Facebook is still active as of November 2016, but there's been nothing else since, so I'm tenuous about the ultimate fate of this tempting title. Chances of Release: UNCERTAIN 2. TangiersDEVELOPED BY ANDALUSIAN STUDIOS Inspired by the works of Salvador Dali, Kane Lynch, early industrial music, the dadaist art movement and a number of other outlandish surrealist sources, Tangiers has touted itself as a THIEF-styled stealth game, where words can be used to change the nature of reality. It sounds magnificent, and when I first heard about it, I was immediately hooked. Unfortunately though, ever since its original announcement way back in 2013, the game's co-creator Alex Harvey and his Andalusian Studios have yet to produce much besides some interesting screenshots, a snippet or two of gameplay, and a long string of requests for funding. It's no surprise either. Given what I've been able to dig up, the development team is two people, including Harvey himself. The original Kickstarter campaign didn't go so well, and since then, Andalusian has been maintaining a level of radio silence that has irked many of their hopeful donors, who increasingly feel like they've been scammed. Their latest update was in January, and their Steam Greenlight page hasn't been touched in two years. Things are looking increasingly grim for this enticingly bizarre and shadowy title, but it is my hope that someday it might just become more than a bunch of broken promises. Chances of Release: POOR 3. RoutineDEVELOPED BY LUNAR SOFTWARE Another gorgeous gem mired in broken release-date promises, Routine is a chilling and fascinating 'non-linear' horror experience set on an abandoned moonbase with 80's era technology. Your goal is to unravel the story as you go, and everything I've seen gives me a very Alien: Isolation vibe, and I mean that in every good way I can. The devs have been rather active in keeping their fans notified as to what's going on, so the games prospects are better than Tangiers in that regard at least. Their latest failure to meet their deadline this past March had me foaming at the mouth, and I'd only learned about it a few months prior. I can't imagine what torture it must be for the people who've been supporting the game since it's announcement in 2013. Still, the creators seem dedicated and honest, and have released plenty of content to prove the product's worth while not spoiling any of the details. My hopes for this one are very high! Chances of Release: VERY GOOD 4. GraveDEVELOPED BY BROKEN WINDOW STUDIOS Grave is an anomaly that popped up on my radar recently that I initially dismissed when I saw Markiplier playing an alpha version a few years back. However, the devs at Broken Window Studios have more recently released Grave VR, which takes advantage of Valve's HTC technology to bring you a non-linear, open-world to bring you a Ray Bradbury/Lovecraftian nightmare up close and in your face. They haven't updated their Steam Greenlight page in a while, but in this case it's because they're still very hard at work. Their Facebook page has been experiencing regular posts leading up to Grave VR's release in which they've openly stated that the vanilla version of the game is still under development. While I could appreciate a little more gameplay footage to go off of, I think it's safe to say that of the titles on this list, Grave is the most likely to actually escape development hell in the relative near future. Chances of Release: VERY GOOD 5. The Peterson CaseDEVELOPED BY QUARTER CIRCLE STUDIOS There have been a few games that dabbled in the horror of alien abduction, but compared to The Peterson Case, none of them have shown any true production value. According to the sole trailer I've been able to locate, it's implied the game is set near Roswell, Nevada, in the wake of the infamous incident. You take the role of Franklin Reinhardt, a private eye assigned to investigate the mysterious Peterson family, who live in the area. What minuscule amounts of gameplay that the video shows suggests a good ol' survival-horror vibe with a touch of Alien: Isolation as the player cowers in a wardrobe to hide from a long-limbed, growly, big-headed creature out of Whitley Streiber's nightmares. Sadly, for all its promise, this game looks more like another Tangiers more than anything that's likely to appear in the near future. The last post on the devs' Facebook page is circa 2015, and I was unable to locate any new material pertaining the title, so it's totally possible that this one has died in it's crib. Still, I'll hold out hope for as long as I can. Maybe they'll come back out of the blue, or someone else will revive the project. For now though, this is yet another unfortunate victim of the unreliability of Kickstarter. Chances of Release: POOR 6. Gray DawnDEVELOPED BY INTERACTIVE STONE Seldom have I seen a game that puts as much attention into environmental detail as Gray Dawn. Information released so far has you playing as a Swedish priest in a Romanian township who's been accused of killing one of his altar boys. Alone and without friends, you must navigate the wild and bucolic village and surrounding environs while suffering from visions of biblical evil. If anything, the game deserves to be recognized for the sheer originality of its setting choice alone. I only hope the writer can live up to his unique choice of backdrop. Despite a mostly silent Steam Greenlight page, the game's official website is still up and apparently active, and the last post on their Facebook page is from this past month at the time of this writing. Essentially, Interactive Stone is the opposite of Andalusian, in that while their initial Kickstarter gambit failed, it seems they've been keeping up the good work AND staying in touch with their fan base. So long as they don't break any release-date promises, they should be good. Chances of Release: GOOD 7. VisageDEVELOPED BY SAD SQUARE STUDIOS Some might be tempted to call Visage another P.T. wannabe, but in my experience, most of the games that have tried to mimic P.T. are horrible rush jobs, where as Visage looks like something someone has put their heart and soul into. It's one thing to be a copycat, and another to be an homage. I know I'm not alone in thinking this since among these sad tales, Visage is rare in that it blew the lid off its Kickstarter by getting 200% funded. So far Sad Square Studios has remained very active on Facebook, and continues to post updates, so there's a good chance they're anything but dead.
Chances of Release: GOOD What do you guys think? Are some of these titles destined to fly? Or will they flop! Let me know your favorites in the comments below! Also, this is my first list/opinion piece, so be gentle if I got anything wrong! Also, be aware I have a few other games that didn't quite make the list for the sake of brevity and because I wasn't sure if I could mark them as fit for 'development hell'. As it is, I'm sure you'll notice that some of these games may or may not belong here, given the untrustworthy and inscrutable nature of development cycles. But hey, what can you do? |
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