A short, amazing, scary, and well-crafted work of art about infections.
GRAPHICS: 5
The visuals in Penumbra Black Plague are the lowest point of the game, a common problem with games that come from small studios. The textures and models could be very better, but the art direction is fine. The HPL Engine isn't cutting-edge, but it allows for some features like depth of field, shadows, etc. which add detail to the game (the shadows are very accurate but also very hard, with no soft edges). Also, effects like fire could be better too. Overall, Penumbra: Black Plague doesn't look terrible, but it's not a visual marvel either.
SOUND: 9
Sound is one of the most important aspects of survival horror games, and Penumbra: Black Plague does a great job here. The sound effects are very well made, the enemies' voices is amazing, with guttural-like grunts (I even heard one of them grunting "There's someone there!", or at least I think I did), although there are other voices who doesn't sound as well; and the music... Well, the music is just perfect. It sets the right mood, it's very well made and the tracks always play in the right time (I love the main menu track). Overall: The sound is impressive, and almost perfect (although a not-so-perfect voicework lets it down).
GAMEPLAY: 10
Another vantage point of Penumbra: Black Plague. The gameplay is amazing. The story, though not innovative, develops itself well as a continuation of Penumbra: Overture and has one of the best endings I've ever seen in a video game, with impressive dialogue, unexpected events and strange plot twists I won't spoil. The physics engine drives the whole game. ¿Wanna open a door? Grab it with your mouse and pull down. ¿Flip a switch? Grab it and swing your mouse down. And the list goes on. The physics in Black Plague let you immerse yourself more in the game. And when you stumble upon your vomit-inducing foes, you won't have a shotgun, or a pistol, or even a pickaxe like in Overture. In Penumbra: Black Plague, there are no weapons (which luckily can make Overture players forget about its clumsy combat), so your only choice is to hide or run (you get to kill only one Infected in the whole game), which makes the game even scarier (run away to the nearest door before the thing catches you). The puzzles are well-thought and more logical than what you see in other adventure games (flatten a coin to use it as a makeshift screwdriver, light a barrel of gasoline to activate the smoke alarm and get out through the emergency exit, etc.) It's short, but it's filled with excellent moments, so it makes up for it. Overall, Penumbra's gameplay is amazing, perfect, with great puzzles, a scary atmosphere, great physics and an intelligent story.
The Good:
¤ Great storytelling.
¤ Clever puzzles.
¤ Excellent atmosphere.
¤ Impressive physics.
¤ Amazing soundtrack.
¤ Good SFX.
The Bad:
¤ Not-so-good voices.
¤ Dated graphics.
¤ Short.