[h1] Error 404: Penumbra not found [/h1]
Penumbra: Requiem is the third instalment to the series of survival-horror games with a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and story elements. It is recognized by Frictional Games as an expansion to Penumbra: Black Plague. Being a sequel, Requiem starts in fashion very similar to how Black Plague did – with a flashback of the ending from the previous game. Except for where Black Plague made an effort to recap the events of preceding Penumbra: Overture, Requiem simply opens with Black Plague’s closing scene. It stands to reason, as despite being the finale of the initial Penumbra concept, the ending of Black Plague was left deliberately vague. To avoid spoilers, I will only argue that while Philip’s final choice was very clear, its ultimate outcome was left unexplored. Alas, here we are, knocked over the head by a Grey and dragged into the darkness (once again). This review is the third entry into a series that explores game-by-game all of the Frictional Game’s titles. Without further ado, let’s raise eyebrows and a few questions about Penumbra: Requiem.
[b] Thinking with portals [/b]
You wake in an abandoned tomb, without an indication as to where you are or what to do next. After exploring the available surroundings you get to find a glowing book. On pickup, we can hear the voice of a man. It belongs to a researcher who, much like the player, was brought there from the Black Plague’s facility. His scarce records are found throughout the entire game, as the player seemingly follows in his tracks. I immediately noticed, that there is no record of the voiceover in the notebook. Slightly surprised I carried on solving the puzzles that eventually led me to a strange artefact, that vanished when touched. As it turns out, it was a key to an otherworldly portal – the only way out of the tomb. The Portal led to an industrious looking area. Searching around the devoid of life room, I once again found the strange artefact from the tomb. A female voice informed me that I found one of the two keys and then it struck me – this is was what Penumbra: Requiem is about.
The game is, in fact, a set of logical puzzles, unrelated to one another. There is no story and there are no enemies, just solving the puzzle, getting the right number of keys, and yet another portal. I can’t quite wrap my head around why would Frictional Games choose to take Requiem in this particular direction. Especially with such an introduction implying a continuation of the story, I was flabbergasted when I realised that Requiem essentially has no story at all, and the game is not even a horror anymore. Imagine entering the car on the parking lot, only to find out that it is a fancy bathtub that just looks like a car from the outside. It is somewhat amusing in a way, but why is there a bathtub in the middle of a parking lot? Why does it look like a car? This doesn’t make any sense. Much like the seemingly random shift of the core concept in the final entry to a game series.
[b] Ketchup from TNT [/b]
That raises a question – what Penumbra: Requiem is then, really? In the review of Penumbra: Overture I compared the development by Friction Games to throwing ideas at the wall – some worked well, bouncing right back, others not so much, slumping down miserably. To carry over the analogy, Black Plague would be then removing all the sloppy elements. In case of Requiem, the creators went a step further and removed the wall. There is no telling anymore whether the idea was good or bad, they are all just there, flying majestically through the air, unchecked and unrestrained.
The outcome is a rather haphazard set of rooms, there is no overarching visual theme or any particular link between them. Quite the opposite, each of them is visually different only with a portal at the end being a given. Requiem relies heavily on the game’s physics engine with most of the puzzles requiring to manually move objects. Sometimes it is to move the block onto the pressure plate, other blocking the door with a barrel. Somewhat strangely the inventory was made essentially redundant. There are hardly any items you can pick up and all mechanics including mixing objects from inventory screen are gone. To change a fuse you have to pick the thing with a mouse and drag it manually all the way to the other room. The notebook is redundant as well with the only entry being the number of keys left in the level.
Most importantly though, horror is gone. In Penumbra: Requiem, there are no threats to the player other than some of the environments. Without an in-game factor that would give validation to the sense of unease and danger of the situation, the attempts at creating atmosphere lose most of its impact. On top of that, only a few rooms towards the end of the game try to be scary at all. The only feeling the game establishes perfectly is confusion. There is a puzzle requiring you to teleport a bottle of exploding ketchup or a platformer section mimicking original Donkey Kong with explosive barrels. These bizarre and sometimes downright silly ideas kill even a notion of atmosphere before it has any chance to flourish.
[b] An estranged child [/b]
To be fair, I would like to stress that Requiem is not an inherently terrible game in its own right. The puzzles are fairly diverse and should you fancy a bit of simple problem-solving you might even enjoy this title. What truly makes Requiem a bad game is Frictional Games choice of forcing it into the Penumbra franchise and claiming it is a horror. It lures the player with a promise of expanding the story, only to make at best a tenuous connection to the rest of the series. For instance, Requiem does bring up characters from previous games – Red, or the last surviving member of elevated caste, an infected researcher from the computer room is there as well. Except when in Black Plague all such mentions served to resolve a plotline, in Requiem, their presence is entirely inconsequential and not even single character is given any kind of closure. Like most of things within the game in general, they are just kind of there.
Then there are also elements that imply that developers simply stopped giving a damn at some point. Ketchup made from TNT is one thing, but aforementioned underused mechanics reinforce the sensation of Requiem being an empty husk of a Penumbra game. Then there is a matter of humour, in a completely out-of-place fashion Phillip started being sarcastic. Not in a funny and self-aware way, being rather miserable and off-putting instead.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1787620371
I would argue that Requiem would do a much better job if it was not part of the Penumbra series. It invites comparison to the rest of the franchise and this means a .50 caliber shot to the foot for Reqiuem. Puzzles in Black Plague worked well as a means of furthering the story and building into the atmosphere. Requiem has the puzzles for the sake of it alone. They are not bad, but the game is much flatter and admittedly the gameplay was never the strongest trait of Penumbra. It was indeed functional, but it was the story that gathered the most praise from the general audience. On the other hand, Frictional Games seem to have realised that Requiem was a bad idea. It is sold on Steam as part of Penumbra: Black Plague Gold Edition. Its price is identical to that of Overture, meaning that Requiem is essentially thrown in as a bonus. Which is a commendable display of common sense on the part of the developer. If you really loved the puzzles from other Penumbra games, you might find Requiem enjoyable in short sessions as a form of a mental warm-up. If you got it as part of Gold Edition you probably can give it a try, but in general, this is a stone better left unturned.
