How does Penumbra compare to Amnesia?

[TzarChasm]

I'm a new Frictional Games fan who found Amnesia to be scary as hell, and is waiting pretty anxiously for A Machine for Pigs and the unrevealed project. While I would love to give Penumbra a shot I am a bit concerned that virtually every critical review for the series rates the games significantly lower, and in many cases, successively so. I'm hoping to hear from "real" people who have played both and can give me sound advice as to how they compare. If Penumbra comes highly recommended, I'll get the whole game.

This isn't an Amnesia vs. Penumbra thing; I just need more information before making a commitment to purchase a new game. Thanks for anyone and everyone who replies to this.

[tonewww]

i have played both and TBH i preferred penumbra, some of the highlights are nice like the fact you can examine the environment and see the players thoughts. it is pretty creepy at points but if you played amnesia first you may not find it as scary. overall i found it to be a fine horror game and would recommend it if you want to see what basically is the father of amnesia

[LulleBulle]

Penumbra is scary in it's own way but not as Amnesia. Penumbra is the older game, that's why. I'd definitely say it's worth playing (only tried Black Plague tho).

[mathizel]

Although I have not played Penumbra yet. It is currently available in the Steam sale, so it might be worth the little money they are asking for the entire collection at the moment. I am going to play it as soon as the download is finished.

[The Rock Worm]

As I've found, Amnesia: The Dark Descent is scarier than Penumbra, but Penumbra has more of a story (and can be scary too!). Seeing that Penumbra is split into Overture and Black Plague, its story is longer. Both Penumbra and Amnesia have great puzzles and challenges to get past. Penumbra Overture, being the first, actually had weapons. every game since then has removed this option.

[Zannibal]

I also recommend trying this out. First one is not scary at all if you're playing on easy difficulty since you can kill enemies. When I heard enemy noise, I equipped my pick axe and started to hunt them down But Black Plague, my god it's scary... I remember the part before Library, I crouched the whole time while not in "safe rooms"

As for story, I also say Penumbra is awesome. I can't really compare to Amnesia since I was stupid enough to spoil the story before completing the game...

But if you have anachro(orwhateverit'scalled)phobia be warned - Overture is nightmare.

And on the other hand, 5€ for all 3 games at Steam. I mean, it's not that much for great games and Frictional Games deserves every penny they get.

[Scraper]

I'd say Penumbra will always be somewhat special game for me, because it was pretty much first horror game without weapons that I can remember.

I'd say that today it has dated graphics, but not too dated to still be scary since the sound environment is excellent. Story is also good when you start to get immersed into the gameplay.
Seeing Penumbra Collector Pack on Steam for 4,99€ is a price that I would pay for two good games (expansion included). No doubt.

[Bridge]

There's no real reason to compare them as both are excellent games and I highly recommend that you play it. You might find Penumbra: Overture's production values to be a little low but you will hardly notice it and Penumbra: Black Plague is completely on par with Amnesia IMO. Anyway, the game is still brutally scary even if Amnesia is scarier and I guarantee you will be nervous the entire time (even when not playing it).

[Zaffre]

Penumbra focuses more on the story then Amnesia. You can defend yourself in Overture, but not in Black Plague (well, you could kill the enemies by hitting them enough with objects, but that ruins the immersion). Amnesia focused more on the scares. I personally found the Penumbra physics to be more polished then Amnesia's. For instance, if I turn a valve, it didn't get stuck. If I lightly push my mouse forward when I am holding a door, it doesn't fly open like I'm on steroids.

They both had their scares. For instance, in Overture,

Spoiler below!

There's a room you go into, and a giant worm starts chasing you. You have to push buttons to seal the worm inside doors, and push boxes into acid pits to escape it. Once you're done with that, you have to smash barricades with your pickaxe, and at the end destroy a beam to collapse the ceiling. I found a video earlier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbpTDSQvFLs&feature=plcp

Doesn't compare to the Guest Room in Amnesia though. QQ

[HateSolstice]

I really don't get these comments about Amnesia not having as much story. The entire point of the game(besides losing your mind) was learning about what lead Daniel to inducing amnesia to begin with, and why he begs himself to kill Alexander.

The only real difference is that in Penumbra you read everything; there is very little voice acting besides one particular character. Amnesia has a lot more story-telling devices.

As for the OP's original question, Penumbra compares very well to Amnesia, albeit somewhat visually(and slightly mechanically) dated. It has a great story. The atmosphere is very secluded and induces a lot of isolated feelings and fears.

I say just go ahead and get the pack. I promise you wont regret it. But be warned: Requiem is NOT like the other two games. In fact, I don't think it's even connected in any way, as it's all puzzles.