Bargain Bin Games Revue - Round One
by Eddie Turner on September 1, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Despite having not played Overture, I was aware of its existence and how well the original game was received. Still, I was totally blindsided by Black Plague's awesome presentation. The puzzles in the game are smart with spine chilling moments throughout. For a short game that's almost completely comprised of atmospheric elements, it certainly holds its own among many of today's more prominent titles. For a measly ten bucks, Penumbra: Black Plague gets my full recommendation.
To conclude, I hope you've enjoyed the first round in this soon-to-be series of articles. As the holiday season approaches, there'll be no shortage of the more big name titles on the market. I anticipate the second round of bargain bin games to happen sometime next year when things calm down a bit - perhaps giving us all a chance to pick up some of the less-hyped games that slipped through the cracks during the mad holiday rush. In the meantime, if there's a particular game you'd like me to consider for the next article, please let me know. I'm just an email away!
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kilkennycat - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
Penumbra:Black Plague is the second game in a trilogy. The first is Penumbra: Overture, still available retail from Gamestop and on-line sources for $19.99. The game mechanics in Black Plague are a lot less awkward than in Overture. The third in the series Penumbra:Requiem has just been released in the past few days and is available as an add-on EXPANSION to Black Plague. Afaik, there will never be a retail version of the Requiem expansion, however it is available for download purchase for $9.99, currently from www.gamersgate.com. The download version will run with either a retail copy or download copy of Black Plague. Gamersgate has all parts of the trilogy separately available for download purchase and also offers Black Plague Gold Edition for $19.99, which contains both Black Plague and Requiem. This combo may also be released retail, but I have not come across any (US) sources so far. See:-http://www.gamersgate.com/index.php?page=shop&...">http://www.gamersgate.com/index.php?pag...what=bro...
Not affiliated in any way with Gamersgate. I have not (yet) purchased any games from them. I have retail copies of both Overture and Black Plague, knew that Requiem had just been released for download only, so came across Gamersgate yesterday in my hunt.
duderockin - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
this could also be a useful article series for those who want the more zen perspective of 20/20 hindsight.also good for those who hate spending more time on video card catch-up than actual gaming.
GTForce - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
Check out Falcon:http://home.novint.com/">http://home.novint.com/
and how Penumbra series benefits from it:
http://home.novint.com/games/games_list.php?c=0&am...">http://home.novint.com/games/games_list.php?c=0&am...
http://home.novint.com/games/games_list.php?c=0&am...">http://home.novint.com/games/games_list.php?c=0&am...
cosmotic - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
I don't really see any need to do (Ed: blah blah) notes. I presume there is an editorial process that is two way? Maybe these 'issues' should be resolved and the text of the article changed. This makes for an easier read and would help the professionalism of the articles. Thanks.JarredWalton - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
I felt most were somewhat humorous. Sorry they didn't please, since I added them. Without having Crazy Machines 2 I couldn't verify whether PhysX drivers were sufficient or not.Pottervilla - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
I agree with the humorous part.However, you guys are one of the premier hardware review sites on the web--I would expect you to know about things like drivers. Also, I would expect that if you were reviewing a game, you would have a copy of it somewhere, and maybe a couple PhysX capable graphics cards.
Overall, it was still a good thing to mention (the possibility that PhysX drivers might open up the extra levels), but I have come to expect a little more than maybes from this site--and a little communication between editor and reviewer would be nice too. :)
I hope this is constructive criticism--keep up the good work.
Nihility - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
...suck.The whole point of the titles is to make it easier to navigate a 7 page article. Sure it's fun to be random at times and be witty, but seriously give us readers a break please.
StormEffect - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
I thought they were clever. Enjoy the creativity, if you want numbers and easily searchable reviews go to google or use meta-critic.Anandtech readers can be so dry and boring sometimes. Waa waa waa.
JarredWalton - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
And here I thought the readers might enjoy some literary quotes as a change of pace. I mean, isn't the point that you actually read about the games rather than just look at a page heading and decide whether or not that's worth reading? Or you can treat it like a magazine and click through the pages; if you see the pictures and don't feel like reading, click to the next page. It takes all of 5 seconds. Besides, more page views are good for the articles - the popular stuff is more likely to get similar articles in the future, since after all we are a business the depends on advertising.Anand Lal Shimpi - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 - link
Honestly I think it's got to be a balance between something creative and something functional, I try to blend the two as much as I can whenever I write - sometimes I get it right, other times I don't.I've never been a fan of forcing pageviews on an article, my thinking is always that if an article is good enough it'll attract its own traffic, regardless of how it's structured.
Thanks for the feedback, while I can't always guarantee that we'll be perfect - we'll definitely try :)
Take care,
Anand