Graphics: Although the visuals in Penumbra: Black Plague can’t compete against the detailed colorful images in a state-of-the art title such as Crysis, they’re extremely well-suited for their ominous purpose. The stark, desolate, drab settings allow the game to tell its story convincingly. There are numerous improvements over the graphics in Penumbra: Overture, including realistic corpses, better water effects and some well-rendered monsters. The many security beams, fires and toxic gases are effectively depicted.

A unique dimension of the graphics is that as you begin to lose your mind, things aren’t always what they seem to be. Sometimes, things appear that aren’t there; at other times, objects disappear that you were sure were there; and at still other times, items change their appearance completely. This ambiguity really adds to the sense that you’re not in your right mind, especially in light of the effective use of motion blurring.

One of the best features of the visuals is the lighting and shadowing effects. Since the locations that you visit are usually very dark, lighting plays a key role in creating the right ambiance. Whether the light is manmade or naturally seeping through a crevice, it’s quite beautiful and really adds a lot. Penumbra: Black Plague is definitely best played in a completely dark room with an illuminated keyboard.

IInterface: Penumbra: Black Plague uses standard first-person shooter controls for its input system, and this works very well. You may customize the settings if they’re not to your liking. The interface is very minimalist, without any on-screen indicators or anything fancy in the menu system, to maximize your potential for immersion.

You have ready access to an inventory of objects you collect, and this is easy to use. You can also view your current health and flashlight power in the inventory. Your flashlight has limited energy, but fortunately, a glowstick is available that doesn’t run on batteries. As you progress, you may pick up batteries for your flashlight or painkillers that aid your health.

The savegame system is different from most computer games in that it combines automatic saves with special spots where you can manually save your progress. Because these spots are quite frequent, you don’t find yourself facing a huge loss of progress because of your inability to save wherever you want. There’s even an option to move your favorite save spots to a location where they’ll never be overwritten. When you load from a save spot, it’s nice that you don’t have to wait very long.

Gameplay: The gameplay tests both your brain and your nerves by introducing edge-of-your-seat exploration, adventure, puzzle solving and evasion of threats. Part of you will want to slowly and carefully examine every nook-and-cranny, and part of you will want to scoot ahead quickly to avoid possible enemies. The exceptionally well-developed narrative really sustains your interest throughout.

Although not that long to play from beginning to end — between five and six hours — one reason this new release is shorter than its predecessor is that you’re less likely to get stuck as frequently. The finale is both well-done and fitting.

Penumbra: Black Plague also has a lot more replay value than Penumbra: Overture. You can now try to beat your previous time, play around with the physics, piece together all the parts of the story or attempt to collect all 10 hidden artifacts to unlock special bonus material. This is a game that in many ways begs to be played again, and there aren’t any tedious sections that you would dread going through a second time.

Sound FX: The sound effects in Penumbra: Black Plague are simply excellent. The noises when you interact with objects are always spot-on, whether you’re dragging, pushing or throwing wood, metal, fabric or flesh. The ambient environmental sounds are quite frightening, from Philip’s labored breathing to the tortured groans and whispers of others nearby. The developers clearly put a lot of work into making every clank, screech and rustle sound just right. Since you often operate in the dark, the sound effects are especially crucial to the gameplay, given the need to be constantly vigilant about unexpected intruders.

The voice acting is also exceptional. While in Penumbra: Overture there was basically one voice actor, in Penumbra: Black Plague you hear several different voices. Particularly noteworthy is an excellent voice inside your head that evolves into a quirky character that can annoy or entertain, providing a great companion that makes some slower gameplay segments much more interesting. The other characters do their jobs well, which helps keep you searching for other life forms. It is, however, a bit disconcerting at first to note that the voice actor playing Philip changed between the original release and this sequel.

Music: Like the sound effects, the music in Penumbra: Black Plague is outstanding. The soundtrack is fittingly dark and eerie, and does a great job of ramping up the suspense in key parts of the game. The music never feels forced and never distracts you from the action, but nicely blends into the rest of the game’s lugubrious atmosphere. The frequently discordant tones, heavily relying on the piano, end up being absolutely central to your sense of disorientation.

Intelligence: As with Penumbra: Overture, having the highest quality artificial intelligence is neither present nor beneficial to the style of gameplay in Penumbra: Black Plague. There aren’t that many different enemies, and most of the ones you meet are somewhat mindless. Nonetheless, the zombies in this sequel are certainly smarter than the dogs you encountered in the original release, and they do utter responses appropriate to the situation and are quite adept at finding your hiding places. However, there’s no pretence here of matching human intelligence.

Difficulty: Penumbra: Black Plague gives you the option of playing at easy, normal or hard levels of difficulty, and you may alter the difficulty setting at any point. If you haven’t played Penumbra: Overture, you could be a little confused at the beginning of this sequel, in part because this offering is so different from standard adventure fare, but you’ll catch on quickly. This title isn’t at all impossible and not frustrating or brain-melting, even when played at the highest difficulty level, as everything is so logical for those who are patient and painstaking in their thought processes. For a veteran adventure gamer, neither the puzzles nor the enemies will pose major obstacles, and in the end, Penumbra: Overture is fun for players of all skill levels.

Overall: Penumbra: Black Plague is a smashing success as the final episode of an already top quality franchise available at a bargain bin price from a small developer. Unlike many game sequels, there’s no sense that this is just a glorified, dashed together add-on pack; instead, there’s a lot of innovative new content. Those who enjoyed the original release will have at least as much fun with this one, and newcomers might find it more accessible. The pervasive sense of terror, the need to figure out how to manipulate your surroundings and the drive to unravel enticing mysteries are integrated together in a totally coherent and compelling way. I just wish that there were more imaginative releases like this that transcend the familiar play niches.