Penumbra 1: The Origins of Evil is one of the first horrors to preserve the true spirit of Howard Lovecraft’s scary stories. You have to go on an unexplored adventure through an abandoned mine, get acquainted with its monstrous inhabitants and meet with the dark horror buried underground. Will you survive or fear will prevail over reason?
Classics of the genre: Penumbra 1: Sources of Evil review
The video game industry would probably never have faced the development of the indie horror genre if the world had not seen the game from Frictional Games. A terrible adventure along mysterious corridors that extend far beneath the frozen lands of Greenland, and you are a seeker of answers to what happened. Although horror was released in 2006, the interest of a modern gamer does not disappear, so it is advisable to review the game “Penumbra 1: The Sources of Evil”.
Game actions are designed to alternate between a dynamic adventure, solving puzzles and stealth. The visual graphics are simple. The image is a little rough, there are grainy textures everywhere, blurry brownish-gray backgrounds, shadows and blurred details designed to enhance the feeling of being in a terrible nightmare.
You have to start the passage of the computer game "Penumbra 1: The Sources of Evil" for the main character - Phillip, whose father, who was considered dead 30 years ago, sent a letter asking him to come to a cold island. It turns out that all this time he was alive, moreover, he conducted unknown studies. All this looks surreal, but our desperate character sets off in search of and descends into an abandoned mine.
Gamers Opinions
As with all horror squealing, the atmosphere is of paramount importance. Reviews of “Penumbra 1: The Sources of Evil” emphasize the elaboration of each element that is configured to create a dark, scary environment. Sometimes your character will feel helpless, depressed, guilty. Often there is a feeling of depressing loneliness with an alarming knowledge that you are not alone. There are no bloody scenes of fights and murders. The battles are not worked out well enough, because first of all the horror is aimed at survival, solving puzzles, and in case of an attack the best way is to run.
The Penumbra 1: Sources of Evil system requirements are minimal because the game takes up little space and is suitable for Windows XP, Vista, and 7.
Although the horror received mostly positive reviews, it was criticized in a number of ways. For example, some believe that the combat system is inconvenient and leaves much to be desired. Others emphasize that the plot elements have obvious shortcomings: the motives of the protagonist are not always explainable. However, despite criticism, the game receives high marks for its disturbing and eerie atmosphere.
Prologue. Descent into the dark
After the death of his mother, Philip receives a letter from his father, who was considered missing 30 years ago. The letter contains the key to the bank vault. In the locker, Philip finds a book in a foreign language and notes. So the hero goes to the shores of Greenland in search of particles of the past.
Once on the deck of the ship, take a notebook from the table, where as you progress through the game Penumbra 1: The Sources of Evil, the main tasks and notes will be displayed. Turn around and go to the table next to the bed. Open the drawer and take the flashlight. Turning around, open the chest and read the letter. Head to the narrow metal cabinet near the wall, locked. The key in the inventory will allow you to pick up the items inside: a fluorescent lamp and a battery for a flashlight. Go to the door leading out and click on it. Phillip will leave the ship.
The scene is changing. Phillip meets with a blizzard. It's cold here, so you can’t stay in one place for a long time. Follow the path right and left until you see three small boulders. Pick up a stone, holding it in front of you, continue to walk in a single direction. You will find a metal hatch with a valve, frozen from the cold. Swing and break the ice with a stone. Squat and twist until the cursor changes to the door icon. Phillip will go down to the underground room.
The upper spaces in the mine
You find yourself in a dark room, so use a lamp to illuminate the space in front of you. Go to the door: it is locked on the other side. This is where the first mysteries of the passage of Penumbra 1: The Sources of Evil begin. Look to the right and move the barrels, taking the torch. Now turn left and go into the room, picking up a hammer and a metal bar. Go to the two closets. Sliding one, break the boards and crawl along the tunnel. In the new room, move the support preventing the door from opening. A short way back is open! Use the rod on a special device, twisting. The hatch in the floor will open, and you have to go deep underground.
Carefully read the map and remember the location of the office. Short instructions on the screen will tell you how to hide from enemies. Turn off the lamp, sit down and stick to the left side.
Office space
Look around and read the military diary, click on the orange flashlight. Phillip has a vision in which he sees his father Howard. Thus, the game will be saved. In the top drawer of the table you will find a small key and a note. On the right is a chest of drawers, and inside it is a battery. Take the jerky under the typewriter and find another one on the shelves, along with a torch and pain medication. The key opens the chest, where lies the manual for the manufacture of explosives. You will need it at the next stage of the passage "Penumbra 1: The Sources of Evil." Leave the office.
Storage room
As soon as you leave the room, you will hear a dog roar. The dog will patrol the location and attack if it finds you. Hide behind the barrels and move as quietly as possible until you slip into the corridor leading to the pantry.
Inside, Phillip will find three doors. Two of them are locked and someone's voice is heard, so we open the right one. We select a lighter and study the drawn instructions. A door on the other side of the room will lead to a huge box. Remove the boulders and push it back. Descent to the basement! Remember to take a painkiller and a few batteries before jumping into a hole.
Secret tunnels and spiders
Probably the place where Phillip turned up was used for storage. But what does the tunnel do here? Head towards him, sit down and go to the intersection. A pipe burst here, and hot steam blocks the road. He is deadly. Run around when it calms down. The corridor on the left will lead you to a dead man, a note and what Phillip calls an egg shell. Now go back and turn right until you reach the metal grill. Lucky! The castle is shaky and easily broken with a hammer. Inside, you can pick up a battery and a can of liquid gas. If you apply the latter to a lighter, it will work and will be able to set fire to oil lamps in the mine.
Follow the last circular tunnel to the left, there you will find a dead dog, cobwebs, torch and stairs. Return with her to the beginning of the path, putting her to the hatch, and go up.
In the storage room, where two doors were locked, they are now open, and a bloody trail is clearly visible on the floor. Go to the left room, picking up the key and note.
A central door with a trail of blood on the floor will lead to a dead end and to two pieces of felted beef. Leave the location.
The corridor
Head towards the intersection when the dog is not nearby until you run into a wooden fence. Your key will open the door. Turn around and barricade the passage with barrels and boulders. Do not get close, because if the monster hears you on the other side, the barrier will not stop him!
Go left and follow the signs for "Explosives". The first thing you should do in this location of the passage “Penumbra 1: The Sources of Evil” is to look around. Read the notes on a piece of paper, and then push the barrel of gunpowder into the hole with the stones. But where to get the wick? We find the door locked with a combination lock. We find a combination of numbers in a note: 8 4 1 2.
In the workshop, pick up cotton thread, a torch and a pickaxe. Move the two drawers to an impregnable fence and jump over. Then go left to the metal door. Inside you will find a barrel of gunpowder. Break it and combine the contents with a cotton thread. Philip made his first fuse! Before leaving the location, open the box lid and remove the core from dynamite.
Caution! The dog invaded the corridor. Move quietly to the barrel of explosives, combine the wick, set fire and hide. After the explosion, jump over the boulders and move into the depths of the mines until a large hall opens in front of you.
Energy room
Turn right and go inside the room. Here is the control panel of huge machines. Squat down and watch the fuse box. We are faced with a task that often causes difficulty in completing the game Penumbra 1: The Sources of Evil - the generator must be started.
We turn to the deep funnel leading down and break the boxes to violate all safety rules and go down. We take the battery and insert it on the panel with the appropriate name. We click on the lever and hear something clapping loudly. We check the fuses and find that, due to the antiquity of the equipment, one burned out. We leave the location in search of a replacement.
Communications center
Move along the corridor until you notice a door with a colored light. There is a radio here. Pick up a note and a walkie-talkie that will start to make sounds. It’s so good that the notes contain a transcript of Morse signs: 5 7 3 8! We remember the password from the fence where the dog walks.
We are looking for a door with similar lighting and read a note, pick up a torch, two pieces of jerky. We move the box or use a mop standing next to it to pick up a new fuse from the upper shelf. Replacement found!
Riddle with a generator
Upon return, we eliminate the breakdown and carefully look at the control panel. If you read the generator manual, then going through the 9th part of Penumbra 1: The Sources of Evil will not be difficult: secondary flow, cooling system, steam valves and lubrication.
Return to the mechanism and pull the lever - the generator has started.
Go to the barrier and enter the numbers on the code panel. Hide from the dogs or kill them, and then follow to the right until you find the door.
Spiders in the dark
Adhering to the data of the new card, go up to the very top where the pantry is located. Here you will find a saw, torch and battery. Now you have to leave the room and move to the excavation.
In the location there is a hole in the ceiling, from which two hooks hang. Look for a chemical test document and part of the stairs in the room. Pull her and she will automatically lock onto one of the hooks. It remains to move the box and climb into the tunnel.
Crawl forward a bit and look left. You will find a large number of eggs. Do not go there, because if you get close, the spiders will immediately creep out and attack you. True, they will still start the chase, so do not forget to use a pickaxe for self-defense and destruction of boulders, until you open a long passage leading down. Run and jump into the hole.
Step into the unknown
Take a look around. To your right is a first-aid kit on the wall, and in the next room, on metal shelves, two torches. Pick them up and then return to the first storage room. Follow the narrow passage and collect 3 pieces of jerky, a battery and a key that lies in a green box. Now you can leave the location. Squat by the ventilation grill and break it with a pickaxe, then another one to crawl to the storage room.
Slide the box, take two batteries from the shelves and inspect the corridor on the left side. Deadly hot steam will hinder to get to the end, so we return to the previous room and use the three control levers to move the crane so that the box is near the ventilation grill at the top. Move another ledge from below and jump, breaking your way with a pickaxe, climb inside.
We find ourselves on the other side of the steam pipe. Take the gas canister and go back to the mine. Turn into the corridor and slide the wooden tray blocking the passage to the room. Phillip will leave the location through a metal door.
Go out into the corridor and begin to move to the auxiliary shafts, sawing boards on the grate. The path is open! Be careful at the crossroads, as three dogs patrol here. Keep to the left edge all the time, until you find a steel door - there is an exit behind it.
Deep descent
The room is a drilling rig. Plug the two cables into a power outlet and fill the tank with gasoline. Tap on the last hammer. Start the mechanism using the key and lever on the control panel. The obstacle in the form of land will be destroyed, and we can go to the next part of the mine.
Carefully walk on the boards located above the deep pit. A door awaits us ahead, but as soon as you try to open it, the worm will burst out. Run back! A creeping monster will open the passage. Here is a closed mysterious entrance without handles. Move along the tunnel on the right until you exit into a small room. Pull the lever and run from all legs back, because the door will close at any second.
At this point in Penumbra 1: The Sources of Evil, a new map appears.
We select the wire cutters and a screwdriver near the closed Sector C, and then we go to Mine 13, where a crowd of spiders awaits Phillip. Run away from the monsters, adhering to the left edge of the route. In the end, we find ourselves in the locker room. Read the note and search the lockers. Move the boulder blocking the exit to the corridor.
We head to the processing plant and control the press on the panel until they all freeze up. We pass under them and select two packs of batteries. Raise your head up and notice the stairs. Use the stone, send it to the conveyor and the passage will be open. However, the blades of the ventilation shaft work and do not allow to pass. We break the mechanism with the help of an empty barrel. We get down. We find that for the passage it is necessary to install a motor. We return to the previous room and move it to the door. The path leads to the department where steam emerges from the floor. You have to carefully follow the sequence and run forward. We move the barrels and break the ventilation grill.
Utukak Lake
Use the wire cutters on the chain to push the trailer and smash the brick wall. We collect notes and an old newspaper. We apply the latter with a screwdriver to the locked door and get the key. We open the room and click on the switch, carefully looking at a piece of paper with the revealed code: 1371. We select ourselves from the location and head to Sector C. Enter the numbers.
Watch out for dogs in the hallway and inspect the new map.
Phillip needs to get to the lake following the signs. We search the backpack on the spot and go down to the water. Thin ice will break when touched. Gently move and abruptly jump back, adhering to snowdrifts, until you reach a frozen hand. Saw it off and go back.
Chemical warehouse
Head to the top corner of the map and tear yourself away from the chase of the worm, quickly twisting the valve. Here you will need to find six bottles: five of them are placed on shelves, and one lies in a drawer. We study the instructions on the table.
Incinerator
We move along the corridor to another location. We open the passage with the crowbar held by the hand, and carefully follow the boards. We have to prepare explosives. We select the flask and put it on the left side of the table, set fire after we turn the gas valve. Now add the contents of E and G chemicals to the bubble. We select the cord for the explosives and carefully carry the contents in the vessel back to the closed door. We set it on the ground and set it on fire, do not forget to hide first. The passage is open!
Click a single button on the stove and remove the key from below. Open a room for them and inspect the room. Move on the right side and slide the cabinet, noticing the shield for electricity. Use a screwdriver and a wire cutter. We return to the previous room and use our crowbar to break through the central path. Inside, Phillip will notice a long corridor and a mysterious figure at the end of the path. Go to her ...
Watch the final video. Passage is completed.