Action · January 23, 2009

Penumbra: Black Plague Gold Edition (2009)

calendar_todayAge 17+local_offer-90% current discountgroup100k–1M ownersrecommend2.6k recommendations
Penumbra: Black Plague Gold Edition contains both Penumbra: Black Plague and the puzzle expansion Penumbra: Requiem. Trapped in a shadowy, underground complex, intrepid explorer Philip is determined to discover the truth behind his father's disappearance. Surrounded by enemies and assaulted by terror from all sides, Philip must collect clues and solve vexing puzzles while combating the gnawing psychological terrors that assail his mind and threaten to strip him of his sanity. Can Philip master his fear and finally uncover the truth behind a mystery that has haunted him for a lifetime? Only you can decide... Cutting-edge game engine featuring modern 3D and physics technologies Adapted motion blur effects and a new unified lighting system with real-time lightning create great depth with a realistic atmosphere of psychological horror. Compelling and detailed story Finding the answers to questions of the mystery of Philip's lost father throughout the game, with new explanations and a complete storyline wrap up. Highly interactive environments You can interact with any object not nailed to the ground! Focus on, pick up and move around objects through a simple drag and drop interface. Environmental sounds system The sounds of the different environments are contributing to the atmosphere and give the player scaring hints of dangers. Puzzle solving challenges Horror adventure game in puzzle-like style with bonuses and incentives to challenge the player throughout the game.

Action releases from 2009

45 Action titles launched in 2009 — top 6 by review volume.

Peer Action titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Horror · 250
  • Adventure · 169
  • First-Person · 156
  • Psychological Horror · 151
  • Stealth · 132
  • Atmospheric · 119
  • Story Rich · 117
  • Singleplayer · 103
  • Indie · 102
  • Survival Horror · 92
  • Puzzle · 84
  • Lovecraftian · 80
  • Dark · 73
  • Action · 73
  • Survival · 63

Position in Action

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume2.8k Steam reviewsTop 83% in Action
Positive rating94% positiveGenre average: 83% — this title sits in top 19%
Metacritic78/100Genre average 77 — top 52% of Action titles
Engagement hours5 h averageTop 70% for session depth among Action

Reception Metrics

Steam community

94%Very Positive · 2.8k reviews

2.6k positive · 165 negative

Metacritic

78/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Curator recommendations

2.6k

Release & Availability

Release dateJan 23, 2009
DeveloperFrictional Games
Base price$0.99 -90%
Required age17+
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Estimated owners100k–1M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · Support

More from Frictional Games

Frictional Games has 6 titles indexed — all listed below.

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

5h

short (5–15 hours)

Median

3h

Typical completion time

Features & Capabilities

Accessibility

  • Captions available

Other

  • Single-player
  • Family Sharing

Editions & Packages

  • Buy Penumbra: Black Plague Gold Edition