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The ‘Penumbra’ Trilogy Lives On in This ‘Amnesia’ Mod
Since its release, an extremely dedicated community of modders and aspiring game developers has grown around Amnesia: The Dark Descent, keeping it alive far longer than the “active” lifespan the average survival game might enjoy. One of the more acclaimed works to come from its community is Penumbra: Necrologue, a total conversion mod that released last Halloween.
It’s oddly fitting that this fan-made mod should pick up where Penumbra: Requiem left off, seeing as Amnesia wouldn’t have been possible without the Penumbra trilogy.
Necrologue is available now on ModDB, where it won Best Singleplayer in the site’s Mod of the Year awards. With English and Russian voice work, multiple endings and an original soundtrack, it sounds like a true passion project.
The game recently arrived on Steam Greenlight, along with some brand new footage. Once it’s been approved, Necrologue will release as a free-to-play title.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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