Official website. From the developers of the Penumbra series comes another horror adventure. It’s an indie game so it’s not quite as pretty as some videos or screens that are viewed in a smaller window may indicate, but the atmosphere (and so far, the gameplay) is there for sure. Eternal Darkness fans may also fancy it with the sanity stuff, though it’s a different kind of adventure game. There’s not much else to say, watch the trailer and play the demo (403 MB only). There’s a 10%-20% pre-order discount too. You can also watch this gameplay demonstration video if it doesn’t click right away, though the demo doesn’t have very demanding gameplay included, it’s very straightforward.
Looks good from the gameplay demonstration. I like the way the game objects are quite interactive, similar to Half-Life 2 but taken a step further.
I’ve been playing & t’s good, better than the demo as they’ve condensed areas & events so it doesn’t flow as well. The game is moodier and later opens up a bit letting you visit different areas to explore, while the demo is a straight line. I’m sure it’s mostly linear but there are a few areas to choose from at this point. I haven’t met enemies yet I feel it’s creepy enough already! I read it’s about 8 hours long, which is good for the price (I paid 15 euros on Steam). They will release a level editor soon (after the first patch, the game has some issues with ATI cards atm) so that should lead to nifty self-contained adventures made by users, they have a video showing its ease of use here.
Here’s the latest trailer, it’s not very good as it’s not an easy game to make a trailer for. It’s mostly about exploring the creepy environment, slowly discovering what is going on there (as well as who you are, see the title) via notes, diaries and flashbacks, with the occasional puzzle that they can’t show as to not spoil the solutions and what happens next (and the same goes for the scary moments)… No trailer can build that tension.
Crazy effectively creepy game, I’ve not made much progress because I spend most of my gaming time finding refuge in the more light hearted Valkyria Chronicles 2 (VC3 looks so awesome from TGS, I can’t wait, I <3 you again SEGA) but this is highly recommended for horror and/or adventure fans, especially with these prices. It seems to be quite scalable as well, since I tried to see the different options’ effect and even with everything on low the atmosphere remains just as creepy, even if not very pretty, so even if your PC isn’t the greatest do try the demo at least, as long as you meet the minimum specs.
The development tools have been released by now, and there are a couple of new videos to check out here, including a Russian version trailer. A custom Panzer Dragoon themed adventure where you explore an ancient ruin with its wonders and dangers would work nicely in this physics-driven engine (but require too much work as none of the included assets match the Panzer Dragoon style). It’s a shame fans are few these days.
I played and beat this last month. the sound is top notch and is a big part of the atmosphere. I’d say it was well worth my time. There is nothing like opening up a random door only to instantly see a deranged zombie monster standing right in front of you!!
WTF, I immediately slammed that door shut and ran my ass off. It was kind of funny while tense at the same time… 
A friend recommended this to me so I added it to my long list. Hopefully I’ll play it before the world ends.
Well, I had left this game for a while, partly because I had no time, partly because it was too creepy, but I finally made time to play it from start to finish. Whew. Such a stressful game, though toward the end it got less and less creepy, but it was still interesting, and that was only the last hour or so where the story revealed almost everything it could and it was sort of clear you were about to be done with it all very, very soon. According to Steam it took me about 10 hours to finish it (including start up/shutdown/idle/load/save time so I guess the 8 hour estimate was spot on) which isn’t bad for an adventure game, even if the smooth engine and controls bring it closer to other genres like whatever Silent Hill: Shattered Memories fits into (which are also fairly short anyway). I was surprised with the variety in environments considering the setting, I expected it to be mostly like the very beginning, a run down castle turned into a mansion and such with little deviation to keep the development costs down, but that wasn’t the case. The game is top quality through and through, even if a very few and largely insignificant visual flaws and quirks here and there make its indie nature evident. I’ve got the Justine side story left, but I’ll leave it for later. After that I’ll see what custom stories fans have created, there should be at least a few good ones.
I wonder what their next game will be. I kinda hope they make a Thief “clone” because the engine is prety much perfect for it and they’ve already got almost all of the mechanics in, from the lighting to the stealth, object interaction and reading of notes among others. All they’d really need is to code the various tools and the climbing function alongside whatever twists they wanted to add to the formula. They could even reuse many of the art assets (including the monsters for creepier levels). On the other hand, they should probably do something more original given their talent. But I doubt the “real” Thief 4 will turn out half as good as what these guys could do. Oh well. I can’t wait to see what they’ll do next.
Game’s sold for like 3.74 euros on Steam atm, daily deal.