I've played Penumbra for an hour or so. The only thing I knew going into it was that the ending was really sort of lame and unresolved, but it had good horror/suspense elements and a good physics engine.
Running it on highest graphics settings was no problem for me. No bugs or glitches, which is more than I can say for most mainstream titles... But the loading text font and layout sort of showed me that this was indeed either an indy game or really low budget... Either way, I am giving it a shot.
So here's the basic story, you are introduced to the plot via text narration. You never hear the protagonist's voice, but rather you're reading a note from him about how he received a note from his dead father talking about a safety deposit box he inherited. He picks it up, and the letter inside says to destroy all this information... Well with curiosity being human-kind's worst flaw (and it would make for a hell of a sort game) he decides not to burn the stuff, but rather go to the place located on a map, in Greenland. (How scenic!)
You start the game out in a cabin on a ship where you can test out the physics and how the things work. Basically, rather than having an "action" button that automatically opens doors and unlocks things... you have to click on it with your mouse, and PULL or PUSH stuff to manipulate it. It's really well done. I like it when games break away from the mainstream and make things more realistic like that.
Once you pick up some gear and read your journal, you land in Greenland, and find yourself lost in the snow. So far, the game is really linear, and progress is puzzle-driven, as in you need to solve puzzles to progress. It's a different change of pace compared to "shoot x number of bad guys, pick up a key (or push a button) and move to next room and repeat" type of games. Puzzles, for the most part, make perfect sense in a real-world setting, where to get out of the snow you have to smash a hatch's ice off so you can move the handle, or use wooden beams to cross over an electrical barricade (rather than metal or you're toast).
As for enemies, you're stuck sneaking to avoid them, because you really don't get any weapons. So far, I've had to deal with just dogs, and I believe spiders ( so not for those who have phobias... or maybe it is if they want a scare!) It sort of doesn't make sense how a dog can survive in a mine area for so long, but plot holes aside, you're still stuck avoiding them, so I hope you're Thief veterans!.
Sneaking involve crouching and your screen turning a sort of purple hue. When you're hidden and standing still it becomes really pronounced and it even helps you see a bit better in the dark. It's not perfect, but it's good to know you can hide. Enemy AI is somewhat lacking, but for not having guns to kill them with, I don't mind so much if the dog's can't hear me running in the next room.
You get a flashlight, but as with horror flicks, you need to make sure you have sufficient batteries in it or you're SOL
You can sort of see in the dark a bit so you can conserve flashlight, and you have a glowstick, but I'm not sure if that's unlimited either.
You get some narration via papers laying around. Sort of like System Shock. It works. Why re-invent the wheel?
So far it's good for if you have nothing better to do and are in the mood for a puzzle. It's creepy enough to keep your interest, while it also exercises your mind while not being overly difficult. And it's not tons of reading to go through to get the back story *cough*The Experiment *Cough!* Go at your own pace, but keep moving. It reminds me a bit of 'Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth' without the guns. The theme is very much like a Lovecraft plot where the son unwittingly follow's the father's foosteps leading a neverending cycle of death.
More as I play it.
You can play the "tech demo" free here:
http://www.frictionalgames.com/site/penumbradownload/
