Well, I've played both Penumbras (didn't like the first one, the second one was relatively ok), Soma (loved it) and The Dark Descent (liked it). Maybe this game has a great story as others write, but I didn't care to check it out. Why? Firstly - you're put in some house without a shadow of an explanation. And the surroundings and overall atmosphere doesn't drag me in- I didn't want to explore. In The Dark Descent there was indeed an amnesia and there was some point of not knowing your story. Here - you're presented with no background whatsoever. And if indeed the main character suffers from amnesia, that feels like an overplayed cliche. Secondly - the beginning of the exploration feels... wrong. Most of the doors and furniture is locked, so no real exploration at all - just following the creators' path - naaaah. Soma felt linear but this takes the cake. Thirdly - the visuals - I got to the dining hall or whatever that was and the colours were soooo bland. I don't know maybe that's something wrong with my card/drivers but again - it didn't add to the experience. And Finally - the engine didn't age well. In The Dark Descent I could play at 1920x1080 and get relatively stable FPS and good visuals. This one has much more "going on" in the scenery department but apparently the engine hadn't been optimized any more than for TDD so it the FPS is low, the image is tearing and I have no idea what card I should have to make it run smoothly. To make things even more interesting - Soma which is a more modern game (released two years after this one) runs much better. Overall - after all those other games - a very disappointing experience.
Can't find supported video mode. Not worth the fuss (the forums say that you're supposed to turn off monitors and such).
Well, if you like looooong walks occasional sneaking and some puzzles, the game is definitely for you. If not, just suffer through the gameplay for an interesting story. The game is built on the Frictional engine so if you liked Penumbras and Amnesia, you'll feel home. The graphics are quite OK (there aren't many outdoor scenes so the usual gfx and physics engines with winds, sun, rain and such don't apply here). There are some small issues with the concept - I didn't like the floating objects - you mistake pressure with density! A part of the plot involving the Ross character was confusing for me, to be honest. But the rest of it - well, some of the story was a bit predictable but all in all very solid writing, very consistent atmosphere and - typical for Frictional - great job of revealing the history gradually through bits and scraps of information. I know that if you're into sf and stuff you've probably already encounterd similarily themed works but nevertheless it still raises valid questions about existence, humanity and such.
I must have bought it few years back and only got to play it at the end of 2021 (literarily). The graphics is dated but what did you expect? For its time it's quite decent. The idea and story is pretty ok but there are some things that spoil the fun. The first game... well, it didn't pull me in. Played it for an hour or so and got discouraged. The second one went much better and I'm somewhere near the finish. Don't believe the "ability to manipulate everything" and so on. You can move some objects, open drawers and that's pretty much it. The rest are only story items. And this "natural gestures" thingy is more annoying than "immersive". Maybe if it was done with VR controllers... but it uses mouse. Sorry, having to draw circles to open valve is simply frustrating. The game (at least the Black Plague, but Overture at the beginning also seemed that way) is fairly linear. And some puzzles are a bit pixel-hunty. After all, if you liked Amnesia, you might like the Penumbras (if you can stand dated graphics) although the game seems to can't make up its mind about what it want to be - a puzzle game or a survival horror.
Well, I can understand that this game might have been liked back when it came out. Unfortunately, it didn't age very well. And this edition is not very friendly. On its own the game stretches the display ugly, the menus have annoyingly long switch times and configuring controls... well, that's a nice one - a separate dialog appears on a desktop completely inconsistent with the game itself. And that's even before the game started. The graphics are maybe good enough for its time (although you have to remember that in 1997 we already had quake) but flatness of the sprites maybe was good enough in 1993, but not in 1997. Especially the horses look ridiculous. Hell, 1997 was the year Jedi Knight came out and it was way way more advanced. The gameplay itself also wasn't that thrilling so I passed the first level and decided to call it quits. It's not worth my time. Maybe if it was a fond memory from my childhood I'd like it better but back then I simply played other things. So I'm not going back to this one again.
Well, free is a good price. If I wasn't so bent on finishing a game after I start it, I'd give up after a battle or two. The story is naive, the visuals consist mostly of anime girls (clothed except for one screen ;-)), the battles are repetitive and boring and the whole premise is kinda ridiculous. The story choices don't matter much and are rare. Overall - I'm not tempted to try any other part from the series.
Firstly, I must have gotten it as a freebie because I don't recall buying it. Secondly, I've already played this game. Some 25+ years ago. It was called Abuse and it was loads of fun. Then Thirdly, I don't know, maybe this pseudo-retro look appeals to some kids nowadays but I've been there, done that, played those 320x200 games and have enough of this.
