Penumbra: Overture (2007)

From the very start it felt like playing some kind of alpha version of Amnesia: The Dark Descent (and I don't necessarily mean it in a bad way, after all, this was the very first game by Frictional Games).

It's a horror game which focuses more on creating an uneasy atmosphere and constant sense of danger, rather than cheap jump scares. This is what I would consider the main strongpoint of the game.

The gameplay consists of solving puzzles and avoiding enemies. The puzzles are fairly simple and a lot of them rely on physics based interaction with items, which is both fun and also really awkward.

The enemies are best to be avoided, either by hiding or by distracting them with items. You can also fight them, but the fighting mechanics are really terrible and poorly implemented. Also, the most common enemy, the infected dog, is way overused in the later part of the game, to the point it gets just annoying and frustrating, more than anything else.

The story is told through series of notes and radio communications. It's rather vague and not very developed, but it still caught my interest. Ends on a cliffhanger, but that's to be expected in an episodic game.

It all takes place in a mine in Greenland and the environment felt quite realistic (although, what do I know about mines, anyway). But towards the end, the mines stared to feel a little repetitive and stale.

Overall, I would (with a little bit of hesitation) recommend this game, especially if you're interested to see the roots of the much more famous Amnesia.