This is real horror.
Story 8/10 - After the death of physicist Philip's mother in 2000, he recieves a letter from his father who is presumed dead. Philip travels to Greenland and upon finding shelter in a mine from a snow storm, he is stuck in and must find a way out. Along the way, he encounters shocking and gruesome discoveries, which gives clues to strange things that happened in this supposedly empty mine. Later he is guided by a strange person by radio who promises to give him answers if Philip can find him.
The story starts out in a generic kind of way, but like the best video games storylines, manages to get more interesting and unpredictable along the way. There is a lack of characters along the way and you never see anyone in person or even a one piece corpse. Only two characters exist: You and a guiding madman called Red. For a horror storyline to work, the player needs to be virtually alone and that is what you get here.
Graphics 7/10 - They are quite dated for 2007, but as you play the game, you will see that this works surprisingly well in order to emphasize creepy surroundings which you cannot get if the graphics are focused to be realistic. The highest resolution was not too high at all when I first started (only about 1200x800), but after some updates it came back to the usual limit of 1650x1050. The low-quality graphics may put some people off, but this is an Indie game so you shouldn't be expecting too much. And for what it's worth, bugs and glitches are practically non-existent so there is not much too complain about here.
Gameplay 10/10 - Penumbra has the finest gameplay I have experienced in quite a long time. The design is ambitious and original. Clearly to create a feeling of reality, the developers tried to make this as realistic as possible. To open a drawer or door, you need to hold down the mouse button and move it in the appropriate direction. The same thing goes for your melee weapons like the pickaxe. Your foes along the way will be spiders, giant worms and demonic dogs. Although the combat has been criticised, I actually enjoyed it as it felt very intense and realistic, making you really be a part of the action.
Sound 9/10 - In the sound category, the voice-acting is the best thing on the list. The lack of a big number of characters means that the lines are not many and very few people speak. Apart from cutscenes your character does not speak, but your guide does. His acting was so well done that I ended up looking forward to every time he spoke, especially since his jokes were well said. It was hard to tell what nationality he was because he didn't sound very swedish (the game is by a developer in Sweden) although it was definitely an Eastern European. The music was also very good and had the scariest ambient I have ever heard. It changes depending on the situation and this had me on the edge of my seat. The objects also sounded nice like smashing a crate with the pickaxe or bashing a dog corpse. Not much to say about that.
Puzzles 9/10 - What makes the puzzles in this game so great is that they are logical, but manage to be clever at the same time. Instead of some random procedures in most games, the puzzles here are mostly physics-based and exploration-based. In most cases, there is no particular order as some can be completed before others, and maybe a tiny few could possibly be avoided if they have no effect on your progression. Sometimes, adventure games can frustrate if the puzzles are strictly led from step by step, but here you are open to more solutions. There is also one chase scene that must be mentioned and logical thinking is required to escape.
Atmosphere 10/10 - The game really tries to make the mine feel like your new home. As you proceed, you will often find yourself in dark environments. Whispers can be heard in the background along with some wooden creaks which forces you to be alert for any surprises. It has been described that the worse terror is the one which is unknown and cannot be seen, but still lurks real closely. This is the case here. Philp is no superman and he knows this. If you crouch without your glowstick or flashlight lit, the screen will grow purple, indicating Philip's increasing anxiety. This only goes further if you are hiding from patroling dogs and if it gets too high, he will panic and blow his cover. This manages to make the game more unsettling because you control a realistic character who knows that if he is not careful then danger can dispose of him any second.
Replay value 6/10 - A difficult one to list here, but it is there. The game is short and often linear. This is so, because the game places a deep focus on the storyline. For most of the scary moments it will not be worth replaying since you already know that they are there, but there are other reasons. most levels feature expansive, mazey environments to solve puzzles and find clues. If missed clues are not enough to bring you back, strategy might. Combat in this game is always optional. You have the choices of exposing yourself to the dogs and either run or fight, or use stealth and carefully sneak past them. There is not much reason other than that to go back and experience something different, but the fun factor is also enough to keep you coming for more.
When you hear the title, you should guess that the game is scary. The word 'Penumbra', after all, reffers to shadow status based on light source, and you will not find many light sources here. Penumbra is a masterpiece in many ways. The game has managed to revolutionise physical reality in video games and has set some new standards for future horror/adventure games. It's not all about scares though; there are some emotive moments here as well as the disturbing ones which give some heart-felt meaning. Other companies should learn from this Swedish developer for the future. The shortness of the game and inferior visuals can frustrate some people, but there are plenty of rewarding moments in this small and cheap package. Just be prepared to be wowed and feel a lot of "Aaaaaaaargh!!!"