I completed the 1st one and quite enjoyed it, though it can get quite trite in places. I only played the demo of number 2 and wasn't particularly impressed by it.

Have you looked at titan quest also? 

I thought it was pretty good. I normally suck quite profusely at RPGs (how ironic, eh?) but I didn't have much trouble with this. I never finished it, though. I got near the end and just stopped playing, but I don't remember why exactly.

Graphics are decent to good. If you're still playing Quake and those graphics don't bother you, then I doubt you'll have a problem with this.

I haven't played Dungeon Siege 2. 

I'm not much ofan RPG man myself RPG (hehe), but I liked Diablo2 and heard this was similar (ie more hack/slash than RPG).

might give it a whirl. 

I had heard the enviroments wereboring but I couldn't imagine they would be SO AWEFULLY LIFELESS and they really killed the immersion. Bad dialouge/acting combat/enemies feel weak although when placed in groups in a room full of physic objects it gets slightly interesting.

I totally will not play the full game. 

People complain a lot about the FEAR environments being boring but they're just office buildings and warehouses with some tech facilities. They're not anything amazing or innovative but they are well executed and good at what they do. It's a game about a guy terrorizing a city and you work with a SWAT-type team to take him out within said city. What did you expect, volcanoes and tropical tree forts? 

It's definitely not for lack of talent on the level design team. They had some veterans including long lost community member and former Freshteam mapper kanaeda 

was not about it being offices and wareshouses but that they were poorly excecuted and not very convincing at all with crappy lighting etc.

Maybe later levels look better but these days I tend to judge games quick wich I guess in some cases might be unfair but if it doesn't hook me I'm not going to waste my time on it. 

http://frictionalgames.com/penumbra

Its a first person horror/thriller set in an underground complex of some sort in Greenland, and featues some pretty nifty ideas and oldskool puzzle gameplay.

I have to mention 1st the physics and how the player interacts with the world. Top open a door you have to click and hold the mouse and then drag the mouse in the direction you want to apply force to the door, thereby opening it, sounds simple but this mechanic is used for multiple things in the game and works great. Reminds me a little of that old game "Trespasser" with the virtual hands (that sucked) but thankgod the implementation here is solid and easy to control and really helps sell the immersion.

Which brings me nicely to the 2nd great thing about this game, the atmosphere. I dunno what it is about this game, but it really sucks me in, its just so creepy it freaks you out! The combo of doom3 style lighting and visuals, the player controled physics interaction, and the fact that you have NO WEAPONS to defend yourself just makes it terrifying.

Yes there is NO WEAPONS, this is not an fps, more of FPP (first perpon puzzler) like Portal etc, it does have some very oldskool puzzle elements such as combining items to create new items (this can be quite obscure at times) and using inventory items on the world.

Again this brings me nicely to the major drawback I found with this game, some of them item combos and world objects to use said items on can be very obscure and not clear at all, which does lead to frustration when you cannot find where to go or what to use items on. The game does have a handy notebook system to keep info on but its not enough, something I hope the developer fixes for the full product.

In closing, this game rocks, totally differrnt take on the horror/thriller genre and it works, it is created by an indie developer (just 3 guys iirc) and has cool motion blur :D

Please try this :) 

this sounds like the kind of game I'm inclined towards these days. 

that sounds like the first game in a looooong time that is interesting. 

...there seems to be some sort of electrical chord...

The in-game text really strikes a cord with me.

Oh, but yeah, the control scheme sounds interesting. 

pretty cool stuff! 2 levels from the game, 1 skirmish and 1 SP, where you play the new Tau race. Its a cool race made up of 2 seperate species which are allied together, the Tau are technically advanced and have cool guns and shit, while the other ones are like cavemen but are awesome at close combat.

New stuff - Upgradable commander units with new armour, weapons, abilities etc

- Tau have a split tech tree, if you go up 1 side (tau) then cavemen remain weak, or vice versa.

- they seem to have tweaked the effects, lots more blood and gore (heh) and cool fx.

- Not in the demo, but there is a full strategic map in SP now which is playable with all 7 races.

Definately gonna get this! 

I just played the first level. The Tau are SO cool! I love it and will definitely buy it. Wooooot! 

They're called Kroot.

I just tried it. Seemed good, but I'm not hugely inspired by more DOW, as good as that was. Haven't even played Winter Assault yet. 

Tried a bit of this. Got past the monster by just running. Then couldn't get up the overhead vent despite numerous attempts.

Agree with Daz in general about the atmosphere and interaction and stuff. I found the motion of things you interact with a bit sluggish though, and it was odd having things floating around. Definitely got an intriguing feel though. 

I know the vent you mean, believe it or not you just need to get close to the opening and 'use' it... Took me fooking ages to realise that!

...One of the downers of the game I geuss! 

Shambler go play Quake :p 

I tried that, I got the hand symbol on the vent hatch and got it to swing a bit, that's all. Grrrr.

Trinca, I played the DM3Rmx the other week, it rocked, great fun! 

;) then sorry :p 

Penumbra again...

Finally managed to complete it thanks to Daz's tip, and a walkthrough for some other bits, as it turns into a maze of vents and shit later on. I did figure out the acid on my own though!

Kinda, yeah, interesting as D says. Setting is kinda bland but the engine shows it off well and it is pretty atmospheric. Those little creatures are well scary when you can't fight them back. Got an intriguing feel to it for sure, dunno if I could take a whole game of that gameplay though.

DOW:DC again...

Got stuck into this and completed both missions. Gameplay is pretty much the same old same old (scouts / builder / scouts / rush to capture shit / build barracks / troops / leader / everything depends solely on the first 2 minutes) but well, it's still functional, and I do like the Tau, they are pretty stylish and their weapons are well satisfying, I like the missiles in particular. Could be tempted by this more than actually playing Winter Assault, I reckon the Necrons will be pretty slick too... 

The bodies staying around is pretty cool. 

About the other one - the main theme ambient music is well good.

And I dug around the site and found this monster screenshot, pretty stylishly done:

http://frictionalgames.com/files/screensaver_or%20_something.jpg 

15 puzzles without a storyline: http://fizzlebot.com/cdt3.php 

geometry wars type game, with some twists. A review (which also contains a download link):

http://worldofstuart.excellentcontent.com/grid/wars.htm 

First of all, they didnt have to choose naturaly boring environments for the game.
Second: HL

Urban can be sexy and fun even indoors