The entrance collapses and he (you) is forced to go on deeply into the mine. The background story is very vague and lacks of clues, but this is actually one of the reasons the game makes you go on trying to bring some light to the story. The storyline is too thin and some aspects are not explained as you wish. For example who is you dad, or what made you start this trip to Greenland. So the story itself creates a false impression that everything takes place in a dream, or in a blurry and distorted vision. The whole environment is sunken in darkness and some of the passages are extremely tight.

The Diary and Red

As you progress deeper into the mine you will find several clues of that facility and their inhabitants. Different documents scattered across the levels will bring more infos about some details of the game, but at the same time more ambiguity. Between these documents you will find also parts from a journal written by a scientist in which he describes his last 300 days of existence, from which 200 days in full darkness. His writings are driven by insanity caused by loneliness and by hunger. His hunger is the cause of some unpredictable actions like eating spiders and get infected by there toxic venom. In a desperate attend of surviving he is cutting his own tongue to release the venom from his body. These journal reminds of H.P. Lovercraft's original writing style. And the whole predominant atmosphere comes from Lovercraft's writings. Can you compare this game with Call of Chthullu? Yes, you can if you are talking about the ambiance of the game. You will not be quite alone in the mine. Some creatures (dogs, spiders and worms), are disturbing the silence of this tomb.

But let's not forget "Red". The desperate voice behind the Com Radio. This insane voice will lead you more than half of the game through the whole mine, sometimes getting you into trouble by choosing wrong ways. His personality is destroyed by loneliness but especially by the library he holds closed in a room: survival books, Shakespear collection, or Kant's Ethics. He fed his loneliness with this books, and his whole speech is a glimpse of what he read down there.
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Dynamics

If the quality of the story is somewhere under my expectations, the gameplay ruled by the Newton Game Dynamics engine is at its best. You can manipulate almost every object in the game and all the puzzles are based on these mechanics. For example you have to exit an excavation, and the only way to do this is to climb on the roof of it. You start searching the area and find half of a ladder which is not long enough, but maybe you can use it somehow. Then you will place one box and jump on it to reach higher the exit. You will place the half ladder, then place another box over the first one and voila, your free to exit. This manipulating system has also its bad things. For example the combat mode is using the same manipulating system. If you are attacked by a mad dog, in general you will pick up the pickaxe and move the mouse from left to right or vice versa in order to imitate the hitting gesture. In the combat mode, your hands will move freely without affecting the movement of the character which is not good. The idea is that you cannot strafe in this moments, or change the angle of your view. So you are more like a target in these moments. You will have to reload the game many times when you will try to fight the enemy. My advise is to run and hide as long as you can. If you known how to use the maps scattered across the mine, you can avoid the enemy (especially the dogs) by running in the correct direction at the correct timing. Why correct timing? Because every enemy always uses the same patrolling route. So if you played Splinter Cell or Thief, you can use the same tactics of sneaking present there. Dogs are attracted by light and sound, while spiders by movement. So pay attention to every step you make. Phillip has an ability which you will use quite frequently. When you crouch, Phillip goes almost invisible, entering into a stealth position, while your vision is improving.

But if you are staring too much to an enemy, Phillip will get scared and will come out of that position becoming vulnerable. Some of the reviewers said that there are some moments where you have nothing else to choose but to fight. It's false. I didn't kill any enemy in the whole game and I managed to end it. You just have to pay attention to the location of the enemy and the direct route to the next checkpoint. There is also an inventory at your disposal, where you will carry surviving objects like lantern, flares, batteries, painkillers, meat, pickaxe, screwdriver, etc. Being in a desperate search for the light, you need to use different objects to see around you. I personally used the glowstick which never goes off, and its green light it's sufficient to see all the details around you.

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Short conclusion

Overall the game is above the average, and it's an example of low-budget quality. Personally I'm looking forward for the next episode.

Gameplay: 75

A good but difficult gameplay. The story is not very consistent, but being an episodic game, there is an excuse. If you are not a fan of stealth or horror games, you have few chances to end it or to like it. But for those who are into horror games, this game it's an example of success (the result of a wise mixture between dark ambiance and stealth action) . Ruled by the Newton Game Dynamics engine, the gameplay is all about interaction. An innovative approach of the developers but at the same time really hard to use it in some moments. I'm talking about the in-game battles which can become very frustrating and even impossible to achieve if you are attacked by more than one enemy. The direct gestures mode for the tools usage gives you freedom when you have to manipulate something, but gives you only headache when you have to use it to fight the enemy. In this mode you cannot move freely the character, so in general you are just a target. If you still want to fight, your only chance to defeat the enemy is to predict his moves and hit always when he is down. This goes with the dogs and spiders, but with th worms the only solution is to run.

Graphics: 78

There was no need to use extremely realistic graphics in order to create a horror ambiance. Instead Frictional Games used a brown-gray colors palette for textures, a smooth blur effect, heavy shadows, and grainy visuals effect similar to Call of Chtulhu. All these elements combined amplifies the horror ambiance reaching at some points creepy levels.