When Penumbra Overture: Episode 1 arrived on my desk I was somewhat surprised, as I hadn't heard any hype surrounding the game coming out. To be honest, I hadn't even heard of it at all! So, I must confess to being rather curious as I booted it up on my PC. From looking around online I saw that Overture is the first of a trilogy of games and apparently very, very scary, so I dimmed the lights and prepared to be terrified out of my wits. The problem is I'm not scared that easily, so I'm thinking that there's no way I'll be hiding down the back of the couch - I hope!

In Penumbra Overture you play Philip, an unfortunate young man who has just buried his mother following his father's mysterious death many years before. In the days following his mother's death, Philip feels expectedly jaded and abandoned by the world, at least until he receives a letter from a dead man - but what can it all mean? The game begins with an introduction revealing that your character is about to embark upon a journey to try and unravel what happened to his late father. Philip decides to throw caution to the wind and do everything that he can to unearth the truth. At the start of the game, you travel to Greenland, as directed by the letter from the dead man. You stumble out into the freezing cold wilderness, close to collapse as you struggle to find refuge. Oh my God, is that a hatch I see over there? You have to get there, but you're a minute from death, maybe less. What could be inside the hatch? Will there be danger lurking down there? You don't care - you just need to get out of this unrelenting cold, that's all that matters now.

Once you've dropped down into hatch you're soon introduced to Overture's awesome physics engine. To open a door, you don't simply click on the door handle; you have to actually grab the door and then use the mouse to push or pull it in the desired direction, just as you would in real life. The engine is really impressive, because if you grab the hinged side of the door then you can merely shake it in its frame, whereas if you grab it on the other side by its handle then it slides open effortlessly. This all makes for great fun, such as trying to slam a door or a drawer shut as hard as you possibly can. Similarly, picking up items uses the same engine, and yes, you can lob items around as well. When you pick up or throw items, each weighs differently and this is reflected via the effort you need to manipulate them in your environment. For example, if you throw a pencil then it will tap off the walls rather delicately, whereas a stone will thud into the wall and roll to a loud stop on the floor. This all feels very real and is very cool; it reminds me of an old PC game called Trespasser, which was based on the Jurassic Park world, where you explored an island full of dinosaurs, using your hands to grab items realistically and manipulate the environment. This, to be fair, didn't really catch on - but it definitely sowed the seeds for how we think about first person games now, and Penumbra Overture does no less.

As you progress through the game, you find numerous diaries and files that gradually reveal different facets of the story. Analysing these clues is paramount to your success, as well as manipulating the environment using that physics engine. It's very much about moving objects aside to reveal secrets doors, or pulling levers to discover new routes through the game. I won't ruin it by letting you all know, because seriously, explaining some of the puzzles will give away too much. Suffice to say, Overture offers really unique and engaging gameplay that some of the bigger developers could really learn something from. My one criticism is that, more often than not, it does sometimes feel repetitive when you're usually finding a locked door, looking for the key, returning back to unlock the door, moving on a little further and then finding another locked door. Also, in the very few times that you come up against enemies, the physics engine can prove a little tough, as it involves you wielding weapons like hammers and swinging your mouse across the screens to hit your foe. Whilst the physics engine is great when you're pottering about a room playing with objects, in heated combat it's very easy to get flustered and screw up. Having said that, it's still lots of fun and a really different experience from everything else out there.

Graphically, Overture is very impressive and the mood, lighting and visual effects are spot on. It all feels very claustrophobic and genuinely rather chilling, as you wander about deserted rooms with only a shimmering torchlight for company. The accompanying sound further reinforces the isolation and fear, as you hear doors creaking, heavy breathing from behind locked doors, screams in the distance - all top stuff! There's also a rousing soundtrack that kicks in when there's an event, straining your nerves as you either run for your life or stand toe-to-toe with a creature and only a worn hammer between you and certain death. It all adds to a fantastic overall package that stands out as one of the most nerve-jangling games I've experienced since the recent Condemned on Xbox 360. There were moments in this game when I was genuinely in danger of filling my pants, and I often had to turn the light on just to chill out and remind myself that I was still in Putney and not lost in grisly Greenland, searching for clues to my father's death. Where I think this game does maybe have a problem is that it's only available online, with a further two episodes to follow. Being pretty clued up on the games industry myself, I didn't even know this game was coming out - so it'd be a damn shame if a lot of people simply just missed out on just because they're not aware of the game's existence.

I was pleasantly surprised by Penumbra Overture: Episode 1. At a cost of only £15 for an online download, it's an absolute must for any PC adventure gamers out there. It's also a masterclass in showing how we can look at first person games in a new way, something that is so important given the glut of average first person shooters that come out each year. Whilst some of the gameplay here is fundamentally flawed, like the rarely used the combat system, Penumbra Overture still stands out as a potential cult classic and small developers Frictional Games should be very, very proud indeed. It really is great stuff, but probably not one for the faint-hearted.

Reviewed by Ross Alexander for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).