I only wish they could have used a more advanced game engine. The Q3/HL2 era models and textures are starting to show their age. Not to mention more advanced SFX would improve the overall atmosphere of the game.
Yeah, Frictional Games being an indie developer and all, you can't expect the game to have cutting-edge visuals. However, for what it is, it's still pretty damn nice-looking, and definitely a step above Penumbra. Plus the audio and video put together create an *excellent* atmosphere. I think I read on the development blog that the lead programmer actually uses a 5-year old machine. He said something like "If it can run on mine, it can definitely run pretty smoothly on any other reasonably-powerful gaming computer."
Turn SSAO samples down from 128 to something like 32. I went from ~15 FPS to ~60.
Yeah, the SSAO setting goes unnecessarily high. I think 32 is where I have it right now as well (or maybe a bit higher).
Exactly, the setting/mood is damn freaky. Nothing has scared me but you just have that feeling that there's something behind every corner. I've only played about 10min where I got to the note but damn, I'm already like shit this game is going to be intense. I'm playing the game exactly how IGN said is best, headphones in the dark.
I've gotten a little further, after finding the note at the beginning and getting into that one main hallway, I heard the woman screaming. I decided to avoid going that way and check out the upstairs ballroom/study halls.
I swear I can hear footsteps through the walls sometimes, like feet treading across carpet, sometimes I think it's just my own feet and sometimes I'm definitely sure it was something else. Every little sound puts me on edge. When I was tip-toeing out of the local history room back into the ballroom, I sudenly heard this GROWLING - it was definitely growling - and I jumped like hell, turned around, and hid in a corner. Realizing that my only way out was that doorway into the ballroom, I sucked it up and walked back. There was nothing there.
This game will make you
think there's an enemy nearby, but then you gather up the courage to peek around the corner and it's gone. That growling though, that was definitely not subtle. I keep hearing footsteps in this part of the castle but damn... that growl was a new one.
Then I walk out of the ballroom for my last time, and as I round the corner in the hallway, I hear the piano back in the ballroom start slowly playing music. *shudder*