Out of all three penumbra titles this one is the one to play.
Story:
The story literally takes place right when the first games ends. Phillips wakes up after being hit over the head and is in a locked room. He hears other people screaming or crying in the rooms next to him and sees a light in the hallway. He has to escape wherever he is and try to make it back to the surface alive. There are some clever twists and turns with this game.
Gameplay:
Basically the same as the first game except there are no weapons this time and I have to say this is a plus. The first game had combat but it was too clunky and made it almost impossible to kill and enemy. This time around you need to sneak your way around enemies.
The game's enemies this time around aren't dogs, but these weird human like creatures. They carry some weird light source and patrol the hallways. These things do look a tad stupid, but when they chase you and yell at you and yell for help it does get frantic. These things at times will chase you and trying to hide and barricade a door is at times useless since they will bust open that door like it was made out of toilet paper.
The game is definitely I feel a tad scarier than the first game. There are a few moments that made me jump (very rarely when I played the 1st game did I even jump) One example is there was a door and it says "it sounds like there is something behind it" and I was like hmm. So I kept playing with it until it literally broke and a monster jumped out I ran and ran and ran.
The puzzles are back and like the last game they range from easy, so-so, hard and sadly what is this I don't even.... I will not lie and say yes I had to do once again a walk-through in some areas because the puzzles have such arbitrary answers.
Yet the game isn't perfect one of the main flaws is its length. The game is shorter than the first game I think it only took me 4 hours. Also towards the end you have to complete like 3-4 puzzles and let me tell you these are the most contrived and weirdest puzzles you will ever have to do for a video game. I hated them. Another flaw is the A.I. I don't know if its a bug or something. At times they are really smart and will chase you and rip the door off it hinges wherever you are hiding. Yet at other times they just stop following you. I noticed towards the end they almost get bored or something and just stop when they can still clearly see me.
Graphics:
They aren't horrible and they get the job done.
Audio:
Surprisingly really good from the voice acting to the monsters themselves to just the environment its all really well done.
Pro's
Scarier than the first game, combat has been removed, some intense moments, some cool plot twists, the monsters this time around are a little more scarier, definitely the best game out of the 3.
Con's
The a.i, some puzzles are just too hard or just too arbitrary, the last 3-4 puzzles you have to do to beat the game, the game took me only 4 hours to beat, the ending.
Overall:
Overall I have to say I really liked this game a lot. From the frantic moments to the frustrating puzzles. It might not be the scariest PC game out there, but it definitely should make the competition feel a bit uneasy. Frictional games are on the right track to making great horror games.