Penumbra

Ok, I guess this can be one of the scariest game series you can play on your computer (whether you have Windows or Mac or even Linux on your PC, they come in all platforms).

I haven't played too much of the 1st part called "Penumbra: Overture", but I've completed the 2nd one called "Black Plague". It doesn't take much to come along with the story once you know more or less what's going on with the previous game, even if you haven't completed it.

So... The gameplay is based on the much beloved 1st person perception with its best point being the vast interaction with the enviroment via a physics engine which allows you to pick up barrels and through them at will and according to mouse motion, open doors and drawers by draggin them etc. This kind of control makes you experience the enviroment in a very natural way and that's what makes the game scarier. As you get used to the way games "work", you might lose the feeling of actually being into the game itself (at least I did), so this refreshing approach really does the trick! You also get this constant feeling that you're going to be attacked by something unwordly and have your hands ripped off. Dark corridors, a lot of closed doors, not having any profound way to defeat the... um, I won't elaborate here ;) - a fantastic audio experience which freaks you out even more, and a relatively common story which unfolds in quite an uncommon way and coming down to a pretty uncommon finale, this is a must-play for someone who likes good horror in gaming. It's not perfect, ok, but what this title offers really compensates for its flaws.

So head over to http://www.frictionalgames.com/penumbra/ and get a clue ;)