Following the 1000th penguin is a tough act, but I think I got just the thing. After all, it is an apocalyptic penguin game fitting of the Halloween season.
"Penguin Colony" developed by Origami Digital and published by Fellow Traveller is surprisingly faithful adaption of H. P. Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" with sprinkles of "The Shadow Out of Time" added in.
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There are two main alterations to the story, though. Firstly, the game doesn't follow U.S. explorers in the 1920s, but a Englishman Howard Blakely finding himself as part of a German military scientist expedition of the 1930s (yes, those ones). And secondly, we story doesn't reveal itself from the perspective of humans, but penguins.
Since this is kind super-weird, let's cover this in pieces. As a game making penguin nerd and Lovecraft Cthulhu-mythos aficionado, I think I'm qualified for the job.
I would describe the game is the world's first waddling simulator, an exploration and narrative focused horror game where the atmosphere drives the horror. Your main drive is to follow the lights and the wind – both of which drip-feed the story.
Despite the huge semi-open world, you likely won't get lost. The Antarctic wind blows to the direction of the next main story beat, so if you ever loose your bearings, just check the direction of the snow-fall or the marker flags of the scientists.
Since you play as penguins, you spend your time waddling slowly, sliding faster on your belly or swimming across the Antarctica. You can also squawk, there's a dedicated button for that and it is a mechanic used in certain sections. You can also change the penguin you play as simply by walking to another one and pressing a button.
As a waddling sim, navigating the terrain is the name of the game – and some penguins are better for specific jobs. This part the game nails pretty darn well – i.e. baby penguins can't swim, Rockhopper's are completely OP when it comes to climbing and Adelie's are the game's 'all rounders'. I'm not sure why Chinstraps get a camera though. I mean, they are very photogenic?
And yes, the cave penguins of At the Mountains of Madness are in the game – and are playable for a bit. I don't want to spoil the design here, as it is a cool reveal.
As a penguin, you don't as much drive to the story, but witness it from the sidelines. Basically when you hit a specific landmark or a set piece, you'll hear the narration of Dr. Blakely (voiced by Lenval Brown of Disco Elysium fame). Witnessing the scientific expedition remains whilst Blakely describes how they loose themselves to the cosmic horrors is surprisingly effective way to go about it.
It is worth pointing out that despite the penguins, it's not a black-and-white kind of a story. On the contrary, there's a lot to chew on. Whilst the motivation of the Nazis is easy to guess, Blakely has his own reasons for accompanying them.
And that's before we get into the third side of the narrative; whilst the expedition heads to the places they shouldn't – followed by the curious penguins – the Māori sworn to protect the land and the culture are on their tail. There are several sections where you play as the Māori, trying to make haste before an ancient evil from the past is awakened.
It's such a delightfully weird concept that even though not everything clicks, enough does making it well worth experiencing.
As for the things not clicking, some of the navigation is more than a bit clunky at times. On open plains and ice sheets the waddle-to-slide-to-swimming works great, but when we get to the ancient ruins, trying to get some of the narrative collectibles off the beaten path, things can get janky.
That said, my biggest gripe is a personal one; lack of an invert aim option. I started mouse-aiming my way through PC games with 1995's Descent, so I know no other way. Luckily the game is slow paced so it doesn't ruin the experience, but it the option would be greatly appreciated.
Would I recommend the game? Yes, but you have to be okay with walking sim kind of horror experiences. If you do vibe with this sub-genre, the penguin species and their skills mixed with the exploration do offer tons of replay value.
The game is available on PC (GOG and Steam) as well as Nintendo Switch. At least on GOG there's also a 'deluxe' version that comes with the great soundtrack. No physical version exists as of making this entry. If one materialises, I may have to feature this one again.
