Wednesday, February 22, 2012

TDM FM Review: A Night To Remember

This is a review of one of The Dark Mod’s (a mod for Doom 3) fan missions. It may contain traces of spoilers. You have been warned.

A Night To Remember Author(s): Fieldmedic
Version: 1.0
Date released: 2011-10-31
Other info: Halloween Speed Build Contest 2011 entry 
Theme: Mansion/Haunted
Download FM here

This FM takes a different turn to fit in with the horror theme expected in this contest. You are a nobleman who moonlights as something a more disreputable (but just barely): a thief. This is an inside job. Instead of having to break in to the mansion, you begin inside one of the rooms. You’re here as a guest but right off the bat, it seems as though somebody knows your ulterior motives.

You exit your room and wander around the mansion. There are no guards about as the lord of the manor does not want any patrols inside. This seems to make life easier as you explore the rooms that aren’t locked. Most of them are and you don’t possess any lockpicks or much equipment at all, initially. There’s a fair bit of lockpicking involved, but numerous doors actually require a key.

Judging by the design and the dates in the journals, Fieldmedic has practically ditched the Middle Ages in favour of a more modern feel, possibly Victorian or Colonial era – perhaps even later. But this isn’t anything new seeing as his previous mission, “Reap As You Sow”, exhibited a similar style. With the large, sprawling, practically empty estate, I couldn’t help but feel that this reminded me of one of my favourite horror-themed games of all time: Clive Barker’s Undying.

You make your way up to the study to steal some blueprints for an airship named Gottfried II – but it seems as though you might be too late. The rest of the mission is spent chasing after an individual who seems to have the same idea in mind as you.

Follow the sooty footsprints...The murderer is in here... whoops, spoiler.Nice touch, this. You can even play with the balls - not like that, sicko!Coast is clear... mostly. 

Hover mouse over pictures for captions, if available.

There are sections which contain ghostly figures who patrol the dark corridors of the servants quarters’ hallways and passages the lead to the more stately rooms of the manor. Getting near these spirits will damage you. If one of the beings spots you, you die instantly. So extra caution is advised in avoiding these spirits, much like Thief: Deadly Shadows’ infamous Shalebridge Cradle mission. There are pianos that play all by themselves, and you can hear the constant cries of torment coming from the ghosts of the beheaded servants.

Fieldmedic is an FM author who experiments with new ideas, such as “Reap What You Sow”, and obviously knows a little about scaring the player, which was evident while playing an earlier FM of his in “Betrayal”. Here he’s turned TDM in to yet another experience: that of fully-fledged horror, instead of just mildly tense. Once again it feels like a mod for a mod and not just an average FM. You lack most of the gear and weapons. You’re, for the most part, defenceless and vulnerable.

But like “Reap What You Sow”, it is flawed. ANTR has bugs – maybe some of you have experienced these, and others haven’t. But there’s a bloody annoying save game bug where if you save the game after a certain point, the game crashes. Saving the game before you come across the first ghost in the servant’s quarters works; after that point, it doesn’t. As long as you don’t save you’ll be fine. Some people play TDM this way by design. They shouldn’t have a problem (this bug seems to have been fixed since I installed TDM version 1.07 and restarted the FM).

When I first played this FM with this bug present, I hated it. But after I had patched TDM and replayed it, I realised how good it really is.

Pros:

+ Atmospheric.

+ Feels different from the normal FM.

Cons:

- Some bugs.

- Might be too much of a departure from conventional TDM gameplay.

FM score: 8.9/10

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