The Dark One on 2/11/2016 at 03:11
So, let's get this going. I was told I should post these here, so here I am!
A disclaimer: I have not played Thief. The Dark Mod is my sole experience with it. As a result, reviews should be read with the expectation that I am a moron barely capable of making Not-Garrett walk in a straight line.
I play on Expert unless otherwise noted. No pwetty screenshots either. Yet. We'll see.
The Tears of St. Lucia comes packed with The Dark Mod, so I figured I might as well hit it first.
The plot is simple enough. You assume the role of Not-Garrett (a common Dark Mod protag) to break into a poor church, steal the artifact which is causing the statue of the titular saint to cry blood, wreck said statute, and generally act like a jerk for cash. Not much in the way of plot, but it does a good job. There are some readables scattered around, but most of them are worldbuilding.
Layout-wise, the mission is good, starting out on the grimy streets before moving into the chapel of St. Roderick. The chapel itself is laid out nicely, not maze-like, but with more than enough room for players to roam and sneak past guards. I do question the air vents, as I personally never found a use for them, but maybe they were intended for pure stealth runs? Not sure.
Difficulty-wise, it’s pretty fair on the whole. Some people were complaining about That One Guard(™), but I thought that it was semi-clear you were supposed to find a way around him. Of course, maybe it wasn’t as clear in earlier versions of the mission, I wouldn’t know. I do think that the start of the chain to get into the sewers is a tad obtuse, but after that, it’s fine. The way to break the statue is also pretty clear, I feel. The loot goal is reasonable, and easy if you pay attention and explore.
Other than that, I don’t have much else to say. I know there were some water arrows I could never find, and I get how some might feel that the difficulty is too high for a newbie. Still, I’m new to Thief in general, and I didn’t have too many issues. Would recommend.
nickie on 2/11/2016 at 18:15
Thanks very much for the review and I look forward to more! :)
The Dark One on 4/11/2016 at 06:20
So, here's another one. I feel bad about no screenshots, but I'd be terrible with them. :(
Awaiting the Storm (by HappyCheeze) is an early mission for me, can’t recall if it was my second or third. I picked it because a review I read told me that is was easier than the average, which was pretty true. Still fun tho.
This time, Not-Garrett is a dock worker who gets word that a rich guy is coming through town to give some artifacts to a museum. He’s staying at a local inn, and Not-Garrett decides to take advantage of a storm to rob him. That’s about it there, not much else to say on the story.
Appearance-wise, it’s mostly average. The inn where most of the action takes place could have used a few more decorations here and there, less empty space. Where this mission shines is the build-up to the inn, taking place on the city streets during a raging storm. The storm idea is a neat one, and I’m a little surprised that this is the only mission I’ve played so far to make use of it. There are a couple of neat touches here and there, such as the lightning lighting up your hiding places, and a water logged tunnel to go through, with some neat door physics.
Difficulty-wise, it’s not hard. There’s only about ten or so NPCs to deal with, and the path is pretty clear, with easy to find loot (though there’s still one piece at least I can’t find…) thought there’s still some creative moments within, such as getting around a second-floor guard by going up via dumbwaiter. Experience fans will shoot right through it, but I do think it’s good for newer fans, or those who are unused to Thief-style gameplay. Ultimately, recommended.
Tannar on 4/11/2016 at 17:19
Thanks for the reviews. Screenshots are nice, but certainly not necessary. If you ever want to try them, we'd be happy to help, though. I don't recall ever having heard of
Awaiting the Storm. I'll have to check it out. As for missions with rain, lightning, etc., there are quite a few Thief missions with them, though I don't know about TDM missions. You can check out the Thief missions with rain listed in (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144797&p=2272561&viewfull=1#post2272561) this thread, though I don't think that is all of them.
Yandros on 4/11/2016 at 18:06
The rain section there needs both Drymian Codex and Waterfront Racket added to it at some point.
nickie on 5/11/2016 at 14:54
My fault. fortuni's put all the links for Waterfront Racket together and is patiently waiting for me to do the pasting in. I'll also and try and remember to add Drymian Codex.
The Dark One on 6/11/2016 at 23:35
Quote Posted by Tannar
Thanks for the reviews. Screenshots are nice, but certainly not necessary. If you ever want to try them, we'd be happy to help, though. I don't recall ever having heard of
Awaiting the Storm. I'll have to check it out. As for missions with rain, lightning, etc., there are quite a few Thief missions with them, though I don't know about TDM missions. You can check out the Thief missions with rain listed in (
http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144797&p=2272561&viewfull=1#post2272561) this thread, though I don't think that is all of them.
Hey thanks! :D And the screenshot thing is just because I see everyone doing them here, but eh, I'm fine with this for now.
Also, review.
Living Expenses by Sonosuke was my first experience with a true “hard” Dark Mod mission. The others had had their moments of difficulty, but this was the first time I’d had such a hard mission. Well, hard to me, anyway.
This time, Not-Garratt is running short on money, and decides to aim for the estate of a general that might be involved in smuggling. There’s valuables in there, and getting at them will be difficult, mainly because the mission forces you into a bit of a minimalist run. You see, Not-Garratt is so poor, that all he has are a few arrows and lockpicks. Lantern? Gotta find one. Sword? Gotta find one. Blackjack? Guess what, gotta find one.
Layout-wise, it’s pretty decent. The graphics are a bit generic, but I like running around large manors, so not really a major complaint. The layout makes sense for a manor, barring minor oddness such as there only being one way up to the second floor. Most of the uniqueness comes from the limited technology in the manor, such as a skylight that you don’t have to play with, to the final show revealing the treasure you’ve been hunting for. It’s neat, and gives the mission some nice charm.
Difficulty-wise, I found it harder than the average mission, thought I was inexperienced at the time. The guard placement is very tight, especially in the foyer and dining room/library. See: having to either duck past a guard looking right at the door or through two rooms with people walking in them all the time. It lessens when the player makes it to the second floor, but remains tricky. Thorough searching is needed to find the loot to reach the goal, especially on Expert, where I’m almost sure you have to find a hidden room to reach the goal, and let me tell you that thing is hard to find. This was also my first run-in with a mission that cuts off your ability to knock out guards on the higher difficulties, and I’m not overly fond of it, though that’s my own personal preference/laziness talking.
All in all, this is a pretty solid, if slightly uneven, mission. I might not recommend it to those who are just starting The Dark Mod, but those who are looking for more of a challenge would like it.
The Dark One on 11/11/2016 at 03:20
The Creeps, by Mortem Desino, was another first for me, with more of a focus on horror than the other missions I had played up until now. The plot involves Not-Garrett aiming for an “easy” job: A creepy mansion where the reclusive inhabitants leave once a week, giving him free reign of the place. Needless to say, there’s more going on in that mansion.
The Creeps is different from the average Dark Mod mission, with more of a focus on horror and exploration over stealth. There are no guards on the grounds, and you more or less have free reign of the place. MD makes good use of this open space, however, and it’s not just you bumbling around in a creepy house for thirty minutes. There are puzzles to be found, not hard ones, but ones that force you to stop and think. Location-wise, it manages to avoid being too small or too large. The former would make the mission dull, and the latter would, I would think, run the risk of monotony, due to the lack of traditional enemies. The look of the place is also well-done, forgoing “traditional” colors in favor of a purple hue, which actually works rather well. There’s even a neat-looking tree, though it sheds way too many leaves.
It should also be noted that the place opens itself up to a little parkour, with multiple entry points (and loot!) waiting to be found. It isn’t much, but I’d just thought I’d mention it.
Difficulty-wise, it’s pretty easy, all things considered. The loot is relatively in the open, and even on Expert, hitting the goal is no issue. Most of the difficulty comes from the puzzles you encounter, but even they aren’t that hard.
Considering the type of mission, I feel that I should talk a bit about the horror aspects. To be honest, they aren’t that heavy. For the most part, barring a couple of scenes, most of the horror is mild until the tunnels are hit. To be honest, there could have been more focus on the horror. Atmosphere is good and all, but some of what’s up in the manor felt very tame. But horror is a very subjective genre.
Also, I’ve been having a very odd glitch with this mission, because the intro seems to override any mission I do after I play it. This forces the player to delete the mission after playing, which is annoying, to say the least. Still other than that, this is a solid mission, especially if you want a slightly different experience.
nickie on 11/11/2016 at 08:42
Thank you! I've finally remembered I'm supposed to be entering them in the OP and have now done that.
The Dark One on 14/11/2016 at 07:05
nickie : Glad to accidentally help!
Patently Dangerous (by demagogue) was another first for me, being my first experience both with a city mission, and with a more story-based mission. The plot is simple, Not-Garratt is hired by an inventor’s guild to steal some semantics from the reclusive scientist Soren. It sounds simple, but getting into the house will require a bit of running around. And that’s before you take the serial killer running around into account.
PD is, as said, a city-based mission, and serves as a good place to muse on what I do and don’t like about said missions. On the one hand, these types of mission offer built-in freedom, with the possibility of multiple locations to break into and explore. The problem comes in that it’s far too easy to leave the player with no real direction as to where to go. This mission mostly avoids that, though I did have a moment or two where I was running around without a clue. (Of course, I am an idiot, so make of it what you will.) The first came when I figured out where to to, but a wall I was meant to climb was just a bit out of range, required very a specific jump to get onto. The second time was trying to get into Soren’s house, which required the player to notice faint wooden boards for rope arrowing. (And, I admit, a window, but I think the rope arrow is the intended way.)
Most of these flaws were made up for by the excellent final sequence. I don’t want to spoil what exactly goes down, but it was a good, tense, and creepy experience, almost more so than the last mission I reviewed, which was a straight horror mission.
Graphics-wise, it’s nothing amazing, though still solid. The touches in the final sequence were the best, but other than that, nothing stood out to me, but I’m a horrible judge of such things. The difficulty also wasn’t to severe, some carefully exploration and rooftop jumping will serve you well.
All in all, very good. Recommended.
