Cradle. Dear God... - by mol
Azal on 17/6/2004 at 15:49
The Cradle is my new favourite level.
What really made the missions shine for me is that it wasn't until I was finally finished that I realised that...
[spoiler]there were no AI in the first part of the mission at all! It was all aural and visual cues that had me totally creeped out.[/spoiler]
And of course...
[spoiler]when you first think you're about to finish the mission. I was thinking "Thank god! I am SO glad to be getting out of this fucking place!" And then, BAM, you can't leave. It totally messed with me.[/spoiler]
Dark Arrow on 17/6/2004 at 17:10
Quote Posted by Azal
[spoiler]there were no AI in the first part of the mission at all! It was all aural and visual cues that had me totally creeped out.[/spoiler]
That was what scared me the most in the first part. Whatever I did there I was allways fearing that it would change something in that area.
Add something that moves fast and kills faster. Imagine how scared I was when I
turned on the lights.
DarthEnder on 18/6/2004 at 01:23
Quote:
Aww, dude....
Ill worship whoever made that level.
I don't think it was really survival horror. It was nowhere near Resident Evil.
It's not that much different from the undead levels in Thief 1. You can sneak through the whole mission, really.
Your right, it was nowhere near Resident Evil because it did what resident evil wanted to do, but so much better.
Like I said, I'd love to see the people who made this level make a whole game of them, which I will gladly reccomend to my friends who like horror games, but I'd like these same people to stay away from the next Thief game. :D
Eshaktaar on 18/6/2004 at 02:33
I just got through the cradle, must add my comments too. Spoilers ahead for those who haven't played it (what are you doing in this thread, anyway?):
The first half is absolutely nerve wracking, thanks to the very creepy ambient sounds. Like Dark Arrow, I was expecting that anytime all hell would break loose around me. Several times I was convinced hearing footfalls nearby, and when I got to the attic door I said to myself "I don't want to open that!"
The first asylum inhabitant I encountered was actually just a shadow I saw running behind the "reception desk". I walked behind it to see if there was something, found nothing and turned around thinking it had only been a scripted event. Then the lights started flickering madly, and seconds later I walked right into this... thing. My heart went particularly faster after that (gross understatement!).
These asylum zombies are the creepiest AIs I've encountered so far. Just watching them doing these shaky arm movements when they're standing freaks me out. It's as if they're still feeling the electric shocks they received as "mental treatment", and I guess that's why the electric lights start flickering when they get close to them (an ingenious idea, btw).
The visuals are stunning, so is the choice of colors: Large parts of the inner cradle are in black and white, which adds immensely to the level's atmosphere.
Doubtlessly my favorite level so far.
Verak on 18/6/2004 at 03:20
I got surprised by one of the "residents" -- had no idea they moved so fast. I shrieked out so loud that I scared my dog and he barked at me. :o
ActionJackson on 18/6/2004 at 04:33
Yep up in room above the garage in the house by myself at 1:30 in the morning decided I wanted to do the next mission in the new thief game. Definitly had literally just finished watching Pyscho. Ehh.. the cradle huh.. that doesnt sound very intimidating, that inspector probably is just a candyass. This is Garrett after all, Defeated the lost city, been to the haunted cathedral not once but twice. kicked the crap out of Karras and the Trickster, I am one bad mofo! been there and got the Haunt/undead t-shirt! Man that building is pretty dark. What! I have to go in through the basement? and I certainly just saw a really freaky looking caged balcony. Cruising along hunting for some dough. This darkness kinda eeiry, and I know somthin bad is gonna happen. Man, I really wanna turn on the generator, but in someways I really dont. Damn. I just heard children crying in the distance. Definitly time to start shaking uncontrollably. Somethins gonna get me I know it. The black taffer always dies first. (At this point my dog comes up behind me silently, and barks sharply.) Lets just say that my ceiling has had better days ( LIKE WHEN I DIDNT JUMP through it!) In a really sage move decide to turn up the bass on my klipsch 5.1 ultras, so I can hear the impressive sound in this place. AHHHHHHHH (Visualize scream) OMMY GOD something just knocked ONTHAT DOOR! Runaway! Runaway, all the way back outside hide in shadows for like ten minutes. Work up courage to approach door again. Feel like Fred, Wilma, and Daphnee have just told me its time to split up and look for clues. hey a painting.. more loot. THE BLUE THINGS GONNA KILL ME. ITS A LITTLE GIRL !!! i'm so dead. Blood! THIS IS Going to end badly. The birds are gonna kill me at any minute I know it, or the knife slasher is gonna get me, Alfred stop it. What do mean the cradle remembers, itsa building! Fast forward to entering second part of the level. WTF was that shadow running behind the desk. OMYGOD Like the scene in Jaws 3 with the floating body. (Sign for the morgue) Hearing growling. Better check that out. Rear right channel projects noise. Turn around... AND WTF IS THAT. THATS not a thief zombie. Screw ghosting this place. (One fire arrow, two fire arrows, three fire arrows flash bombs, gas arrows, small tactical nuclear weapons (Run like hell) Where's Buffy when you her. Ahh the cradle electric shock therapy treatment room.. "I came in one day and saw a man lying on a table wrapped in rags. He was burned horribly. He asked for my help. I was too scared to help him though" (Visualize hiting the power button on my pc out of fear.) O shit its very dark in here.
On par with any horror move I've ever watched. Even better than the haunts in TDP or System Shock 2. Scared me just writing about it. Has there ever been a scarier level section with 0 npcs?
mol on 18/6/2004 at 08:01
That pretty much sums it all up! :laff:
Renault on 18/6/2004 at 14:21
I just started this level. I don't ever remember being so rattled and freaked out by a video game where I felt too uncomfortable to continue. I actually had to quit playing. I won't go as far as to say that this level is scarier than The Haunted Cathedral when I first played it years ago, but it's damn close.
My heart just dropped after:
[SPOILER]walking into the patient area, and seeing a dark figure scurry quickly past the reception desk. This area was set up beautifully by the fact that the first portion of the mission has no advesaries. It almost gets you into a little comfort zone, despite all the scary background sounds. Then just when you figure you're relatively safe, WAM.[/SPOILER]
I am both anxious to get back to this level tonight, and scared shitless at the same time. :eek:
True Taffer 2.0 on 18/6/2004 at 15:41
The thing I like about the Cradle is that the undead aren't just there as an obstacle. They're actually part of the building's story.
BTW, I couldn't stand the "residents." I went around killing each and every one before I did anything in that part of the mission. The first time I dropped one (two fire arrows), I came back after a bit. I jumped when he jumped. I said
Quote:
HOLY SH!T HE'S STILL ALIVE SH!T SH!T RUN RUN (flashbombs)
When I saw that figure dash behind that desk, I said to myself, "Ohhhhh no, you are NOT making me go back there."
guz on 18/6/2004 at 16:19
It's so good to see that I'm not the only one who is scared shitless by this level... and I'm not even finished yet. About an hour ago, I had finished the front part of the cradle. I was so f***ing scared that, when the dead girl said that noone is allowed in the staff tower, my first thoughts were "oh, well, then I better not go there"...
I started exploring the second part, avoided or flashbombed these weird zombies, and eventhough so far none of those I killed stood up again, I avoid them, just because they don't vanish like the other zombies do. When I realized that I will actually have to OPEN THE CELL DOORS, I had to stop playing. And it is afternoon out in the real world... I would not want to play this map by night! It is going to haunt my dreams anyway. I find this one even worse than the cathedral, and eventhough I replayed T:DP a few times, I could never get myself to reenter that place... And there's no way that I'm coming back to the cradle :eek:
Gunnar
