The Phantom on 29/5/2008 at 15:02

---

Only recently discovered this mission, and it's hard to believe i've never played it all those years. This is some very nice work :thumb:.

The first things you notice at the beginning are the arches and the beautiful sky setting. Compliments to the author! It's good looking, but back in 2001 this would've been most impressive.
Even though the city streets have no real purpose, it certainly isn't neglected during construction. I wonder how the corpses ended up in the streets. And why is Sammy stopping near the dead keeper?

Inside the compound are some good looking scenery as well (like the chapel and tunnel areas). Good choice of textures too. Used in the right places and proportions, i like this more then seeing a shipload of crappy custom ones. Some spots on wall or ceiling were without textures though.
Layout of the place was confusing. Especially the lower (underground) parts are ideal to get lost. The map didn't really helped (only looked at it once). But some running around from different direction proved enough to recognize.

The mission is also very humerous at moments. The conversations between guards, pasted together with original voice comments, made me laugh. And so did the book "Being the Complete Course for the Beginning Guard" :laff:.
And in page 2 of the Marianne's diary, the line: "It seems something unsavory is going on. I'm sure they push the beds together and the three of them..." made me wonder how it continues :cheeky:

That whistle to open the secret door is brilliant :D I can't believe this is so rarely used in other fan missions. Authors take note!

Finding Marianne's ring was the hardest objective. Not so much spotting it, but knowing where to look for it. While there's a hint in the letter from Marcus it wasn't clear for me at first.

In terms of story, the mission doesn't satisfy. The start with Sammy is interesting, and i get the main background with the rise of the mechanists and Sammy helping them to get Garrett. But then some new objectives pop up out of nowhere.
A Pagan Doll that is prove Clioritis killed Marianne's sister? Hmm. More events/readables that explain things would've been welcome.
Also, the assassination of Sammy by the thieves. Was that planned or did he got killed because Garrett escaped? While being funny to listen, the conversations between them doesn't explain anything.

But this doesn't really bother. There's plenty to enjoy, with the objectives and conversations, and enough to explore. Definitely give this mission a try!

Statistics
Difficulty played: Expert
Time taken: 1 hour 29 minutes 40 seconds
Loot found: 3170 out of 3370

Regarding the "secret door", it does seem there's something behind that bookcase. I also did a search for a switch in the vicinity but no luck. It might not be meant to access, since thee room behind it isn't visible on the map.