Seth Vilverin on 21/4/2008 at 12:29

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All this has given me flashbacks, damn its been so long :D. I'm really hoping there are some people out there still letting their fantasies run wild.

The Phantom on 5/6/2012 at 15:44

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Quiet and peaceful is how Tommy, a servant sitting on a bench before a pond, describes his favorite place of contemplation, a courtyard before the Temple that is the starting point of Gerrard's Temple, Jericho's 2003 FM release. A nice setting indeed, overlooking the building's facade, pools of water, some trees and a full moon illuminating the sky :cool:. A beautiful start of another Garrett adventure. Prior to this we watch a nice briefing movie, explaining your target and goals of this nice events. While not narrated by the convincing voice of Loanstar or SlyFoxx, it does provide some extra charm and is regrettably something that the more recent fan missions lack.

Your goal is to find an alternative way inside the temple (as the front doors are heavily guarded) and just rob the place of it's valuables. The temple's leader, Gerrard, is away on some kind of mission, so know seems to be a perfect moment to strike. Sadly something becomes apparent after player quickely discoveres his alternate way of entry. Contradiction the readme's statement, that the mission "is fully ghostable, yet some sections might be a bit hard..", it turns out ghosting is impossible, as once you try to lockpick the shutters before Brother Julius' window, the latter awakes and it's no longer possible to gain admission while staying undetected :(. Quite a setback and after my recent experience in Istvan Varga's Out of a Revenge, I would've welcomed the effort. But alas, the alternative would be to leave as many of the patrolling hammers unharmed to at least preserve some of the tension while scouting the temple. But the unfruitful effort did made we notice that before you grab Julius' key he is capable of opening the door of his room and afterwards he just stands still, unable to escape. Funny moment and made he wonder if it's normally not always like this and it's just me witnessing this so seldomly :weird:.

Looting is the player prime objective for tonight, but luckily there's also an expending sinister story element present about pestilence and a failed tower project, that leads the player to a unfinished and abandoned underground complex where the mystery behind some recent deaths comes to light. These and other events are told through a large number of (hidden) diaries and scrolls for the player to read. A good thing, as the temple itself is small and it helps bringing the place to life :thumb:. A compliment to Peter Smith and Seth, according to the readme responsible for the story (& concepts), would be in order as they did a pretty thorough and convincing job in providing background to certain important characters, info about recent events and other trivial activities. It guarantees a lot of reading. All pieces of the story, as well as the loot, isn't up for grabs however. There are plenty of tiny switches, secrets and hard to find keys to be located, some of them being quite hard to find. Be prepared to explore the place at micro level (like in The Dude's "Folly of Youth"), which, depending on the kind of player, you find either tedious or entertaining. Expect many keys, many small coins and plenty of tiny switches. I enjoyed these gradual discoveries but at some moments it got frustrating to locate a certain switch (like the one that opens another part of the underground complex) as they're situated too far from the passage they open. Another point of criticism is that the amount of loot on Expert difficulty isn't easily achieved because some loot is placed at unusual locations and therefore easily overlooked :grr: (like the necklace next to a cart near the start, making not much sense without a scroll that at some point asks the reader to look out for a jewel he/she lost).

Gerrard's Temple is a small mission that has more to offer then you might expect at first glance. It's riddled with writings that give depth to it's characters, leaves plenty of secrets and loot to be found, and gradually, through step by step exploration, opens up a intriguing story that leads the player to a forgotten complex underneath the temple :D. There is also a briefing movie at the start, which is always a welcome addition. Playing on Expert, while refraining to knock out any of the patrolling guards, will undoubtedly appeal most Thief players. Some annoying flaws are present but that doesn't prevented me from having a good 1 hour and 50 minutes of entertainment. A more then decent debut for an author of which I regret he never continued on this campaign prelude. It's a solid introduction and I would've loved to find out where this story about Gerrard and the evil artifacts heads to.

Jericho, in case you read this: you've stated you welcome feedback so here is some constructive criticism/remarks concerning Gerrard's Temple (for what's it worth, in case you return to dromed at some point). This doesn't change my overall picture of the game, however, as it's still a good mission in it's current state :).
[INDENT]- all the Hammerites seem to hum the same chants over and over again. Some more variation would be welcome;
- some writings can be found in the open (in a public place) while it would be matter if they were put on a more hidden location (like a note by head priest Gerrard, telling of his plans to rewrite Omitaka's tome, or a scroll by novice Burton);
- in it's current state, ghosting is blocked (read above);
- the residents of the Temple can't open the front doors from the inside;
- some switches are placed at an illogical spot or situated too far from the secret they uncover (read above);
- loot placement doesn't make a lot of sense sometimes (read above);
- the scenery of the underground tunnels don't correspond with Osric's diary, telling about spiders, rats, scorpions, cobwebs and hammers that fail to escape the tunnels after stealing the diamonds unleashes the curse. The place would be more convincing when a lot of cobwebs, spiders, rats and bodies of dead hammers or even haunts inhabit the place to support the written events.
- the Hammer priest are dressed like Mechanists rather then Hammers, which seems a bit out of place.
- fire arrows won't explode once fired but stick in their target[/INDENT]

Stats
Difficulty: Expert
Time: 1 hour 48 minutes 37 seconds
Loot: 4663 out of 4700
Secrets: 9 / 9

bjack on 25/8/2013 at 20:37

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Played this 10 year old FM for the first time. Fun, but as with some games, this one requires "secrets" to finish the game. A secret should be a bonus, not something that is a requirement. It is not cool that essential items are in the secrets in this FM. A player should be able to complete a game without getting even one secret. Whiel and FM maker can do whatever they want, and artistic license is OK by me, at least a warning that secrets are actually mandatory would have been a nice gesture.

Yes, this is a critique for a 10 year old game, but it still was a bit frustrating here and there. Still, overall it was fun, it not a little easy if not ghosting (I rarely do, hence BJACK). Played on expert and got most of the loot and all objectives. Recommended to those that would like to try an old game for the first time, or play again if you have not for a while... You may have to use spoilers, since some of the hidden switches for the secrets are really hard to find. I got all but 2 myself, but those last 2 were hard to find. This thread spells that out pretty well.

meyou123 on 26/5/2018 at 01:23

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OK I need help getting out......I am in the crypt, but have went around and around this stupid thing and cannot find the way back! Anyone??? NEVERMIND: It turns out that there is a ladder which I could not see next to the wall by a boarded up door! I forgot about it when I came down it.