Journey through the Dark Project: Part 4

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Journey through The Dark Project: Part 3

“Return to the Cathedral”:

“Return to the Haunted Cathedral” is up next, I’m deep into the levels I’ve never played before. All I know about this one is: “Fuck. Fuck! Argh…”

Objectives for “Return to the Cathedral” (I keep inserting the word Haunted) seem pretty straightforward… So I’m totally fucked aren’t I?

As if the lack of objectives wasn’t a strong enough indication that this level was going to get complicated, it turns out the Cathedral has grounds.

Sure… This is all going to be fine…

Hmm… It’s one of these levels… I already sense that actually hiding from these creatures is going to be difficult. I don’t feel I have either the tools or experience to deal with this density of threats. Literally every room I go into has 3+ creatures that can all inflict high damage but are difficult – or impossible – for me to kill. This feels like the boss fights in Deus Ex: Human Revolution a sequence where every skill I’ve been honing is rendered useless. My best approach appears to be either running or fighting. This isn’t scary, this isn’t stealthy, this is just a fucking pain in the ass. I’ve no room to manoeuvre, barely any means of fighting back, and these things will follow me everywhere. To the point of running across half the cathedral just to come up behind me. <_<

There’s an alarming absence of darkness which forces me into confrontations I feel neither equipped nor trained for. I just wasted my single mine on a lone zombie only to then by jumped by two of the skull faced Hammerites (Haunts?). This is the second time in as many levels that the game has changed the rules in ways that have made me feel stupid. I can’t tell if it’s being opaque about what it wants from me of if I’m just not understanding what it’s trying to tell me.

So here’s part of the problem… I’ve been so careful about not alerting NPCs that I don’t have any sense of what their behaviour is like when they are alerted; I don’t know if/when they are going to drop into a more relaxed state.

I have never witnessed a Haunt walking across one of the elevated wooden beams, but the only way it could have reached me is by doing just that..?

The doors closing on their own is effectively creepy. It’s also really awkward when you’re trying to watch multiple directions at once to determine patrol patterns.

My initial reactions are going to be emotionally charged, this is a tense game which means my adrenaline is spiking just crouching in a corner. I’m doing better, I grabbed The Eye (which got me into the position I was in), and I’ve escaped the cathedral itself. I still think there are too many creatures, too few dark corners, and too many spots where the lighting isn’t quite as dark as it looks. There’s a lot to keep track of, it feels like one thing too many; which works from the “make the player uncomfortable” perspective at least.

Another part of my problem is I’m an experience The Metal Age player, meaning I’m more comfortable with stealth than fighting undead. If I’d played this first I’d likely have gained more practice with the latter earlier as I was learning the former.

I guess I’m now going to be getting help from the ghost of George Carlin.

There’s some really great spaces in this level, it’s a shame that it leans so heavily on the aspects of the series I’m not as fond of. I always feel bad running away from zombies, like I’ve failed at playing a stealth game. I’ve heard “Return to the Cathedral” spoken of in the same vein as “Robbing the Cradle” and the similarities are clear, I’m just not feeling scared, which is a surprise. Tense certainly, but no more than any other level.

On the one hand parts of this are annoying. On the other, if these Haunts are all going to walk down the same stretch of corridor I’m not sure what else they expect me do to?

That multi-part quest you just did that was smart because you could complete the stages out of order? Yeah that was good. Now back to the fucking cathedral for you Garrett.

Constantine you’re a creepy weirdo… But you’re sword is pretty fucking dope.

Really nice architecture and environmental detailing in this level.

Have discovered you can mantle onto doors, which is slightly less useful when they automatically close on you – because you know: “Haunted Cathedral”.

Another thing made slightly more cumbersome by automatically closing doors, trying to carry bodies any distance. Which this level requires you to do twice.

Garrett reads the Hammer prayer with unexpected conviction and sincerity.

Haha, you fuckers better watch out I’ve got some Holy Water now.

No Brother Murus, thank you. Now to just grab that Sunburst Device… I mean unnamed explosive.

Some more thoughts on “Return to the Cathedral”… It’s proto-Deus Ex in its spatial layout and the non-sequential way you can complete your objectives. The threat level of the cathedral itself is much higher than anywhere else in the level, and despite my initial complaints it really needs to be that way. You want players to be averse to going back there. There are points where it seems like the level is just never going to end, and it makes the name “Return to the Cathedral” almost a meta joke. You have to keep going back there no matter how much you don’t want to.

Obviously it isn’t – if you’re paying attention you’ll be expecting a twist – but the structure of the game, combined with the difficulty and near endless nature of the last level, could have you believing this is actually the end of the game. It’s a trick employed again with “Robbing the Cradle” though there it’s a little less effective as you have a defined antagonist by that stage in Deadly Shadows so you know it’s not over until they are confronted.

Woo! Oh look 9 backstabs… I wonder who was on the receiving end of those? And no damage taken. Once I accepted that full stealth wasn’t going to be an option keeping the zombies at a safe distance became easier; I should stop trying to always remain unseen.

That’s “Return to the Cathedral” done and with it Act 2, Garrett has secured The Eye and now to return it to Constantine for payment.

This seems fairly relaxed… Wait what do you mean it’s “completely blind”? Erm…

Oh this isn’t good… Well fuck… I didn’t see that coming… (Sorry, sorry, I’ll see myself out.)

Everything has unequivocally gone to shit… And so we start Act 3 with our anti-hero protagonist kind of fucked.

Yeah so, spoilers I guess… God these cutscenes are still gorgeous. Though the body horror is unsettling, the absolute worst part about this sequence is that Garrett sounds absolutely terrified when they leave him to die. Again with the film noir influences; after diving deep into the City’s seedy underbelly and dealing various political factions, criminals, and other miscreants, it’s only in the final act that the true antagonist is revealed.

I believe I only have three levels left.

Cool detail of both “Undercover” and “Return to the Cathedral”, each includes an appropriate number of beds/bunks given the population needs of the compound.

 

“Escape!”:

Ah yes the Keepers, like the Vorlons only more enigmatic. At least they freed me, and then disappeared.

No shop makes sense, as does starting without any equipment. This is going to be rough and honestly that’s entirely expected.

Starting with less health than usual is another mechanical twist that I approve of. On Expert you don’t really want to risk getting hit at all so this just heightens that, rather than feeling like an unfair disadvantage.

Another entirely normal level…

Motherfucking Gas Arrows!

That’s one Gas Arrow to get three rat men and one locust looking creature. Unfortunately that’s the only Gas Arrow I had.

I have mixed feelings about randomised patrol routes. I’m not sure if the benefits in terms of encouraging improvisation outweigh the disadvantages of undercutting intentionality.

Alright game you got me, where the fuck is that light coming from?

TFW you patiently make your way forward, dowsing torches and avoiding wandering creatures to arrive at a door. Only to open it and realise you’re now on the other side of the room you started on.

Suffice to say the map is as helpful as ever.

At some point my objectives changed, yet I don’t have my stuff back yet. I’m still missing my lock picks.

Erm…

I have absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to do now.

I get the impressive that I’ve massively messed up somewhere and don’t know how. There’s nowhere on the ground floor of Constantine’s mansion that looks like it might contain his plans, and I’ve no idea where my equipment is. Third level in a row where I feel like I’ve not understood what’s going on, or the game has done a poor job explaining itself. I’ve explored nearly all of the ground floor, so I assume whatever I’m looking for is back in the caves?

Haha… Right back in the very first room. I guess this one is on me.

Could have really used those Rope Arrows and Noisemaker Arrows earlier.

Now I’ve got access to Rope Arrows I’ve sudden found a whole bunch more equipment. As if I managed to escape without having any of this.

“My dark project…” Ah yes. Still not quite enough to know what he’s actually planning. Now I’m wandering around trying to locate the other tree house area I found earlier.

I quite like this level surprisingly. It focused on the parts of Thief I don’t like that much so I’ve had to embrace my more violent side. Still amused I had to back track from right at the end to the very beginning.

I really like that despite it not fully reusing the previous level it copied it enough that I was able to use my existing knowledge of the layout of the ground floor to aid my escape.

The way the crystals you need to make your arrows are treated as elements of the natural world is great. A design idea that Deadly Shadows leans into even more heavily, especially in its city sections

A silly little detail, each type of body you can carry has a different icon, this one for rat men is pretty cute/creepy.

Thought I’d be more frustrating with that level than I was. The lucky Gas Arrow at the start helped a lot no doubt. As did my acceptance that I wasn’t going to mess around and try to ghost it. So many of my frustrations with certain levels stem from my experience playing The Metal Age where my default low-contact approach was always viable (and my expectation that the objectives would indicate when they were completed or changed). It does make me wonder if I’ll like “Trail of Blood” more now that I’ve played The Dark Project.

Turns out there are meant to be a whole bunch of spiders (modded-out) at the start of “Escape!”. Interesting. Those caves were a mentally taxing maze anyway, and their emptiness made them unsettling.

Well that’s “Escape!” done. Pretty messy on my part. I could probably have avoided all damage if I didn’t mess up a backstab and get into a fight with a rat creature.

In the end that level goes into the box marked “pretty good”. I wish I hadn’t messed up at the start and not found my equipment – or they’d been some VO from Garrett to remind me to find it – because some of that was harder than it could have been. I do actually really like creepy weird witchy shit. I just struggle with getting into the mindset of Garrett as somebody who ever actually uses his sword for anything beyond vandalising banners.

 

“Strange Bedfellows”:

Betrayed, Garrett only barely escaped with his life thanks to the intervention of the Keepers (who went and disappeared again). The Trickster is real and if Garrett’s going to fight back he’ll need help. It’s time to see just how devout these Hammers are.

Whenever I’m shopping and am left with 18 gold or something I always feel antsy, like I’ve messed up my purchasing decisions and should be finding a way to spend all my money.

“It was another cold night in the City, the air pregnant with anticipation. As if the whole world was on edge, waiting to see if after you’d been chewed up you’d ever be spat out again…” (Fortunately the actual dialogue is better than mine).

I’ve learned my lesson, if there are only two objectives the level is going to be fucked.

Same map as “Undercover” which is another good indication that “Strange Bedfellows” is preparing to throw me for a loop.

… Yeah, this is off to a great start.

Well shit. So the Hammer Temple is in ruins and there’s no sign of the sanctimonious bastards anywhere.

This level is actually creepier than “Return to the Cathedral”. I’ve been here before, then it was full of people. The contrast makes it feel off in a way the cathedral never did, I’d only ever seen that when it was full of undead.

Sometimes you encounter a situation where if you stay still you are completely in darkness, but any movement at all will illuminate you, only for you to be in darkness again when you stop moving.

There’s nobody left alive in the main body of the Hammer temple. There’s a System Shock vibe to it, deserted rooms, and footsteps in the distance, occasionally glimpsing a creature at the end of a corridor.

I guess they went down there… This couldn’t possibly go wrong, I mean everything has worked out so well so far.

Huh… It’s going to be like that I see…

Can’t tell if this is a Hammer structure that’s since overgrown, or if it was built on top of an older pagan structure, or if realities are bleeding into each other.

The laws of physics are more guidelines really…

“‘Sup?”

“Nothing, sup with you?”

For a guy who wants my help this Hammer is one condescending motherfucker. Look, I get it, I stole the Talisman you were protecting and yes a bunch of gold, and maybe I unwittingly unleashed the Trickster on the world, but I’m here now so let’s let bygones be bygones. What’s that? You’ve got to go fight back the forces of nature that have come to tear down your works of stone and metal? Look buddy, quit infringing on my brand, I’m the walking metaphor here.

At least he gave me a map… Which is, hmm…

I think I maybe fucked myself over with that last objective. The Hammer never asked me to so I guess Garrett just decided himself when I backstabbed the first one. *Sigh*

This level feels like it might not be that long, unless I’ve greatly misjudged what I’m going to have to do I’m close to the end of the level.

I’m getting impatient now… There’s no loot that I can see so I’m struggling to not just kill everything and run to the end. I like the layout and opening parts of this level, but not much else.

Wait… What the fuck? I went to the dock like Garrett suggested and nothing happened, so I started to swim away and then… Mission Failed.

Rat men just chilling by the fire, makes me feel a little bad for killing their kin.

Right so there’s another exit… That was not clear at all. “Strange Bedfellows” is a mess, it’s not bad just confusing and unfocused. It only seems to exist to show that the Trickster’s minions have broken through into this realm and the Hammers are in retreat.

“Strange Bedfellows” done. Huh… So there was 100 loot somewhere in that level. Shortest level so far. Also one of the weakest sadly. It’s not annoyingly ala-“Thieves’ Guild” at least, more disappointing; wasted potential.

Skipping ahead a little, the next level starts with you already inside the Trickster’s realm with no sense of how you got there. So why wasn’t “Strange Bedfellows” about working with the Hammers to gain access to it? Maybe lean into the aesthetic motif that the Hammer temple was built on top of an older pagan site and have the actual entrance to the Trickster’s realm be somewhere in the caves below it?

Or this, have “Strange Bedfellows” be about you trying to locate what the Hammers need to construct a portal.

Helping them build the portal and then entering it in-game would have made Bedfellows more interesting; good point. – Trevor Hugh Whalen

The way the endings of The Dark Project and The Metal Age mirror each other is nice. In both Garrett has to eventually side with the enemy of his enemy. Though interestingly the second time around Garrett would rather run than fight.

I do have some questions about the Dark Engine’s handling of physics and lighting in more organically shaped environments. I seem to get stuck (only very briefly) on sloped floors a little too often, and what is and isn’t in darkness is not always clear.

Narrative Design: 

Tempted to start the final level, though it’s probably best if I don’t. I felt rushed playing “Strange Bedfellows” and don’t want to bring that same impatient to “Into the Maw of Chaos”. So instead…. Symbolism!

This is mostly pop-culture symbology and nothing new to old Looking Glass fans I suspect…

The events of The Dark Project arise because the Trickster believes the world has forgotten how to be afraid. It no longer sees, and by extension fears, the power of the natural world. With a lack of fears come a lack of dreams about the darkness and what lives within. In essence he believes that the rise of technology has caused the death of imagination. You don’t really have to do much mental processing to understand how imagination and technology are coded by society, what gender associations they evoke. So you have the world of imagination represented by chaos, creation, nature and the organic, set against the world of technology represented by order, industry, structuralism (both physical and philosophical). You can see this divide in action throughout the game. From the different symbols used for each faction to the physical architecture of the spaces inhabited by them.

Pagan symbolism, that associated with the Trickster, the Woodsie Lord, is rough and curved and doesn’t conform to the rules of human construction.

Hammer symbolism on the other hand is rigid, symmetrical, and utterly reverent to the works of man, and the ways in which technology has allowed mankind to rise above nature.

This notion of technology placing itself above nature is reinforced by the way that the areas most closely associated with the Trickster are physically below ground. The Trickster himself has utter disdain for the works of man, just look at his mansion. A consciously willful disregard for the rules of construction, of order, and of comprehension. It’s supposed to evoke confusion, fear – that in fact appears to be the source of his power.

The final act of The Dark Project is all about the way in which nature is taking over. Represented by chaos, and the organic. This comes to a head with a descent into the Maw, the lair from which the Trickster’s minions are birthing forth. Compare this to the final act of The Metal Age where everything is about the constructed world, and order. There aren’t even any trees left in the City by this stage. This culminates in Soulforge, a giant work of human construction from which spews machine life. The Dark Project and The Metal Age both end with Garrett forced to enter two spaces that serve as different metaphors for creation… Not to belabour the point, but: a womb and an erection.

Here’s my true secret about this series… I don’t even care that they’re stealth games really. I’m here for the film noir by way of mythic folklore plot and the way the narrative design is embedded through every element. Like, there are four elemental arrow types: Fire, Water, Moss (Earth), and Gas (Air). Arrows of those elements that are affected by gravity will arc when fired: Water and Moss. Those that aren’t will fly straight: Fire and Gas.

 

“Into the Maw of Chaos”:

And here we go…

I’ll just check the map… Ah Hahahahahahahaha….

Fuck Frogbeasts!

Notably this is the first (and thus only) level where you start in an unsafe position. Usually if you stay still nothing will happen, if you do that here you’ll be detected very quickly.

I still wish more was done with this portal… Where does it lead to in the “normal” realm? This is partially explained in The Metal Age but not entirely.

Ah yes a cryptic message from an old text that’ll be helpful. I have a fake copy of The Eye manufactured by the Hammers, I need to find the Trickster’s lair and swap it out before he can complete his ritual.

I have 5 Gas Arrows, this is like having 5 bullets in System Shock 2… I am a god amongst mortal men.. an angel so pure the heavens couldn’t hold… Wait wrong game.

This place is a trip…

This is literally the most normal looking space in this entire level. It kind of looks like two eyes staring at me so I’m freaking out anyway.

This is fine, everything is fine…. NO… NO… THIS IS NOT FUCKING NORMAL.

Ice, that’s neat why didn’t they use this in any of the other levels? <Stands on it> On I see, because it’s a nightmare deathtrap that Garrett’s (totally not hobnailed boots, ahem) have fuck all traction on.

Just to be clear here that “waterfall” at the back of the space is flowing upward. You know, as water naturally tends to do… <_<

The Trickster has clearly heard about the rules of physics, he just doesn’t give a shit. This said while preparing to dive down out of the water running along the roof into that weird tunnel from the previous image.

Garrett is an old cynic, but at least he can still be impressed by excessively large flora.

To run or not to run..? Maybe taking this one slow is the best option. There’s not really a strong logical connection between any of these spaces, which I suppose is part of the point. It’s certainly unsettling and weird.

Hmm… What did that old Hammer text say again? “Destroy each of its anchors with its opposite…” Good thing I’ve been frugal with my elemental arrow usage.

That’s a nice portal you’ve got there. It’d be a shame if somebody were to shoot four different elemental arrows at each of the four anchor points, cancelling out each element with its opposite and therefore destroying the entire portal.

For a brief moment I was expecting a Barnacle to be clinging to the roof.

If you go down to the Maw today…

Don’t mind me… Just going to cover this nice shiny floor with some moss, you like moss don’t you? Oh you’re busy over there? No problem, don’t worry about me I’ll just be here… STEALING YOUR EYE MOTHERFUCKER! PAYBACK TIME! How well does your Eye see now buddy? Yeah, how’d you like them apples? Speaking of apples this weird fruit I’ve been eating sucks.

And that’s “Into the Maw of Chaos” done… And in a final irony the video codec broke and the game just dumped be back to the menu screen.

The world is safe… Garrett has returned to the City (let’s not get into how). And look it’s the Keepers again.

“Tell them I’m through. Tell them it’s over. Tell them Garrett is done.”

“I will tell them this: Nothing is changed, all is as it was written, the Trickster is dead, beware the dawn of the Metal Age.”

FIN.

Thief: The Dark Project (yes I know it was Thief Gold, but the other name is better) is a pretty good game. I think maybe I still prefer The Metal Age (for reasons I’ll explain), though the gap is much closer than it once was. As much as I love the creepy pagan elements, I don’t think the execution of the last three levels is as strong as the rest of the game. I had more issues with unclear or inconsistent lighting and collision detection in the organic levels than the purely urban ones. I don’t like the forces of the Trickster from a mechanics/dynamics standpoint. When these creatures appear they do so in greater density than human guards, and more frequently rely on randomised patrol routes. This means the most efficient – and honestly the least frustrating – way to deal with them is direct violence. I’ve no moral compunction against killing them, nor a specifically enforced mandate not. To that end the backstab is too reliable and powerful. The Mechanist robots in The Metal Age require more resources to deal with and that is enough to disincentive directly dispatching them. If I’d not been able to backstab all of the Trickster’s minions I’d have been encouraged to find other solutions to outsmart them. Unfortunately the combination of the density of creatures and a lack of confidence in my ability to parse safe spaces in the more organically formed levels, pushed me toward dispatching them as the most viable and least frustrating tactic. If I played those levels again I’d probably feel more confident in where was and wasn’t dark, and would therefore seek out less violent means of getting past the Trickster’s creatures. I appreciate that, I can’t change my initial experience though.

I can totally understand why The Dark Project is the preferred game for some (even those who didn’t play it first). I don’t think I’m ever going to be one of those people because the rough edges are in exactly the wrong parts of the design space for me. I’m not sure what more I have to say that I didn’t talk about already.

It’s still a real fucking good game.