Back in the days of Quake editing
there were many partial and total conversions.
Many were hardly worth playing, but there were
several good ones. A popular setting was the
medieval-fantasy type style. Unfortunetely,
there have really been no big total conversions
for Quake2... except the Dawn of Darkness! However,
the team working on this mod had alot of problems
with it and, after dropping half of the game,
just recently released the first episode.
Dawn Of Darkness takes place in a long vanished
world of mighty forgotten empires and magic.
It is the tale of a once revered Lucitanian
warlord, Roarke The Merciless, caught between
his obligations to his family, his empire and
his honor.
The gameplay was good, with
all new weapons and monsters, but the downside
is that sometimes you'll run up to an enemy
and hit fire and nothing will happen! Also they
can deflect your attacks with their shield.
The new monsters and weapons looked great though.
It is also quite a puzzle solving game. And
with many different routes (it's very non-linear)
it can get a little confusing.
The good part is level design...
it is amazing! These levels are the most atmospheric
I have seen in Quake2. From little villages
to castles, caves and swamps. I especially loved
the terrain, it is easily the best constructed
for Quake2 I have seen. Some of the level designers
which you may have heard of from their Q2 maps
are Ben Glover (Homage To Mars), Brendon Chung
(Citizen Abel) and Jerk Gustafsson (Age of Panic,
1964).
Personally I don't like puzzles
and too non-linear, so this wasn't the mod for
me. But I am sure there are gamers who will
love it. It is only one episode with four huge
levels (one of them is 7mb, easily the biggest
level ever made for Quake2) and it will definitely
keep you occupied and entertained for a while.
