Review: Reign of the Cursed

The early days of Unreal's custom SP mapping often featured one-hit wonders by mappers who would otherwise never be seen again, leaving behind just one memorable map that leaves players with the feeling of wanting more. However, as you're about to find out, Mendell's only outing that is Reign of the Cursed (a single map in all but name, since the other .unr in the archive is just modified Entry) is as far removed from such cases as possible. Released at the end of September 1998, so four months after Unreal's release date, it's as basic as it gets.

Reading the release notes, we find out that we're filling in the role of a guard, a part of a team of three, on an unregistered planet. Lack of care getting the better of them, they end up knocked out after barely turning a corner, having followed something suspicious. The level starts with the player being in a prison cell, the other cells occupied by a Nali, a Mercenary and one of the player's teammates, all having perished. Begs the question as to how the captors allowed said teammate to own anything capable of being used as an explosive (since we're getting out through a hole in the floor), but this is the first of many things that make little sense throughout the level. The player then proceeds through the prison, encountering corpses of further victims, including Nali nailed to walls, and even some of the Skaarj captors dead, one journal revealing that the reason why everything went to hell being an assault by a fringe splinter group known as the Elmorians. These Elmorians can't be told apart from regular Skaarj, Brute, Mercenary or Krall units, everyone is equally hostile to the player and only to the player, so gameplay and story segregation trope is hard at work here. That being said, the final enemy of the level, a Warlord by the name of El'Mor teleports out after a short scuffle and the level ends there, leaving the story unresolved. And that's a shame, because cliched and simplistic as it is, the story is implemented through numerous translator messages, some adding more information about the Elmorian sect, so having the resolution up in the air is a huge drawback to just about the only positive side of the level.

And by the only positive side, I mean it. As for the visuals, we have generic corridors with equally generic use of textures, a couple square-ish rooms with nothing in particular showcasing their purpose (excluding the one high point that are the halls in which Nali are nailed to the walls, indicating interrogation/torture purpose for the areas. The level is maze-like, new paths being opened in the most unexpected locations by pressing red buttons. The boss arena is by far the most jarring example of that, a rectangle being carved out in one of the walls just to serve as the place for the boss to wait for you in. And even despite that sheer simplicity, rivaling the likes of CMS: Shadows of Na Pali - and perhaps even worse, there was a BSP issue under one of the force fields in the later part of the level. In the words of Looney Tunes' Rocky: "I don't know how ya's done it but ya's done it"! The architectural shortcomings are somewhat mitigated in a couple areas by the usage of lighting - certain places are very dimly lit if at all which creates some semblence of atmosphere until the player gets their hands on some of the more damaging weapons.

The aural layer of the level is simplistic: no ambience to speak of, no sounds of alarms or any screams - nothing, just the Vortex Rikers track playing constantly, including the boss fight. So, poor in that aspect as well. Gameplay is simple: explore an area, shooting everyone in sight, find a red button, find a new area that you unlocked, kill everyone, rinse and repeat, until you reach the boss, get the boss to evacuate, pass through end teleporter to a customized Entry.unr with cows in it and the author humorously tells you to lay waste to them. Simplistic but given the shape of the level overall, nothing more could be expected. Also, there are versions of the archive where the teleporter to "Rest.unr" is broken, however upon opening it manually, you're not missing anything.