Review: The Chronicles of Weedrow Vol. 1

Have you ever participated in a storytelling assignment (or game) with other people where each person has to make an addition, one after another, until a complete narrative is established? Yes? Well, have you also done this while each participant acted under the influence of recreational drugs? The Chronicles of Weedrow (Volume One) is presented to you as such a compilation. Orchestrated by Qtit (Also known ‘round these parts as Enzyme) and Frieza, a band of skilled designers, coders, and local reprobates including the likes of Turboman, EBD, UnrealSP’s own host Sanastro (Ividyon these days), MMAN (alias Semfry) and Zacman all got together some time about ten years ago to make this piece of beautiful comedy!

Humorous singleplayer campaigns and maps have been made before, but I do not believe the community has had quite the distinction of having one that has been amassed with such attention to craft as this. As stated, Chronicles was originally released in 2011 exclusively for the then Unreal 227h platform, using many of the new charms that were fresher to the old engine back then. Though, playing it now in 2021 for review on Unreal Gold 227i I experienced a bugless playthrough. This is despite certain issues that I have read prior to beginning this more recent venture, so be aware that some complex stuff waits for you in this one folks. While my run went rather clean, there’s some forum history worth a read if you get stuck. Luckily, many of the regulars involved with the original release are still quite active on the site’s discord as well if you just need hints.

Having said all that, let’s cut it up shall we? Quite honestly I find reviewing a project like this somewhat difficult. Normally I can tell you how fun or unfun the gameplay is, how well the shooting goes, how rich the lore is, and all of that. I also have had a pretty fair shake reviewing a diverse group of Unreal levels over my years here at UnrealSP.Org, including the very first serious site review of Zora’s Episodes, Cat Bombs 2, and other such gems. But for the life of me, my friends, I hesitate now to say too much about what exactly this pack is. I will tread, best as I can, to avoid spoilers…since that is the meat of what Weedrow is all about. But rest assured, this is a fully functional SP centered experience with a beginning, middle, end…and an end after that end. Do not let the title or any impressions it may give fool you, there lies within these three levels some of the most clever event based scripting and use of assets that have ever been in an Unreal experience.

Our hero, the aforementioned Weedrow of the title, begins their hapless adventure beside a snuffed fireside and a lonely tent on some snowed out encampment in the middle of nowhere. This…is the last normal thing that happens Weedrow, and any notions of a hardened survivalist experience is shed right away after the first several times Weedrow speaks aloud to the player. Yes, it’s one of these. You will find Unreal weapons to arm our oft confused protagonist (and lose them, and then find them again) but make no mistake, this will not be your traditional run and gun.

What happens instead is a series of what we will call encounters and matters of consequence. Weedrow, guided by the player’s choices, will embark on a journey rife with maddening situations and hysterical horrors. A cast of characters appear to test, antagonize, and help Weedrow along, each with their own personality. The fourth wall will be tipped often, and sometimes kicked over. And then, at rare strings of expositional clarity, the story will be somewhat blunt in its seriousness as our characters take everything at face value …and you will too.

This reads like a lot of words without saying very much about it, huh? It is not a very long excursion off the usual beaten path of Unreal levels, that I can say for sure. So do not pass it up because you fear any lacking gameplay mechanics. That would not be correct to say at all! Chronicles definitely has functional gameplay, including but not limited to trap based puzzles, choice resolution, a tactical battle of wits, and yes there is some shooting (albeit very brief).

The story is where it all really shines. Besides just being effectively funny, nothing is really spared for a dull moment. Weedrow hops out of one scenario into the next without time to look back at the absurdity of it all, so the pack has a very nice flow to it. There are three levels, but in an interesting break of certain campaign taboos there is no level to level authorship. Sections of individual maps go from one level designer to the next, each with their own themes, puzzle ideas, and sense of wit. Smartly, the pack never once allows a crack in the fiction to explain to the player who made what even when the plot itself dips and dives out of referential self-awareness. To even know the order of sections and who the designers of them are, you would have to delve into old message board history or ask the remaining creators directly on discord. This restraint is very impressive, but understandable considering the project was cobbled in about three months!

As stated, there is a lot of chatter in this one. Possibly more character to character banter occurs here than in any other community Unreal series I can think of. This is accomplished directly through the pop ups of on screen Blue Font, a classic message system used in Unreal to broadcast lines of text on the center of the screen. Characters are tagged in their spoken lines one after another, punctuated by a sound effect that is unique to them in the style of certain JRPGs. This is actually handled very well, with certain sound cues being chosen for comedic effect. Of these, every one is spot on. To comment on this though, I would advise players in shared living quarters to enjoy Chronicles with the aid of a headset. This might be the ONLY time I have ever suggested this about any Unreal level or set of levels, ever. But what occurs very often are certain human sounds (male and female, mostly the female ones) that use an assortment of Unreal’s injury effects and…well…just have some situational awareness is all I’m saying. My wife pushed the door open a couple of times with a frown.

The only real criticism I have of this system, however, is that while on the fly some messages occur very quickly and provide a lot of information. It is very easy to lose a few words, here and there, as lines vanish off the screen. The only time this actually had a negative effect on my progress was one segment where I was to perform a jumping puzzle to avoid certain death. I attempted to do this several times without the item that was necessary to complete it before scratching my head and loading an old save, where I then learned my mistake; I had missed a character message that instructed me to kill someone, which resulted in providing me with the inventory I needed to exit the level. Even with the tilde, it could be possible to miss something so be ready to examine every message. I also happen to read quickly, but for those who do not this might also make Chronicles a trial of patience (especially for non-native English speakers, which also may risk making the whole experience moot). Again, it is a rather short romp and no line spoken is longer than a sentence, quick as some may jump screen.

In terms of the humor, there may be players that find some of it off-putting. There is certainly more profanity used here than is typical of Unreal and most community campaigns. Furthermore, while all is done in jest and visually rather harmless, there are some bits of sexual humor on display. I know some of us older Unreal folks have kids or younger people in our lives that we have impressed the old game upon, so for those of you who qualify I would advise doing a private playthrough first. Personally, I cackled quite often.

In closing, the short pack definitely has my vote for being worthy of the download. Those with a bit of knowledge of certain other Unreal community levels may even spot a few references. Shortcomings? Some texture effects use shader tech which was probably very new to Unreal on the original release. This all looks fine on 227i, but for the life of me I could not help thinking this stuff was distracting. It is not used very often, but I have seen better implementation since. What else? Beyond there being replayability issues outside of the initial playthrough, this was a blast! There also has the distinction of having one of the most satisfying and well designed ending sequences made for the game by the community, period, second only maybe to Operation Na Pali’s playable credits level or the stunning cinematic feat that concludes The One.