Curse: Episodes Released

[ad_hominem]

Named as ModDB's 'Best Upcoming Mod' back in february, HL2 Total Conversion Curse Episodes has just been released to the public. It's quite a bit shorter than I think a lot of people were expecting, weighing in at only 3 levels, but it looks promising all the same and the sudden inclusion of 'Episodes' in the title indicates that more is to come.

Curse episodes is an egyptian themed action/ horror/ puzzle/ exploration FPS where you can kill mummies, evil wizards with a huge spiky club and break expensive egyptian furniture and pottery using telekinesis!

Features:
Unique melee combat system
Physics based puzzles
3 interconnected levels
3 different enemies
2 boss fights
Original music and sound effects

You can read the release news post on ModDB, or go straight to their download page.

[snotball]

It was bit short indeed, but I must say I was delighted to play it, eventhough most of the time I had no idea what the fuck was going on and why? Why am I here!? No! Go away! What do you want from me? NO!
Quite an atmospheric nightmare really, and it's different! That's what's best about it!

[ad_hominem]

Yeah, just finished it and I'd say it's worth a play through. A hell of a lot of work went into it for such a short amount of gameplay.

[Edit]

Although, I didn't notice any boss fights. Did I miss them?

[snotball]

I didn't bump into any biggies either. Though i almost pissed my pants...

... when I was in the room with the giant snake. Funny thing though was that the rotating heads made me freak more than the fanged behemoth.

[Stubby]

uhg, i feel so disapointed.

such polish. but the game is so freaking easy, and those lame ass glitchy puzzles bothered me.

[Skacky]

Reminds me a lot of Quake 1, which is a very good thing.
I really enjoyed it though it's a bit too short. Can't wait to see the next episodes.

[cornontheCoD]

I really enjoyed it, and it is cool that it isn't super-linear. Reminded me a bit of Zeno Clash for some reason. Probably because it feels like a nightmare/dream.

[stoopdapoop]

was cool, I really admire the amount of work put into it. too bad all the combat was piss easy, you could just shake the mouse and kill everything in like 2 seconds.

Also, at no point did I actually have any idea what I was doing, I just wandered around and punched anything that was glowing.

[Stubby]

was cool, I really admire the amount of work put into it. too bad all the combat was piss easy, you could just shake the mouse and kill everything in like 2 seconds.

Also, at no point did I actually have any idea what I was doing, I just wandered around and punched anything that was glowing.

agree'd

i just wandered around shaking my mouse.

[Australian Bushman]

was cool, I really admire the amount of work put into it. too bad all the combat was piss easy, you could just shake the mouse and kill everything in like 2 seconds.

Also, at no point did I actually have any idea what I was doing, I just wandered around and punched anything that was glowing.

This is pretty much my experience so far too.

[Lobstar]

Hurrm ok i hav now finished the game, and i have some complains.

First of all, no kind of introduction, none at all. A short cutscene with some story elements like they did in "The Ball" would be excelent and a possiblity to explain things.

A short tutorial perhaps? I mean most puzzles are pretty obvious, but id still want a short introduction so it feels like a real game. The combat for me was just flailing my mouse all around the room until i hit something.

Maybe a voice over? The sound effects where good and all but sometimes i missed some text messeges beacuse i was busy fighting or solving a puzzle. A voice explaining whats going on would be really helpful.

[Kodox]

(SPOILER)

I was confused. I thought "oh okay there's different chambers and I have to unlock each one...so now I unlocked the green chamber...wait it's red...no it's yellow....well it doesn't matter I got to the portal...huh? Now I can't even go in the portal....hey look a face...hey look a snake...hey look the whole mod is over already." What!???

[CactusFantastico]

Ending Scared thee SHIT out of me D:
it was 2am and i was freaking out xD

too go against all the bosses you have to do nightmare mode on each level. theres a boss on second level and one that is sorta on the third.

[joe_rogers_11155]

Okay I'm going to reveal a little secret about the game so you guys get the best experience from it: try harder to find all the scarabs in each Necropolis. The final ending (I think) is exactly the same, but you get the chance to totally "beat" all three levels before the end of the game.

Nightmare mode in the Necropolis's is totally wicked. I loved the atmosphere. The combat was disappointing, but there's one particular boss fight that will leave you shaking after you beat it, and that's where the game shines.

The whole feeling of the gameplay is reminiscent of Painkiller in a way. No crouching and the hack and slash feeling of the gameplay make it something fun to play when you just want to drone out for a little bit. Then you can continue finding those hidden scarabs, very well hidden.

The snakes are the coolest thing I've ever seen Source do.

Some exposition about the character might be nice, but I feel it would be overlooked by a brilliant puzzle element.

That's about it from me. Good mod, looking forward to Curse 2: Revenge of the Curse!!

[Naticus]

Just finished playing through. I am in awe and confused at the same time. So many questions have been raised in my head.

The quality of this "mod" is professional grade. It really did feel like something you would pay for which is part of the reason why I'm confused. Who made this? Are they in the game design business? To me, it really seemed like a random group of game developers got together and made this in their spare time.

Graphically, this game is remarkable. The textures, models and effects are top notch. The sounds and music in the game are exceptional as well.

The area where the game struggles is the layout of the levels and how you progress through them. It can be really confusing finding your way around and figuring out where you need to go next. There are many triggering events and you are never really sure what just happened and if you should go reinvestigate an area you've just been to. "A grate has just opened in the green chamber". This was a frequent message and you never really know how many you need to open and if you unlocked what you needed to. This was all tied to the scarab hunt which was interesting but again you didn't know how many you needed or even how many there were in the game.

In the development process this could be remedied by things like on screen displays that showed scarab progress. Also an onscreen map of areas already explored and undiscovered areas would be helpful. (similar to the Zelda games).

The fighting was weak indeed. This would have been so much cooler if the game relied on shooting magic bursts instead of the "shakin" morning star. More enemies would have been better too. I appreciate the new concept in melee fighting but it just wasn't developed enough to have a real battle feel to it.

I am left frustrated with Curse. I think because the majority of it is exactly on target for a great game. With just a few more improvements to the game play and level design I think it would have been something they could have charged for.