Your name is David Leatherhoff, and you're addicted to a strange drug. Lately you have started to experience illusions, dreams picking at your deepest and darkest fears. Finally, you go to Markland Hospital, seeking help. First, however, you make a stop into the bathroom, where another bottle of pills awaits you, standing out like a beacon in the night in your depraved eyes. When will it all stop?
First of all, this mod is a classic, there's no arguing that. It's not perfect, but it deserves to be remembered as one of the best HL1 mods just as much as They Hunger or Heart of Evil or any of the other greats.
First, let's talk about what really is fantastic: the scares! Holy **** man! Judged purely as an exercise in grueling terror, AoM DC is unmatched. Though they may occasionally sink to cheap "GOTCHA!" moments, for the most part the scares are absolutely brilliant, and the atmosphere is so thick throughout you could cut it with a knife. The moment in the beginning where you have to turn off all of the lights in the hospital in order to proceed is still the most emotionally draining moment I've ever experienced in a horror game. What a way to pit the average person's natural fear of the dark and the unknown against the gamer's single minded need to see the end of the level. ******* AWESOME!
The visuals are also pretty excellent, the apartments and hospital come immediately to mind as visual standouts, and the forest area is one of the best ever simulated on an aging game engine. Clear inspiration is drawn from Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and even some movies such as "The Ring" and "The Blair Witch Project". I only have two complaints here: the level that's just a series of repeating brick hallways and another that's clearly a homage to the first Resident Evil game; frankly, it looks unfinished compared to the solid visuals in the rest of the mission pack.
My main complaint though is with those repeating "press the button, find the door it opened" puzzles. How dark the game is combined with the intentionally grimey visual design leads to a lot of "Am I running in circles?" moments, and makes finding where to go next more of a pain in the *** than it should be. Feeling lost might be scary, but it's also annoying.
I could go on more, but I'm reaching my word limit. The truth is, you can't go wrong downloading this. GET IT!