Shamblers Castle Mod for Doom III Shamblers Castle review

A Blast from the Past

Doom 3 - you either love it or hate it. The game itself certainley doesnt have the same scale of mod community behind it such as those of the Half-Life and Unreal series, but noone can argue with the quality some of these mod teams are coming out with. Naysayers I point towards The Dark Mod, Recall to Hell, Mind and Ground Zero as just a few examples of what this relatively small community are capable of.

Although its been available for download for a while now, it was only recently that I experienced the small but action-packed splendor that is Shambler's Castle. If you're looking for speed and intensity in an altogether extremely well built package, I advise you skip the rest of the review and just download the mod safe in the knowledge that Shambler's Castle is a furious, wonderfully built level which combines strong technical knowledge with a well realised pace of gameplay. If however you need a little more convincing, please read on.

The basic premise behind this mod is to bring the original Quake to life on the Doom 3 engine, complete with new maps, models, textures, weapons and characters. From the moment proceedings kick off it's clear that the team behind Shambler's Castle are as knowledgable of their source material as they are with the tool's at their disposal, as the atmosphere is already thick and finely crafted. With an utter beast of a firearm in your hands, you walk through the entrance gate as a bolt of lightning cracks one of the castle turrets and fills your speakers with the sound of thrashing guitars and drums. From the word go this mod screams high-octane adrenaline, and not once does it let it's foot off the gas pedal.

Those of us familiar with the original Quake will feel right at home with the pace and style of combat, as the mod does do a thorough job of bringing that classic Quake Gameplay to life. Newcomers may find it a little too simple however, with the core premise never really developing beyond 'run and gun', offering little if any room for creativity or freedom on the player's part. I'll be honest and say that in general this really isn't my favourite style of FPS combat, and it's something we've already seen a million times before. But the pace and structure of the mod shows that the team understand what makes this form of gameplay work, and at no point whatsoever does it feel like they're relying on simple mechanics it to compensate for a lack of creativity or ability on their part.

Back with a Vengeance

As you progress through the mod variety is thrown into the mix in the form of new enemies and weapons. Although the enemy AI is nothing special, the different attack patterns, strengths, weaknesses and abilities of each does encourage you to try different weapons and strategies. Although it's advantageous to try these different techniques and think about which weapons are best suited for dispersing which enemies, there's fundamentally nothing stopping you from just gunning your way through without a second thought. The weapons themselves are straight out of Quake with classics such as the Axe, Shotgun, Rocket Launcher and Nailgun all making welcome appearances.

Although at heart the mod is about killing lots of bad guys with some serious tools of destruction, there is a structure to it and even includes the odd puzzle here and there (all be it in extremely simple ways). The aim is to explore each of the different areas of the Castle, which in turn unlock new ones as you work your way up to activating the giant stone shambler which stands menacingly in the courtyard. In some of these areas you come across small puzzles, such as activating levers in sequence to unlock new chambers, which although won't have you scratching your head for hours to overcome does do a nice job of breaking up the action packed elements. If you're really not into this style of gameplay there's nothing here that will convert you. It's not Rocket Science, but it never pretends to be, as this is good old fashioned 'shoot em up' glory which has been crafted with a great deal of care and understanding.

Crafted with Expert Care

Now onto the art and design side of Shamblers Castle, which just screams quality from the moment you begin playing. Everything from the textures, right up to the level architecture has been crafted and detailed with real compassion. Considering that the original game's colour-pallette was very much based on a few shades of 'brown', the team has done a good job of adding some much needed tweaks and depth while retaining that Quake feel. The thick, swallowing atmosphere is only made stronger by the architecture and items spread throughout. Although some are taken and enhanced from Doom 3, there's a good deal of completely new elements which really add to the immersion. This is one of those mods which really makes use of the engine it's built upon, with Doom 3's dynamic shadows, vivid particles and lighting effects giving everything in the levels a real sense of life.

The same level of attention has been given to the characters, all of whom have been bought back from the original Quake beautifully. Although the modelling and Texturing of these characters cannot be criticised, some of the animations do feel slightly rushed. Certain creatures seem to move quite stiffly, and not all of the animations move into one another as seamlessly as you'd like. This is very much a cosmetic detail, and only really stands out against the high standard set by other assets, but what does effect the mod on a gameplay level is the balancing. Some of the 'lesser creatures' seem too powerful and hard to kill, especially when compared to larger enemies such as the Shambler's. This is the only real aspect which I feel could've benefited the entire mod, had it been given a little more time and attention, but it certainley isn't detrimental to the point that renders the entire thing unplayable.

Overall - 8.0/10 - Awesome

If you're a fan of fast paced, old school action there is no reason not to download Shambler's Castle right away. It's fun, it's very well built, and although the 30 minutes it'll likely take you to play through might be seen as a little on the short side, I personally would take a high quality but small mod over a large, tiresome bore any day of the week. If this style of gameplay isn't your thing there isn't anything you haven't seen before, but it's still worth dowloading just to experience the brilliant art and design work which has gone into creating it. Short, simple and sweet is what this mods about, each of which it does well.

Download Shamblers Castle Here