Reviews - TimProzz

Hunting Ground - Origin Review

This review is based on the test version that was sent to me 2 days before release.
I also have not played the first Hunting Ground mod. I also am not really a "story player".
Let's start reviewing now:

Level design - 8.5/10:
The level design was pretty good for the most part. The levels are very linear (meaning you don't really have hubs you have to go back to, instead you go from level to level in a straight line). Also a lot of corridors in the beginning of the mod, but it got better later into the mod. I was hoping for some more custom assets but the mod is mostly using the original assets from the main game, BUT, used in an original way. A lot of cool levels like the ones with the tall bookcases and the tilted bookcases. You guys also managed to do some platforming in Amnesia which was very cool. The boss battles were also very cool and very original. There are actual enemies you have to defeat and the level design in those levels were pretty good.

Scripting - 9/10:
The scripting is also one of the stronger part of this custom story. There were a few times the scripting felt a bit awkward (with the teleporting to other rooms), but those moments aside, it was pretty well done. Also the scripted chases were very well done. Not going to deep into the scripting since it's such a large topic and I can keep talking about it all day. Summary: the scripts were good, I encountered no errors/glitches with the scripts.

Puzzles - 9/10:
The puzzles were original and not the regular "find the right key to this door" puzzles. Lots of puzzles from lever puzzles to bridge puzzles to button puzzles, mazes, jump puzzles, puzzles were notes will hint you etc. The puzzles were made in a way that I could keep playing all the time. I never got stuck because a puzzle was too hard. Very enjoyable when you can just keep going! Good job on that.

Monster encounters - 8/10:
This custom story uses the 3 juras monsters as its main enemies (buffy, skinny and fatty). I disliked some of the linear monster encounters (where you go into a room with only one exit and then the monster spawn so you basically have to hide in a corner for 1 minute and wait for it to leave or just run for you life). But then there are the boss battles. Where you have to defeat all 3 of the juras monsters, one at the time. Those levels were my favourite in the custom story, because they are very original and not something you see in every custom story. The cool music added to them made the battle even more intense. Really breathtaking!

Music & sounds - 9/10:
Most levels had music in them, just some rooms/moments where it was completely silent (after a cutscene for example). The custom story uses the original music and also a lot of custom music. Overall the music is pretty good for the atmosphere and also all the boss battle music was so cool. Also a lot of custom sounds when you use items and also in the levels it self for the atmosphere.

Story - 10/10:
I have to say, I'm not really a story person myself. Meaning I tend to skip most of the notes (because I'm too lazy to read all of them xD). The story also has a lot (A LOT) of voice acting, which was suprisingly good for an Amnesia custom story. Well done guys! (and girl I suppose) If you are into stories in Amnesia, this one is very good. The story had some good plot twists and also a lot of flashbacks and good cutscenes which forced me to follow the story xD

Overall - 9/10:
This really is (like you guys said) a big improvement from you other stories. It's almost the perfect mod. Voice acting was great. Levels were fun and it basically kept me interested the whole way through. The length of the custom story is also very long. (3/4 hours on the first run) I was just hoping to see some more custom assets (perhaps from A Machine for Pigs). Great job guys!

- TimProzz

Wow. Just wow. First of all I want to say that I've recently released my own custom story called Illusions of the Dead. It was generally well received with an avarage score of 9.3. But wow, this custom story shocked my mind at first.

Story: 9/10 - I won't spoil anything about the story, but it was quite easy to follow at first. But later in the custom story I got a little confused. But that's okay. It was an original story and well made story.

Level Design: 10/10 - Great amazing made high detailed levels. Using mostly AMFP assets as well. It was easy to know where to go and where to locate anything. Also, non-linear levels is a plus for me. I never got lost or anything.

Puzzles: 8/10 - Most puzzles were original. It usually wasn't the boring 'find a key to unlock this door' puzzle. The observatory puzzle: never seen something like that before. Also, I never got stuck in the entire custom story. Only one time I got stuck because I missed a rusty (brown) key on a (brown) wooden table next to some oil in the prop room. But that was my own fault.

Music/sounds: 10/10 - Custom music. Great ambience. Scary events with fitting music and sounds.

Monsters: 7/10 - Custom monster like the Juras ghost and a Fire Suitor (which I've not seen before). Even though the custom monsters are cool, I hated them the most in the custom story. I died so many times because the encounters were almost always very linear. I mean you go into a room, an enemy spawns, you basically almost always had to sit in a dark corner, wait for it to pass and then sneak past it. Also the final chase scene with the ghost bugged a couple of time which required me to load a save file everytime. For example if I died in the streets, I would spawn underground unable to get out because of the busted doors blocking my way.

Overall: 9/10 - Overall I think it's one of the better custom stories out there. You can clearly see a lot of time was spent making this custom story. Great work, man! Also, was this your first custom story? Which would make this even more impressive :)

Keep up the good work!

TimProzz