Thief 3 Cradle level=one of the scariest gaming moment

Naikon · 15-10-2006 01:15AM #1

Never before has a game freaked me out to any major level-UNTIL NOW.
I reached the Shalebridge Cradle level, and jesus so far it has freaked and scared the **** out of me.:eek: :eek: :eek:
This level is horrible, but in a good if somewhat freaky way.
No other game has freaked me out like this game has successfully accomplished.
Whoever designed this level is an absolute genius.
Even the zombie hammerites in other levels with the horrible screaming and clink of chains while running freaked me out a bit.

Blood and gore doesent freak me out, but this level, an abandoned orphanage/insane asylum which burnt down!!! to top things off, has been the SCARIEST experience
I have encountered in gaming.
F.E.A.R doesent really scare me in the same way this level does.
Its the howling of children/patients,banging of walls and the strange voices plus the shock therapy zombies which jump out of nowhere when you least expect it, coupled with extreme flickering lights that freaks me out, not the gore.
Even the patient notes left around are eery.
The atmosphere of being on edge and not knowing what is happenning next, is really effective,more than the boring doom3 monster approach.

The "puppets" you see whiking past areas only to pop up screaming in another area also are freaky.
I havent finished the level yet as i simply got to a point and havent played since.
I do intend to finish this level, but holy crap, i didnt expect a game level to freak me out this much.
The Architecture and burnt out look only add to the game.

Simply put it play this level if you like horror games, every other horror game has not freaked me to the same degree as the cradle. Even from outside the cradle walls you are on edge.
Anyone else here play this?
What did you think?
I have never had such an experience before, I am usually "hard" when it comes to scary stuff, but this has been quite an opposite experience.

garrethg · 15-10-2006 11:03AM

It’s a fantastic piece of story telling. The feeling of being watched by something lurking just out of sight is unshakeable, which is a complete inversion of the games normal circumstances where the only thing lurking in the shadows is you. It’s only flaw is it goes on too long and thus loses it’s edge.

Tak3n · 15-10-2006 10:05PM

i completely agree... scariest thing in a long while, especially playing in a dark room in a house in the country alone

you still get freaked out even if you replay the game again..

SirLemonhead · 15-10-2006 10:42PM

Undying and Condemned: Criminal origins are the only real scary games I've ever played.

FEAR isnt scary at all.

I havent played Thief 3. But will someday

tman · 15-10-2006 11:25PM

Might install it now actually... it crawled along on my old gfx card but should be nice and smooth on this one.

johnny_ultimate · 15-10-2006 11:30PM

After many many hours of messing around with file directories and patches in the wee hours of this morning, I finally got system shock 2 running on my system. Only played a little bit so far but if you want scary, check this out... random ghosts popping up in front of you is really quite terrifying.
Now will be turning the lights out for a midnight session before i hit the old bed...:D

Sarky · 15-10-2006 11:40PM

I remember well finally getting to the Shalebridge gates late at night back in the day. All the hype, not to mention the stories overheard in the game itself, had put me on edge.

Then it loaded up. I took one look at the imposing ancient building looming over me and said "Bugger this, I can't play it at this hour, it'll freak the bejesus out of me. I'll wait until morning".

Fabulous level. Everything screams "This is just WRONG!" from the asylum/orphanage contrast, to the experimentation on subjects, to the brutal murders and right down to the way the "surviving" patients move, everything puts you on edge. I ran a Call Of Cthulhu RPG based on the Cradle, and it went down really well with the players. They were tense as anything

Basq · 15-10-2006 11:40PM

Many peope have told me about the Thief 3 cradle level and how terrifying it is.. thought it was a laugh that an actual computer game would evoke that much fear.

But might give it a go.

ionapaul · 16-10-2006 02:04PM

It is scary shizzle, my nizzles! The knocking, knocking, knocking as you run up the stairs to the attic!

P.S. I have System Shock 2 lying around, but just can't get it to work on my PC, it runs too quickly - any idea how to slow things down a tad? Fond memories of being terrified by the first System Shock back in the day...

Maximilian · 16-10-2006 02:16PM

The Cradle is probably my favourite level of any game, ever.

AFAIK it was designed by one of the original designers from Looking Glass.

Pugsley · 16-10-2006 04:46PM

This level is a work of art by any measure, really really creepy, only time Ive ever been actually creeped out by a game really, currently on my 2nd run through Thief3, almost at it again

abelard · 16-10-2006 05:08PM

Been ages since I played this game, but I certainly remember that this level really left me feeling....unsettled, which I find worse than scared. System Shock games didn't freak me out nearly as much as this level did. As someone mentioned, it's the feeling that you yourself are being watched. I found the end of the level the scariest (and as I said I havent played this in ages so i probably have lots of the specifics wrong)

where you're in the wrong time or something, and the shadowy spectres of the doctors (I think) can kill you just by touching you, and then you have to go to where they're eating and run along the table as they grab at you and jump out the window

. Rubbish description I know, but anyway, yeah, really freaky level

johnny_ultimate · 16-10-2006 10:31PM

If the level is this good I may have to give it a go

My PC probably isnt up to the job, so anyone know what the xbox conversion is like?

tba · 17-10-2006 10:24AM

I remember standing outside the attic for about five minutes before I worked up the guts to open the door.

kaimera · 17-10-2006 01:57PM

Bah, I really must get around to reinstalling T3.

Think I've got a saved game backed up somewhere just before 'The Cradle'.

Sarky · 17-10-2006 01:58PM

johnny_ultimate wrote:

If the level is this good I may have to give it a go
My PC probably isnt up to the job, so anyone know what the xbox conversion is like?

There's a fair whiff of "made for console" about the game, from the 3rd person view (optional), to the levels being split into seperate loadable segments (I missed having enemies who could chase you about the entire level making nowhere safe), and perhaps the lack of underwater shenanigans (infact, contact with water higher than your knees is somehow instantly fatal

). The replacement of rope arrows with wall-climbing gloves is rather suspect as well. But the game is designed well enough to make up for most of that. Xbox version should be identical, if easier to play in 3rd person. Bah, maybe I'm just too fond of the "feel" of the first two...

Lafortezza · 18-10-2006 12:16AM

I loved the first two Thief games, and this is making me want to go buy T3.
Are there any other games like this, or with the same style of gameplay as the whole Thief series?

Waltons · 18-10-2006 12:29AM

The closest thing I can think of recently are the Thieves Guild missions in Oblivion. Haven't played anything like Thief in a good while.

Loved the Cradle level too. I think the big thing about it was the whole build up to it through the game. I love the moment when the level loads and you're just standing outside this really ominously spooky building. I was nearly crapping myself just walking around outside. Fantastic level

bizmark · 18-10-2006 04:04AM

The hotel level from vampire the masquerade: bloodlines would scare the piss out of you the first time you play it

chamlis · 18-10-2006 01:50PM

That's right, the hotel level in VTM:B was great. Flying tiles pots and pans ftw!

Dooom · 18-10-2006 06:38PM

Methinks I'll reinstall this and give it a bash tonight. Is the cradle level far in?

Ciaran500 · 18-10-2006 06:44PM

Spike wrote:

Methinks I'll reinstall this and give it a bash tonight. Is the cradle level far in?

2nd last level

Dooom · 18-10-2006 06:59PM

Bah, it'll be a long night so.

Blowfish · 20-10-2006 04:57PM

Spike wrote:

Bah, it'll be a long night so.

Hell its worth it. Especially if you end up playing the level at about 3 in the morning like I did. At one point I stopped playing the level it was so freaky, but couldn't stop myself going back to it about half an hour later.

Thief 3 Cradle level=one of the scariest gaming moment

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