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View Full Version : The Cradle Versus Return to the Haunted Cathedral

hagatha
06-07-2004, 05:32 PM
I've been debating this with myself. The first time I played the Haunted Cathedral missions in Thief Gold I was pretty freaked. But the Cradle had me holding my breath for a few hours yesterday.

So which mission freaked you out the most of the two? What do you taffers out there think?
ScreechingWeasel
06-07-2004, 06:13 PM
Cradle was definately more scary.

Its been a while since the cathedral, I remember being on edge but the zombies in Thief I never bothered me much

The Cradle on the other hand I was seriously sitting here at 2 in the morning shaking so bad that I had to quit upon entering the 2nd area and go to bed. I was creaping around the first area (void of enemies) with fire arrows out ready for God knows what to leap out at me, between the background noise and the thumping in the attic (which I took extra care to avoid as long as possible) I was definately freaked. Next day I cleared out the 2nd area of zombies without getting too unnerved, it was when I was walking around the 2nd area after I had cleared all the zombies that I started getting freaked again. Even without enemies the simple atmosphere of the map was good enough to creep me out.
Manwich
06-07-2004, 06:36 PM
I was more scared in the Haunted Cathedral.

Why? Because I was a noob at thief, thats why. It was hard. The Cradle, on normal, not so much. I Flash-bombed all the inmates and there was plenty of darkness for me to hide in. It just wasnt that challenging.
Kaspre
06-07-2004, 06:40 PM
Good question, and I'd give the nod to Haunted Cathedral. For one thing, it was a heck of a lot more difficult to sneak through. It was also harder to take head-on because of the clustered enemies. And if anything went wrong, it was infinitely harder to get away unscathed!

Things may change if they increase the "Expert" difficulty a bit with a patch at some point. For now though, I'd have to say that Cradle was simply too easy to be truly scary. It had excellent atmosphere, and it had a tremendous coolness factor. At certain points I was even a bit unnerved. But overall, Haunted Cathedral put me on edge and kept me there much more successfully.

I love 'em both, to be sure, but if I had to pick one for all time, I'd go with the Cathedral. This promises to be a great thread, I can't wait to hear everyone's perspective on this question. Cheers!
herechickychicky
06-07-2004, 07:19 PM
RTC was not scary to me, sometimes it was hard to get pass the undead and a couple times they startled me when I didn't expect them but I wasn't scared ever playing that mission. The Cradle on the other hand made me feel a way I haven't felt....uhhh...ever I don't think. I was physically ill, tense, sweating, anxious, scared, and freaked out by every little thing in that mission. I even had to turn down the music part in my options because THAT freaked me out too. And the patients were very creepy and scary with their jerky movements. Reminded me of the creepy undead in basement of House on Haunted Hill. I hated those undead the way their heads shook. :eek:
Fossa
06-07-2004, 07:34 PM
Cradle was scarier, marginally, but still not all that scary. Too easy.
RTTC was a MUCH more enjoyable level though across the board.

Welcome the MAJESTIC and Splendid Hammer Cathedral. How pleasing to welcome new initiates into our fold. I am Brother Murus, and I will be thy spiritual guide... I see that tho art tired from your journies so I will leave thee be, but if thou needs my help I can be found down in the cloister.
<html>
<EMBED src=http://www.geocities.com/wolftronix/Sounds/MURINT.WAV autostart=true>
</html>
Quillan
06-07-2004, 07:37 PM
I found the Cathedral to be (slightly) more scary. It may be, at least in part, because I was also new to Thief (this was 1999, after all), but I think it has to do with the number of enemies. I remember distinctly several times trying to sneak through there, stumbling onto a zombie or a hammer haunt, trying to run away to hide in a shadow, and blundering into several more in the process. There were a couple occasions in that level that I lost it, ran around blindly and either died or got so lost I had to reload. The Cradle has its moments (the first time one of the inmates sneaked up behind me, for example), but overall Return to the Cathedral is my favorite Thief level of all time.
silent_espy
06-07-2004, 09:34 PM
i had a bad night after playing the cradle mission. I didnt sleep too well cos i kept thinking of how to beat the level which i did the next morning. So i had to keep going back into the cradle (in my half conscious mind) when i was lying on my bed and that wasnt very gd. :(
Fossa
06-07-2004, 10:44 PM
Cathedral 5 years ago owned the cradle. You really don't know what you missed if you've never played it or don't have the patience for the engine to play it now.
Mynky
06-08-2004, 02:09 AM
Cathedral was more frightening, imho. Not so much the zombies, but the dead Hammerites swinging their ghostly hammers of doom at you...eee gads! :eek:
card
06-08-2004, 02:20 AM
i can't remember the cathedral that well, cause i played thief1 when i was 9 or 10 so that's four years ago, but it sure scared me for a good night's sleep. the cradle didn't seem scarry at all. :(
Thiefinthenight
06-08-2004, 04:00 AM
Cathedral owns Cradle. Cradle ripped off Cathedral with the "help out the ghost so you can escape" side mission. I was much more afraid of the Hammer Haunts than the TOOL video rip off characters in cradle. I think everyone was scratching thier heads trying to figure out how to get that Eye the first time they played.
ringo380
06-08-2004, 05:13 AM
Originally posted by Thiefinthenight
Cathedral owns Cradle. Cradle ripped off Cathedral with the "help out the ghost so you can escape" side mission. I was much more afraid of the Hammer Haunts than the TOOL video rip off characters in cradle. I think everyone was scratching thier heads trying to figure out how to get that Eye the first time they played.

You're totally ripping off my earlier post.

Originally posted by ringo380.
Cradle owns Cathedral. Cathedral was just a rip off of poltergeist the movie with all the "I'm being attacked by ghosts" ****. I was more afraid of that girl looking at the tv and stuff. Cathedral was a ripoff of Enigma music videos.
naujoks
06-08-2004, 05:56 AM
Return To The Cathedral of course. Who could ever forget the nightmares?
Thiefinthenight
06-08-2004, 03:25 PM
Simple test. Who stopped dead in thier tracks when they first heard the familiar chains rattle and demon voices in both Thief 2 and Thief 3?
Even though the new hammer haunts are punks compared to the original.
Fermat
06-08-2004, 05:50 PM
Join usss...Join uss nowww.







Cradle is excellent in its own right but nothing beats the tense, original experience of RTC.
Dynnr
06-09-2004, 07:25 AM
RTC had my first introduction into 'mass undead'. Bonehoard and the like before RTC was just a taste of many hours of twitching and shadowjumping that was to come.

Cradle...that was a trip into M. Night Shyamalan's own version of twisted creepy goodness. Those inmates really, REALLY freaked me out. I had to pull out my Scooby Doo nightlight to get me through the night, lol.

But while those two were indeed creepy and scary, they weren't THE scariest I've played. It wasn't an 'official' mission (so it may not belong here), but a fan mission. I'm not sure how many here remember a mission called "Inverted Manse", but I do, and that was the mission that put the holy fear of haunts, zombies, and all things dark into me.

Not sure if this missions qualifies, but I know it did a number on me!

~~Dynnr~~
TheOriginalNobody
06-09-2004, 07:47 AM
ARRGGHHHH!!!!! Wtf? That voice scared me! Where's it coming from?
Yandros
06-09-2004, 07:53 AM
Scroll up to Fossa's first post. :p
mackie200
06-09-2004, 08:03 AM
Hmmmmmmm.........This post I'm currently reading makes The Abysmal Gale side level seem mild at best! :D :D
TheOriginalNobody
06-09-2004, 08:44 AM
Ahh, I see. Lol.
MrWynd
06-09-2004, 08:56 AM
also remember there's been a million video games with the "you're trapped in this haunted house till you help this/these ghosts". Some of em good, none of em as gripping as Thief titles.
Fossa
06-09-2004, 10:57 AM
When a SOUNDCLIP from the level scares the pants off someone I think we can officially say the contest is over. RTTC wins.
hagatha
06-09-2004, 04:36 PM
And the ghost in the soundclip was the only friendly face in the entire Cathedral! I always wanted him to shut up in case someone heard him talking to me.

Overall after thinking about it myself I'd have to say that RTTHC was the scarier mission. I was literally petrified the first time I played it - didn't know which way to turn. Some of those claustrophobic hallways were terrifying if a zombie happened to walk though while you were trying to get somewhere. It must have taken me a week to get through it.

I just played it a couple of months ago for about the sixth time and was STILL creeped out, even with my improved taffing abilities and the knowledge that I could destroy them all.

Every time I see a Hammer ghost in TDS I keep waiting to hear it try to seduce me into joining them now. But those inmates with their electroshock gloves and helmets are pretty creepy, too. I was pretty impressed/creeped by the shaking fits- nice touch.