A Night in Rocksbourg II: Discovery

Introduction

Garrett makes his way into the heart of the city, but didn’t expect the place to be so vast and well guarded. During his search he hears rumours of the city being attacked by the undead, but too concerned about other issues to take much notice. While picking a door he is eventually attacked by a Mechanist machine. Wounded, he tries to escape down a ladder. It breaks taking Garrett to the streets below and faints.

Review

After a terrible nightmare, Garrett wakes up to find his wounds dressed. He sees a man pointing to a key and a letter sitting on a table. It explains what his next objectives are and the mission starts proper from here on. The second ROCKSBOURG takes place deeper within the fortress city, where access to other sections is restricted due to the undead roaming and attacking people on sight. You’re located at the safest location where people now loiter the streets taking refuge, most folk are sitting around a fire or hanging out at the local tavern. Others sleep in the alleys or restlessly walk around bothering the guards. There’s a dreadful mood thanks to the eerie scenario unfolding. The guards here won’t attack you here as long as you behave, which is the perfect chance to soak up the atmosphere uninterupted. Certain areas will be off limits however and will be attacked on sight if caught there, but that is where those stealth skills can come in use. The safezone works like a hub between two other self contained sections that loop back upon themselves, dense areas worth exploring for optional trinkets and secret locations with a keen eye.

Answers concerning the city itself, the mysteries and other strange events that are taking place can be also be found during this mission, expanding upon the setting of Rocksbourg and giving it that much more depth. Your main task is to find two missing Keepers, which actually takes a fair amount of time despite how simple the objective seems to be. You have the usual bunch of foes such as guards patrolling, the most troublesome being those who carry lamps around with them. There’s also Mechanists stationed here along with a couple of their metallic beasts standing guard, but they shouldn’t give you much of a problem. Zombies also lurk at specific points awaiting a fresh victim, but mostly harmless how easy they can be avoided. One issue that blocked progression was finding a specific Glyph you need to press in order to access a latter area, it was a little tricky to find amongst all the dark busy textures. Thankfully what it does unlocks isn’t too far away.

One major aspect of ANIR2 is the darker tone it continues to embrace. The city itself is grittier, emphasised by blending the textures with darker ambience of light but still retains a variety of buildings as you explore the streets. Some do follow similar texture schemes as others, but spaced apart enough to prevent repetition. Interiors also look great and feel gloomy despite having more colour in places. Even smaller touches like spider webs fit well in the mission or beams of light shining through windows and subtle glow from lights. Lighting itself gives you just enough hiding spots to get around unnoticed but it does get quite tight to navigate, especially guards carrying around their own light sources. The brighter sections actually feel more like safe zones while the darker areas don’t seem as welcoming anymore.

Since the city is split into different sections inaccessible via the streets, the only way to get from point A to point B is through the sewers. This area alone however is probably the creepiest part of the mission. The combination of rustic visuals and an off putting soundscape make this a brilliant location as a whole. I wanted to get in and out of there as fast as I could, always felt as if something else was down there with me. The choice of ambient tracks across the mission have a nice subtle atmosphere to evoke a city losing its grip on the situation, like it’s slowly dying and hope is lost. The first areas have this feeling of loneliness, while other locations are more sinister in tone, drawing out a desired creepier mood well. The lack of civilisation in later locations and corpses being piled up and burnt definitely adds to that.

Conclusion

The second chapter is a creepier experience due to its darker atmosphere, all set within a town enshrouded within a cloud of dread and worry. There’s some brilliant usage of sounds and ambient tracks, along with environmental details to set a tone of hopelessness. People loiter waiting for good news, while death and slaughter can be found all over the place. Here we learn more mysteries concerning Rocksbourg, finding your way into unique territories only adding more questions than answers.

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