Today has been one of those uneventful and sultry July days. With the overcast sky, heavy with the threat of rain, I decided to stay in and cheer myself up with an older Thief Gold mission. Although I was vaguely familiar with Vlad Midnight's missions, I do not think I have ever finished one. Intrigued by the screenshots and the description, I ended up choosing "Invitation to Castle Morgoth".

The period between 2004 and 2007 was a time when only a handful of Thief 1 missions were released each year and most of them were of only average quality. This is not surprising, as almost everyone had moved on to Thief 2. This fan mission was released at the very end of 2008, a year that brought not only economic unrest, but also marked a turning point for the return of missions in the style of the original Thief game. In late 2007, Melan released "Bad Debts" - a masterful classic experience made for Thief 2, yet almost indistinguishable from the design and atmosphere of The Dark Project. In 2008, Melan published two more levels in the same spirit, "Unbidden Guest" and "Prowler of the Dark". Additionally, R Soul made "Unsung Villain" (many thanks to Squadafroinx for the recommendation!), another notable mission with a more old-school tone. And the year closed with "Invitation to Castle Morgoth", which I am reviewing right now.

The story in "Invitation to Castle Morgoth" is oddly vague and brief. We arrive at a haunted castle and we need to get in touch with our contact who has a job for us. Who is this person and why are they staying in such a dangerous place? Nobody knows. As we progress in the mission and get more objectives - relatively simple but never explained in more than a few words - we slowly realise that our journey is more like a surreal dream half-remembered. Extensive readables about the history of this place would only spoil the experience.

Vlad Midnight does really well with environmental storytelling. The castle is very dark and makes fantastic use of zero ambient light, resulting in areas of pitch-black shadows. This technique was inspired by Sperry's ingenious "Tears of Blood" and the somewhat lesser-known FM "Deadly Darkness" by Tomi. Fortunately, and as noted in the readme, there is no missing loot or secrets hidden in these Stygian corners. Combined with the dim glow of flickering torches, rushlights, and glowing mushrooms, this builds a haunting and oppressive atmosphere in the ruined hallways.

Despite the castle being haunted, we spend most of our time exploring and searching for keys, rather than evading a small number of hostile undead. What I liked about the mission is that Vlad Midnight does not rely on cheap jump scares to build tension. Instead, there are some new ambient sounds that amplify the feeling of abandonment and melancholy that hangs over the entire place. Without spoiling anything, one can also expect bits and pieces of humour that create a significant but not jarring contrast to the general mood of the Castle Morgoth.

I am so glad I launched and finished "Invitation to Castle Morgoth". In my view, this is one of those FMs that perfectly exemplify what Dark Project is about - darkness, mystery, and isolation. Highly recommended!

Atmosphere: +30 points
Gameplay: +25 points
Story: +20 points
Originality Bonus: +10 points
Classic Experience Bonus: +10 points
Cinematic Bonus: N/A
Audio Bonus: +5 points
Debut FM Bonus: N/A
1999 FM: N/A
Classic Era FM (1999-2003): N/A
Laziness Penalty: N/A
Bugs Penalty: N/A
AI Content Penalty: N/A
New Dark Penalty: N/A

Total Score: 100/100 or 10/10

Great recommendation. This perhaps won't make most people's TOP 10, but it's one of these little pieces that sometimes (unjustly) get lost to time despite actually offering something really interesting.