The Ruins of Nali’Pente, 8.8 out of 10 based on 6 ratings

The Ruins of Nali’Pete by Tim “Kew” Jervis, creator of the medieval world of Illhaven, is one of the author’s earlier works for Unreal back from 1999 from the time when Illhaven Saga was not even completed yet (only its first few maps were released). Apparently Jervis was busy working on his contributions to The Wheel of Time, an Unreal Engine run first person shooter fantasy based on the novels of Robert Jordan. Perhaps for this reason The Ruins of Nali’Pete seems to be lacking the depth and quality of the maps seen in Illhaven. Indeed, the author even mentions in the readme file that it was really an experimental map with no real storyline, and the sole purpose of the project was “to simulate the steamy and decaying atmosphere” of an old Nali penal facility, the ruins of which are hidden deep in Na Pali’s jungles.

As a result, we are left with a map with no storyline to speak of (the odd translator messages disappear completely halfway through the map) and an unmemorable gameplay to say the least. The only area where this map can still excel is the strong theme and atmosphere, which has always been a trademark of Jervis. The dipping, steamy, non-linear dungeon of Nali’Pente is indeed atmospheric, albeit less so than most of the maps in the Illhaven series.

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