| “ | Not afraid of a little sewer water, are you? Just don't get any of it in your mouth. | ” |
– Bierce, upon entering the level. | ||
"Stranger Sewers" is the fourth level in the game, Dark Deception. It is playable in Chapter 3. This level takes place in a sewer, and features the Dread Duckies and is the fourth level to feature a boss enemy, Doom Ducky.
Dark Deception[]
Introduction[]
| “ | Mmm... this sewer smells very... ripe. *Gag* I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. | ” |
– Bierce, responding to the smell of the sewers. | ||
The player begins in a water-filled hallway and must proceed straight ahead. Just as Bierce mentions the Dread Duckies, a set of lights will activate behind bars, revealing the duckies. After slowly opening the first sewer door, the player will come across a red barrier, which they must destroy with the speed ability.
Upon interacting with the second sewer door, the Doom Ducky will suddenly appear within the hole in the wall and extend its mouth at the player. the player will be introduced to the stun mechanic, which must be canceled off by mashing the F key. Bierce will then inform the player that the door is unlocked, allowing them to proceed to the first zone. Zone 1 begins on dry land, and branches into two different entrances to the water-filled halls containing the Dread Duckies.
Act I[]
| “ | You've gathered half the shards. Try to live long enough to get the rest. | ” |
– Bierce, upon collecting all shards in zone 1. | ||
Act I is straight-forward. Collect all the soul shards, all while avoiding six Dread Duckies and short spike traps. The player has to be extremely cautious while collecting soul shards since the Dread Duckies will be blending in with the other lifeless dread duckies thus it is advisable for the player to use the new telepathy power to see which of the many duckies are an actual Dread Ducky (They're highlighted in red). The Dread Duckies will not move from their current location until the player gets in close proximity. upon collecting all soul shards in act I, the Dread Duckies will vanish.
When all of the soul shards in the first zone are collected, the entrance to the central chamber will be unlocked. Upon entering, a violent roar will occur, followed by rumbling of the Doom Ducky with Bierce ignoring it claiming it is nothing to be concerned of. The ring altar, still guarded, can be seen to the left. On the other end of the room is the entrance to zone 2.
Act II[]
| “ | They're hiding in the shadows. | ” |
– Bierce, after entering zone 2. | ||
Just like Act I, the player must find all the soul shards and avoid the spike traps. Although unlike Act I, the player will have to avoid nine Dread Duckies this time. Bierce also mentions the darkness of the zone, making zone 2 darker than zone 1, which also means that the Dread Duckies can now hide in the shadows. The map layout consists of small corridors and rooms, as well as three large areas containing twelve soul shards each. If the player is being chased by a Dread Ducky, it will only go back into disguised mode when it is not in pursuit or the player is looking in their general direction.
Upon collecting all the soul shards, Malak will give chase following a sound cue. Unlike zone 1, the Dread Duckies in this zone will not disappear after the last shard is collected (meaning they can still kill the player as they are returning to the altar) and will go into a frenzy.
Act III[]
| “ | You know, you're the first of Bierce's pets to actually cause me some trouble. I should commend you for your tenacity. | ” |
– Malak, confronting the player in Doom Ducky's chamber. | ||
After the ring altar is interacted with, a short cutscene will play, where Malak compliments the player, saying that they are the first of Bierce's "pets" to cause some trouble for him. Afterwards, he says that he too has a loyal pet of his own, and proceeds to teleport away, revealing the Doom Ducky.
A boss fight starts, where the player has to dodge Doom Ducky's attacks, which consists of throwing duckies at the player if far from it, stunning them if close, and a long-ranged attack, similar to the Dread Duckies. The player needs to wait for the Doom Ducky to perform the long-ranged attack, and hide behind a pillar. This will stun the Doom Ducky, and allows the player to turn the valves in the middle of the room. This has to be done twice for each valve. Once the first valve has been activated, a Dread Ducky appears. It acts like any other Dread Ducky but gets stunned when the Doom Ducky is stunned. A second Dread Ducky will spawn once the second valve is activated.
Final Act[]
| “ | You're not out yet, mortal. | ” |
– Malak, sending Doom Ducky out to chase the player. | ||
After the battle ends, the door will close on the Doom Ducky, and the zone 1 entrance will open. A siren will activate, and Bierce will inform the player that escaping will be more difficult. After exploring far enough into the room, Malak will taunt the player, and the Doom Ducky will burst through a sewer wall to give chase.
All doors in the level are closed, and all but 3 doors are guarded by dancing frenzied Dread Duckies. The player will need to be fast, as the doors open slowly, and can lead to the Doom Ducky catching up to them. Once at the beginning hallway, the chase will stop, and there will be a single frenzied Dread Ducky in front of the player. Once the player walks past the Dread Ducky, it'll begin chasing the player, as well as the Doom Ducky making one last attempt to kill, but the player then escapes through the portal and ends up in Bierce's Ballroom once again.
Secrets[]
- Right at the beginning, there's a hidden door to your left (easier seen by the minimap). Open it, and you'll be led to a secret room at the top of a ladder. The room contains a file and two documents. One of the documents is about the protagonist's daughter, and one about medical biography. On the wall, it reads, "Remember? Your ugly duckling".
- In Act I & II, the player can find elevators leading down to 3 different secrets. The elevators are not hidden, and are easily found.
- The elevator that leads to the dancing duckies also has a note on the right wall written by E. Talking about the Dread Duckies origins and foreshadows Doom Ducky's appearance in the level.
S-rank[]
To obtain an S-rank, the player must achieve all of the criteria listed below.
- Time: Less than 28 minutes (+70)
- Soul Shards: 310 (+0)
- Bonus Shards: 2 (+25)
- Secrets: 4 (+35)
- Lives Lost: 1 or less (+40)
- Shard Streak: 250 (+30)
- Total Shards obtainable: 510
An S-rank must be achieved to obtain an excerpt of Bierce's Diary.
Achievements[]
| Picture | Name | Description |
|
They Float | Found something that floats. |
|
Open Door Policy | Opened every door in Stranger Sewers. |
|
Lucky Day | Survived a Dread Ducky stun attack. |
|
Smooth Moves | Beat Doom Ducky without dying. |
|
Ducky Boss | Earn an S Rank in Stranger Sewers. |
Known Bugs[]
- It's possible to get stuck along the sides.
- Dread Duckies can't walk over the grates in dry land rooms.
- If you stand on them, duckies will stand still.
- There are some paths Dread Duckies refuse to take.
- Dread Duckies can sometimes get stuck on their fake counterparts.
- Dread Duckies can fall into the secret elevator rooms, getting trapped there.
- If you stand close to a ducky as it triggers, it will not kill you (until you move away).
- Vanish does not prevent Dread Duckies from triggering. They will then proceed to chase you down even though you're invisible.
- After dying and respawning, the game doesn't detect that you're already standing on water, meaning you can move with normal speed.
- In Zone 2, Doom Ducky's pupils only appear once you get close.
- If you collect the ring piece before Malak spawns, he will spawn during the cutscene. If you skip the cutscene, you can do the boss battle with Malak still being there.
- If you collect the ring piece and get killed by Malak at the same time, the cutscene will still play with Doom Ducky being active while Malak is speaking.
- You can still use powers and turn the valve while grabbed by Doom Ducky.
- You can get Doom Ducky to push you out of bounds by standing in the corner close to it.
- On low framerates, Doom Ducky's attack can go through the pillars.
- You can turn the valve while moving by double clicking and holding it.
- You can get behind Doom Ducky during the escape sequence.
- Doom Ducky has no collision so you can walk inside it.
- If you're fast enough and activate the trigger for Doom Ducky quickly, the music will not play.
Monsters & Mortals[]
In Monsters & Mortals, the Sewer layout takes elements from both zones, featuring two long hallways on either end, two large chambers, several junctions, and Doom Ducky's chamber in the center. The map features the same short spike traps used in the original level, and even includes them in the water-filled hallways and chambers like the original. Doom Ducky also reprises his role as a boss, behaving similarly to how he did in the original level's boss and escape sequences. The level was added to the game on release for free and was originally a lot bigger. The map on release had 2 extra large chambers on the bottom and top of the map. These were removed since the map was too big and entire rounds would go by with players never running into each other.
Stats[]
| Shards | Minute | |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 232 | 2.30 |
| Wave 2 | 232 | 2 |
| Wave 3 | 200 | 2 |
| Wave 4 | 200 | 1 |
| Wave 5 | 200 | 1 |
| Total | 1064 | 8.30 |
| Required | 650 | < 8.30 |
| Shards | Minute | |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 232 | 2 |
| Wave 2 | 232 | 1 |
| Wave 3 | 232 | 1 |
| Wave 4 | 232 | 1 |
| Wave 5 | 232 | 1 |
| Total | 1160 | 6 |
| Shards | Minute | |
|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | 232 | 4 |
| Wave 2 | 232 | 2.30 |
| Wave 3 | 232 | 1.30 |
| Wave 4 | 200 | 0.55 |
| Wave 5 | 200 | 0.35 |
| Total | 1096 | 9.30 > |
Parallels and Symbolism[]
As with most areas in Dark Deception, Stranger Sewers likely represent various phobias. For phobias inspired by the place itself, see the sewer. For phobias inspired by its inhabitants, see the Dread Duckies and Doom Ducky.
Trivia[]
- As hinted by Vince, the level is meant to be tougher, due to the added difficulty of running in water.
- This level was the first to introduce a boss enemy. Dark Deception Enhanced eventually added bosses to the three previous levels, making Stranger Sewers the fourth level to feature a boss.
- So far, Stranger Sewers and Monkey Business are the only levels that do not have an outdoor area.
- According to old voicelines from the 2014 version of the game, the level was meant to have giant cockroaches as enemies as opposed to the Duckies.
Soundtrack[]
- Main Article: Dark Deception: Chapters 1-3 (Original Soundtrack)
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