Rose Garden is, hands down, the best FM I've ever played. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this flawless city mission, it does everything incredibly right.

Melan's depiction of Hightowne is dark and tall, with several gothic and industrial-looking buildings. Castles, courts, greenhouses, gaudy palaces, oriental/Calendra's Cistern-looking spires, pubs, overlook restaurants and plazas... this mission has it all. The winding streets and tall structures create a very oppressive atmosphere, which is reinforced by the choice of textures and especially the use of sound. The titular Rose Garden is a moody and sinister location that sees very little human activity, and is quite unsettling in its own right.

As usual with Melan, you will climb everywhere in this mission. While relatively linear and funneling until you reach your contact in Rose Garden, the mission drastically opens up later and you can go pretty much everywhere you like. The mission loops around quite a lot and it is easy to get disorientated until you get your bearings. The player starting in the middle of town also contributes to this. The main objective with the hired muscle is quite fun and interesting, and works relatively well overall (though making a hard save before ringing the bells is a good idea).

Story-wise, this is also quite flawless with a dark, pulpy noir story and excellent reading material. Every stone in Hightowne has a story to tell. Often dark, sometimes mysterious but always interesting. As you can imagine, I had an absolute blast playing this mission and I cannot not give it the best score. A masterpiece.

(this review was originally written for the TDP 20th Anniversary Contest voting form on TTLG)