It is, at times, hilariously frustrating to be in need of health but you only encounter bad food. I also really liked the addition of the bad food, which makes you lose health. It also manages to stay interesting thanks to its colorfulness, the variation in room designs, and the enemy placement. And I think this mod, in general, did just that. Because properly balancing a mod, making levels slightly more challenging every time you progress, is quite tough to get right. There is a distinctive progression detectable, and that is no small feat. The levels are overall well balanced, and become more challenging the further you get into the game. But it keeps on getting better and better, and overall you can tell that the levels are building towards something massive. In general, there aren't really any filler levels, though not all levels are as consistently good as the peaks of this mod are. Likes: The mapping ranges, after the slow start, from good to excellent throughout the entire mod. Luckily, this fatigue was only felt during a small number of levels, and was countered rather well with interesting traps, designs and enemy placement later on. During some levels, a fatigue started to set in because I started feeling like I was going from room to room, opening a door which was followed by a horde of enemies coming towards me. A slightly bigger problem is that the mod started to repeat itself a bit too much towards the end. But that is more of a nitpick and, for me, not too big of a problem. And when it's mutants that are hiding in the corner, it is also a very deadly trick. Though it is an effective trick to keep the player on their toes, it is also a bit of cheap trick when employed too often. This mod also slightly overuses the 'enemy right around the corner'-trick. There almost is no level where there isn't a big area where you have to pick off the enemies in their alcoves one by one. Overall, I'd say that alcoves containing enemies are a bit overused during the first portion of the game. Though the mapping is, in general, quite excellent, it should also be noted that there are some negative aspects. Though it is, at times, tough as hell, there usually are more than enough supplies to keep you going. Furthermore, the game is really well balanced. The variation in room sizes, enemy placement and traps is akin to something like Chemical Warfare. Once you get past the relatively slow start, you're treated to a great old-school mapset which fans of the original game are going to love. Next to that, I would say that the maps get better and better as the game progresses. The choice for mazes in the first level therefore makes a bit more sense, as that design choice really makes the following levels feel bigger. The designs become grander and grander, with more open spaces and larger hordes of enemies. Once you've passed the tunnel-section of the game, which does contain the excellent level 4, a pattern starts to emerge. All in all, your mileage may vary for those first couple of levels. But the amount of joy you'll get out of these first few levels will heavily corrolate with how much you enjoy those first two levels of E6, and mazes in general. This (i.e., staying true to the original game in its mapping design) is a trend that continues throughout the whole game, and luckily, it means we also get a lot of stuff that made the original game so great. However, it does stay true to the original in the sense that this section is clearly inspired by levels 1 & 2 from Episode 6 of the original game. It really puts a bit of a damper on the beginning of this mod. While it makes sense for the Tunnel-section of the game to feature a lot of mazes, it can be quite a drag to get through. These Maps are from a pc 2005 version so should be pretty much the same as the xbox release.Mapping: The mod starts off a bit shaky.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |