Archive A-C

Level Archive A-C

Another entry for the QERadiant level design contest, you could do worse than to back James Parkman's map as the winner. Abandon All Hope is a classic - great fun to play, stunning architecture, superb connectivity which makes it a blast for deathmatch too, and that elusive "id" quality missing from most user levels - can you tell I'm impressed?

You have arrived on Stroggos to assist in the hunt for, and the elimination of, the Strogg Sector Baron, a nasty piece of work who also smells (ok, so he doesn't smell - I added that bit for comic effect :) First you have to rendezvous with the Alpha Team who, surprise, surprise, are doing a great impression of a pile of gibs when you come across them. Winding your way through the level is great fun - the action is pretty much non-stop but always fair, with the right "iron" (as Jeff would say!) provided for the task in hand. Much of the level is reminiscent of the QII Base maps, with a nice combination of internal and external areas, dropping down into a mine-like area towards the end of the map. It's the gameplay that shines here though - always the secret to a great level.

There's not too much more I can say about this map - it's a fine an example of the growing skill of us mere mortals who don't work for games companies as you'll find right now. Have fun with it...

"With Stroggos in ruins and Makron and his body destroyed, you have now crash landed on Afeitazar, a military base built into one of the barren rocks in a nearby asteroid field. Fitting, this military base is inhabited by Makron's twin brother, ARKANIAN."

And so begins one of the best Quake II mods I've played in a long time. Arkanian is a 3 map package (The Arrival, Ruins of Arkanian, Final Trial) that crams everything great about Quake II into one place. With oxygen levels at a minimum, The Arrival is a map you don't want to hang around in for too long. Pausing briefly to admire the great scenery of the planet surface, you dive headfirst into The Ruins of Arkanian. Your goal here is to make it through the ruins to the Space Station, where the final battle with Arkanian takes place. In order to do that, you must battle your way through some severe firefights that take place amongst some drop dead gorgeous scenery - a particular favourite area of mine being the lava fields, complete with damaged walkways. Ammo is sparse throughout the map, so you have to be on your toes all the time as danger lurks, literally, around every corner. Arkanian features a huge variety of architectural styles, from industrial cranes and hi-tech machinery to mineshafts complete with minecarts, however Mike has manage to combine these styles to create a very believable world. The fighting culminates in The Final Trial, a battle against Arkanian and a couple of nasty mates who (as we say in these parts) jump in for him :)

I enjoyed this map so much that to criticise seems a little futile, however I did spot a bad case of HOM (Hall of Mirrors) and some think_delay errors in the map. And in the Space Station, complete with spinning planet sky, even my PII 266 let out a cry of pain as the framerate fell through the floor! That said, Arkanian is an incredibly enjoyable journey and one I thoroughly recommend.

Quite simply the best Quake II user level I've played to date. Reviews like this one are difficult to write without sounding like gobfulls of gushing praise, but The Azure Mines, sequel to Abandon all Hope and The Bloodshrine, really is that good.

Once again, James has provided us with an excellent scenario to justify the brushes he's slapped down (yea, right - wish I could slap like that!). The Strogg are encamped in a mining compound, excavating a rare crystal to power their famed PsiNull Generator ($29.99 at all good electrical outlets...). You'll remember you destroyed an earlier model in The Bloodshrine. In order to put a stop to the Strogg war machine, your task is to infiltrate the compound and destroy all stocks of the crystal. Your journey through the map requires you to destroy a requisite amount of the crystal before you can progress to the next area. And what a journey it is. From the moment you step into the level as 2 Strogg ships do a flypast, you are plunged into some of the most stunning architecture and excellent gameplay I've yet to see bettered. James has added meticulous detail to every area of the map, from the floor plates that cover lava rivers to small spinning mechanisms within wall units that add so much to the realism and atmosphere of the map. The mining tunnels are constructed so well, with barely a flat sided brush in sight, and the lighting is almost perfect. Everything adds to a fantastic gloomy, cramped environment, which has you scaling and descending ladders, finding hidden switches and levers, swimming through cramped tunnels and kicking large quantities of Strogg posterior.

The Azure Mines is actually 2 separate maps, Azure Mines being the first followed by The Edge of Forever, which is basically a big showdown with the big M, after which a hijacked ship has kindly been placed for your escape. Action in both maps is fast and brutal and once again James has perfected the art of weapon and ammo balance in a map. There's not too much more I can say other than I'm totally blown away by the quality of this work and I'm sure you will be too. Enjoy.

After months of intensive research, I have reached a startling conclusion... I hate YooShin Yang. He is not human. His maps are too good. He is obviously a Strogg implant, designed to humiliate all human map-makers the world over. YooShin Yang is dangerous. YooShin Yang must be destroyed...

Er, right. Sorry 'bout that. I've composed myself now. This map is a pleasure to play, look at and listen to from beginning to end. There's not much more I can say about it. This is about as good as map making gets, in my opinion. With a plot as thin as the sound of my '64 Strat (hi Carson ;), based loosely on gathering information from the Strogg computer systems, Blood-red Sunset laughs in the face of storylines and provides the most entertaining Strogg playground yet. The architecture in this map has to be seen to be believed - breathtaking is not the word. YooShin has used some of the lesser-utilised texture sets to produce a work of art, coloured with the best lighting you'll see this side of a Key Vaca sunset. Witness the floor drop away in the first sector of the map to reveal a 3 level lift which you must descend to access the weapons room, the ingenious light fixtures sunk into the walls, and the expert use of textures that make this map stand head and shoulders above the competition. While you're scoping out all that eye candy, don't forget there's a war going on down there and, as usual in YooShin's maps, it's a brutal, fast, furious and filthy affair, with delegates from the 1998 Beserker Conference just waiting to be denied their tea and biscuits :)

I apologise for writing such a silly, fawning review. I can't help it. I love this guy's stuff and it makes me intensely happy :) Plus, he has me mesmerised with an evil Strogg brain-ray that transforms his thoughts into my own. What can I tell ya?

James seems to be following the trend of the new breed of Quake II speed mappers with his new map The Bloodshrine, following on so soon after his last map Abandon all Hope. As with YooShin's maps, James' work doesn't suffer at all from the speed of its construction.

The Bloodshrine is a nice twist on the standard Quake II level themes. By mixing textures from the industrial/mine sets with runic textures from Quake 1, James has come up with a subtle, original look. He states in his text file that he was trying to achieve a Strogg temple feel, and it's carried off well, from the imposing entrance to the temple (pictured) right down to the highly decorative wall lights placed throughout the map. Bloodshrine doesn't quite have the same superb connectivity of Abandon all Hope, but the gameplay is still challenging and fun. Tanks are in abundance here and I fought 2 at once about 30 seconds into the level with only a shotgun (I won, natch :) The centrepiece of the level is also your main goal - the (strangely named) PsiNull Generator (pictured). This contraption really has to be seen to be believed as it belches out its teleport-like clouds of debris. It was a bit disappointing to destroy such a monolithic structure by merely pressing a tiny button, but the ensuing explosions and building collapse more than made up for it!

Once again, a highly impressive level from a very talented designer. When James et al can resist the temptation to release every map they make immediately and put together a nice 5 or 6 map unit, the world will be a better place :)

OK, let's get one thing out of the way right now - I am absolutely, totally stunned by this level. I love it. It's (to quote another review site, Jeff :) *great*. Totally. Did I say that? I did? OK... Crater's Edge is the first QII map release by Alex, who has obviously spent long hours in a darkened room honing his editing skills to a razor's edge. This map oozes professionalism from the off.

Featuring (in the author's words) "a thin plot and storyline", that being to infiltrate and locate the installation's main elevator shaft by finding the access bridge, Crater's Edge is a very large, superbly interconnected amalgam of industrial pipework, underground caverns, moving walkways and flowing rivers, decorated in my very favourite texture set, the grimy beauty that is E2U3. This is such an atmospheric set of textures that only the best architecture does it justice and Alex has scored top marks here. Each area is totally convincing and meticulously built, in particular the jagged rock faces that punctuate the level. Lighting is exactly as it should be in my opinion in a level of this type - understated, subtle, worrying (heh!). One area that blew me away was the first secret area - once you've descended a lift, a huge section of the level is opened up, plunging you into the strong current of an underground waterway. Make sure you go back and play through the early part of the map after taking this trip as you'll miss a treat.

I really could go on and on about how much this map impressed me. Gameplay was near perfect, fun-factor was high and I finished the map with a satisfied grin on my face. The map is deathmatch ready and I imagine it'll be great in this mode too, and co-op stamps, I mean starts, are included. It's a well worn cliché, but get this map NOW!