Archive D-F

Level Archive D-F

Death Is... Pic 1 Death Is... Pic 2

Well, another little revelation! YooShin has produced a second Quake 2 map (Hideout was the first) that has blown my socks off thanks to his attention to detail and the pure FUN he injects into his levels!

Death Is... has a really original plotline... OK, I lied, it doesn't - it has the trusty old "shut down the power generator" story we all know and love :) *But* YooShin added a hilarious little twist - complete your objective, shut down the first generator and your computer pops up with the nasty news that the Strogg have a secondary generator up their sleeve! Straight from Peter's Evil Overlord List list :) As with Hideout, the architecture is stunning, the lighting is superb and the gameplay is top notch, with a variety of texture sets decorating individual areas without any looking out of place. Rotating entities abound throughout the map and make for a very polished level. This is one tough map, so be prepared for some slaughter.

Could YooShin Yang be the next Iikka Keranen? Well, his maps are tough enough... :)

Well, well, well - me old mate Marty from down under :) Marty created some of my favourite Quake I maps including End of Time and you can always count on him for a highly playable and hugely entertaining map - he doesn't disappoint this time round either...

Exterior Infiltration starts, literally, with a bang, as a mass of explosions fill the air. Your craft has been shot down over a Strogg Pumping Station and naturally, instead of legging it as far away from the complex as you can, you decide to find an entrance, make your way inside and, in the best traditions of horror films where they always investigate the dark, creepy basement alone, you head off in search of an exit in the underground mine area. The Strogg complex is a mess of acid-filled ravines, cramped tunnels and underground caverns, with some areas impassable without an enviro-suit - the search for the suit forms the basis of the first map of this two map pack. Once found, access to the bridge entrance is possible, which leads to the second level, The Stronghold. Throughout the map I really liked the (dare I say it) ramshackle nature of the architecture - everything looks suitably dirty and grimy, with ammo and health hidden in crates dotted throughout the map. The Stronghold also features, in the best traditions of Hexen II, a fabulous laser puzzle (pictured). Step on the wrong sequence of platforms and... frying tonight :) As usual, Marty has the gameplay almost perfect, with monsters attacking from all sides at unexpected times. The cramped nature of the map means that there are very few hiding places, so it's best just to get stuck in!

This is a great piece of work. There are a few nitpicks and errors in the map such as the dreaded 'missing textures' error messages, and some pretty inconsistent lighting which leaves some brush faces totally black, but these in no way impair the map. Marty's style has always been the Romero 'semi-slapdash' approach, and I hope he doesn't change :)

Fatal Pic 1 Fatal Pic 2

There is now no doubt about it - YooShin Yang is the spawn of a hellish liaison between Tim Willits and Iikka Keranen!

Without doubt the most prolific Quake II map author to date (sorry Ed :), this would be meaningless were it not for the fact that Yooshin's maps are the most finely crafted pieces of work I've seen since the aforementioned Mr Willits' maps rattled my head over Christmas. A little more than a week has passed since Death is Not Worth Trying surfaced, and now Fatal Opportunity surfaces to stamp with huge footprints Yooshin's authority on the QII scene. You may think I'm going a little over the top here - you'd be wrong...

Once again, it's the popular 'jailbreak' scenario that you are faced with upon entering the map, and dammit if those pesky Strogg haven't gone and employed the same security system contractors who installed malfunctioning systems in all their other bases :) Will they ever learn? From there, it's a simple matter of re-activating the power systems to take the elevator to the warehouse, a quick shimmy up a ventilation shaft, re-align the satellite dish and bob's your uncle, freedom! Oh, er, did I mention that in doing this you'll have to negotiate the 1998 Beserker conference being held in the same facility? Or the gangs of Enforcers and Gunners? Guess not, huh? And as if that wasn't problem enough, you also have all that stunning architecture to look at. In all seriousness, YooShin makes great and amusing use of the F1 computer throughout the map, the blue laser trap (pictured) is a real surprise, his use of ladders is perfectly executed, and the end sequence is stunning. What makes this piece particularly nice is that it's a very small map, but you don't notice - an adrenaline rush from start to finish.

I really can't recommend this map highly enough (along with YooShin's previous work). Tell me I'm wrong and I'll wager the Strogg have been performing experiments on your head! And with that, he tossed his level editor into the trash and walked off into the sunset, a broken man...

Well, what a turn up for the books! Scott has been quiet on the QII scene since its release but has now entered in fine style as the winner of Robert Duffy and Steve Tieze's QERadiant Level Design Contest. After cutting his teeth on some of the most playable and well built Quake 1 maps such as Armour of God and Operation Condor, Scott has emerged with an absolutely stunning map that thoroughly deserves the big prize.

First Strike is a tech/base style map that oozes class from the minute you enter. Your mission is to (surprisingly) exterminate all life forms and exit the complex alive. To accomplish this, you must negotiate a labyrinthine world that switches back on itself constantly and plunges you from the upper reaches of the base to underground maze-like passageways chock full of Strogg. One of the main features of this level is its ability to make you feel truly claustrophobic whilst engaging in brutal firefights that have become Scott's trademark. The architecture throughout the level is truly excellent, with some fabulous detail touches that add superbly to the atmosphere (more clip brushes though please... more clip brushes). Lighting is consistently stunning, made even more amazing by the fact that Scott built the level on a P60 with no 3Dfx card and didn't even know what the coloured lights would look like! If ever there was a candidate for a free accelerator card, Scott is it! In Scott's previous levels, he used to use packs of Hell Knights to charge at you from all sides - here he continues the tradition with good old Beserkers. Although the level is pretty non-linear, Scott's effective use of spawned monsters serves to lead you back through the level to ultimately reach the exit. My poor screenshots really don't do justice to some of the best architecture this side of Tim Willits. And the gameplay... oh, man!

I can't say enough to recommend this map to you - it's a bit of a masterpiece and regains Scott's rightful place as one of the top map makers around. Now if he could just stop using those corny titles... hehehe!