[ Reviewed by: Calyst ] - [ Date: Sunday, 9th December, 2001 ]

 

Brumal Quest marks Kona's 15th in his long line-up of SP maps for Quake 1 and 2, but this one separates itself from the rest of the pack with its theme - snowy medieval. An intriguing style indeed, and it works great, but it would've gone better with darker ambient lighting.

 

Layout is reminiscent of Satyr - routing begins at the outermost rim, flowing inwards, crisscrossing at points, but generally upwards to teleport to the second map. The second map is a one-two punch - enter a fortress, then exit and leave (entry and exit both meet with opposition as expected). Architecture is excellent, and complex at that - lots of attention to detail. The proof is in the wall and floor-ceiling designs sprinkled around, as well as in the varied textures. Surprisingly consistent with each other considering how many there are, so layers don't appear odd as they might in other styles. Mostly wood and stone variants that at first seem to provide a completely new style, but on closer examination is somewhat medieval.

 

Variation continues in the gameplay, which likes to have the upper edge - many enemies spawn in after a button push or after key targets are eliminated. And the enemies themselves are a varied lot with their new snowy skins (one exception: shambler), plus a breed of modified "fiends" (gremlins?) without the normal rapaciousness. Unfortunately this breed doesn't seem to have any combat strengths - or if it does, it's not appropriately used. There's a bit more faulty enemy placement with a few shamblers and certain ogres, but overall combat strives for fairness. Health is quite competitive compared to the amount of fighting, but ammo tends to be more generous. Combat is definitely challenging but not quite intriguing - there's lack of progression, and no one particular fight stands out. No set-pieces except in the second map. And a rather rude closing battle - it opens you up to attack from multiple angles way too abruptly without a good aversion method.

 

The combat isn't all that compelling and the ambient lighting a bit bright for Quakey purposes (at least on idgamma/GLQuake), but Brumal Quest packs good, tough action into some highly impressive, snowy architecture. Very nice overall.