[Kona], my friend, what the hell were
you thinking? That was my first response
on opening this episode, anyway. Weird stone/metal
block buildings, Id rocks, ikbase streetlamps
(!), base-style floor lamps and light strips.
I've seen good attempts at making grotesque
levels, but this is episode is probably
the most successful of them all. Don't misunderstand,
though; it's not ugly the way a mistextured
fullbright box is ugly, it's actually a
style well conceived and executed that just
happens to hurt my eyes. The fact that the
episode is an early work by the author probably
explains much of its exuberant weirdness.
This being a [Kona] project, there are obviously
custom monsters, including the rocket ogre,
armored knight, axebot, modded death knights,
and that boss guy from necrobrood (no obit
message in the QC so I don't know what he's
called but it's an awesome enemy).
Looking beyond the textures, map #1 is
designed almost entirely on a 64x64 grid
and has a blocky and solid feel to it. There
is plenty of detail despite the large scale,
in chunky crenellated walls, metal shafts,
large beams criscrossing the ceiling, etc.
No single area really stands out but then
again no area is particularly boxy either.
Monster surprises are frequent. At first
I wondered what all the ammo was for, until
reinforcements started showing up everywhere-
nice. Most enemies are well placed in positions
that are difficult but not unfair. The layout
of this first map is quite creative, but
only if you're willing to ignore the blatant
shortcut right at the start. When I first
played the map, I exited in 20 seconds because
I thought it was a route option.
|
The second mission is a smaller near-transitional
map that takes place in a large canyon, impressive
except for the inexplicable hole(s) to the
grey void in places. I found it rather amusing
that by giving the scrags too much attention
at the beginning, I wound up walking right
over a cliff. The monsters do seem to use
the surrounding geometry effectively. The
indoor areas of the map are in the same basic
theme, but slightly more detailed with more
use of angles. There's another unfortunate
shortcut here too, but not as obvious.Map
#3 uses more diverse textures, which is something
of a relief. Some reddish-brown stone textures
and celtic knot trim have been added for more
smaller and/or more subtle detail. The doors
are also better looking. It's another small
map so the difficulty escalates pretty quickly.
One entertaining moment involved rocket ogres
firing rockets across a gap from lower ground.
I really wish that had been used more often,
as it's one of the many creative gameplay
aspects that make this entire episode redeemable
despite the crude design. The final boss fight
is great but I found the section before unfair
without trial and error and eventually settled
for a cheap solution. Ultimately, I think
the episode is worthwile if you're up for
some challenging gameplay and insight into
how twisted [Kona] can be, and who isn't?
|