Alrighty
then, whereas Mel Soaring 2 was a Quake
2 level for Half Life, this one was nearly
a Half Life level but in the end became
a Quake 2 level. Clear as mud then. According
to the readme the author basically got fed
up with Half Life's weedy bad guys and so
decided to convert the level over, and a
good job he did too as this is one of the
most enjoyable Quake 2 levels I've played
for ages. The only side effect of the change
over is that some of the architecture's
scale is a little wrong, but what the hey.
The story continues on from Mel Soaring
1 by having you set off to defile the tomb
of the Stroggs leader (as you do). The gameplay
involves you trundling through the tomb,
introducing everyone you meet to your friend
Mr. Shotgun, before setting a bomb and running,
screaming for your life. Whilst the level
is great, the ending is a little abrupt
and could have done with a little jazzing
up to bring the whole thing to a suitable
climax. |
As per
usual for Quake 2 levels the framerate is
generally pretty high throughout. There
are a couple of places where 50 monsters
come at you while you lob grenades about
that cause minor slowdowns, but they really
are quite minor. As opposed to being quite
miner, which would involve people in vests
and hard hats wandering around the level
poking holes in things with pickaxes. And
possibly sing hi ho type songs as well. |
Having
appeared in the level and seen that the
first room was full of crates, I was all
set for another humdrum base level. How
wrong I was.
Instead what you get is an excellent looking
medieval style tomb to run around in. Everything's
suitably huge and imposing, and big, simple
but effective shapes are the order of the
day. Combined with the new textures the
level really does look and feel different
to most of the others out there. Other professional
quality touches are things like areas you
can see but can't get to yet. Eventually
getting to those areas and realising it
always brings a warm glow to my heart and
a smile to my face. You know, I really think
I'd better lay of off the caffeine.
The only downsides are a couple of bugs
and a few areas with minor HOM effects,
but they're not the end of the world by
any means. |
The entire
level is just jam packed full of excellent
new textures. They're mostly of the rusty
/ bloody metal variety and look exactly
like Quake 1 or even Doom textures. If you're
a nostalgic old fogey like me then this
is no bad thing, as it can really make you
feel like you're there again. Sniff, it
fair brought a tear to my eye.
One thing that's odd is that the author
still seems to have used suspiciously wall
looking textures on the doors, just like
Mel Soaring 2. Perhaps it's just me, but
they do seem to look a little odd. Not odd
enough to lose any points over though, so
hurrah and all that. |
Along with
the design and texturing, the lighting helps
to bring the level to life, and special
note has to go to the light coming from
the lava which consistently looks great.
Pretty much all the lights seem to have
a source, and although some areas are dark
it rarely stays black for long. |
On the
normal skill setting there are 120 monsters
spread across the level witch is a lot of
shooting by anyone's standards. As opposed
to Mel Soaring 2 where the challenge came
from monsters appearing right behind you
(grr), in this level the challenge is how
the monsters come at you in waves. By that
I mean you kill a group of bad guys and
immediately another group enters the room
and has a go at you. This as I'm sure you
can imagine leads to some great fights,
so even with so many monsters in the level
it never gets too repetitive. Nice. |
Spread
out across the level are all of the weapons
in the game bar the BFG, which is fair enough
as it tends to make a mockery of any carefully
set up battles in the level. A nice touch
is that the majority of the weapons are
dropped by dying aliens instead of just
being lying around in convenient places. |
Compared
to Mel Soaring 2 the item balance is a lot
more conventional but still very well judged.
The health tends to be lying around in small
groups rather than spread across the entire
level. This means that you often need to
remember where you left the health pack
you saw earlier and go scampering back to
get it. Having to backtrack might annoy
some but I feel it adds another level of
strategy to the gameplay, which has to be
a good thing. |
Although
lacking in music there are plenty of ambient
sounds dotted around to keep your ears amused.
A few of the sounds are new and if you're
anything like me the first time you hear
them you'll be peering around wondering
what's going on. Great stuff. |
Although
the actual gameplay of the level isn't really
that original the new textures, sounds and
kooky storyline do add up to set it apart.
On the other hand, this is one of the few
Quake 2 levels I've played that really felt
like a Quake 1 level, so I suppose that's
original. Yeah nice one Stu, argue yourself
out of your own conclusions why don't you.
Crazy fool. |
This level
didn't feel too realistic even compared
to the majority of Quake 2 levels. The abundant
use of lava and the remaining scale issues
left behind by the swap from Half Life mean
that it often doesn't feel like a real Strogg
tomb. A real Strogg tomb? Sigh. I definitely
need to get out more. |
The difficulty
level seemed very well balanced to me, which
is excellent work considering how frustrating
I found Mel Soaring 2 to be. On top of this
the level supports difficulty settings so
there's absolutely no excuse for blubbing
at all. |
Hmm, from
1 to 2 hours I would say, depending on whether
you play it carefully or just charge through,
guns blazing and pants flaming. |
Nice atmosphere,
helped by great lighting and new textures. |
A couple
of very minor bugs.
A bit of an abrupt ending, and it's only
one level long. |
Well, what
can I say? After the disappointment of Mel
Soaring 2 the author comes storming back
with this little beauty. The boy done good
as they say.
To conclude then, if you like your levels
with loads of combat and a great atmosphere
this one's for you. About the only thing
it's missing is any real puzzles, but otherwise
it's pretty much great. Download away I
say. |