[ Reviewed by: Jiang ] - [ Date: Sunday,
24th October, 1999 ]
The author of Mel Soaring was certainly
quick with this sequal, but perhaps a little
too quick and that shows in the final product.
I had the benefit of betatesting for Shaun,
but unfortunately, only my most superficial
advice was looked into. Nonetheless, that
was enough to solve some major texture misalignments
and the first thing you'll notice with Mel
Soaring 2: Star Rancor is the colorful,
unique and very neat design. Like me, you'll
probably feel out of place at the beginning
with the funky lighting, but also like me,
it'll probably grow on you... or maybe it's
just the fact that Shaun picks up the eye-candy
towards the end; either way is good.
The problem with Mel Soaring 2: Star Rancor
was that the story and the theme the author
chose were not very compatible with the
final product, as a result this felt awkward
as in Mel Soaring for Quake2. The story
is great and it attempts to link Quake2
to Half-Life, and I actually paid attention
to the frequent text displays during the
level that shows conversations between you
and your iron-maiden girfriend back on Stroggos.
Say whuh? Yeah, it's all very interesting,
but that just makes you wish that the levels
themselves were better developed.
My main gripe was with the outdoor asteroid
setting; I talked to Shaun about this, it's
just not convincing enough! It feels more
like a space platform, ala Yuri Davidov's
Space Odyssey series (which we're all hoping
he continues for the sake of Quake2), only
a lot more uninspired. Although Mel Soaring
2: Star Rancor's consistently great r_speeds
might have been somewhat sacrificed, I still
feel that would've been worth it if it meant
more elaboration on the currently banal
outdoor areas. It's a shame cause the interior
of the Xen temple is done so well.
Xen temple? That doesn't exactly roll off
the tongue as well as Strogg temple does
it? As I've said, Mel Soaring 2: Star Rancor
scores high for originality. You are not
in your typical Xen setting here, but it
seems nobody these days would want many
levels dedicated to your typical Xen world.
The visuals used by Shaun, however, aren't
exactly unpresidented as many areas look
vaguely familiar to Neil Manke's USS Darkstar.
Although the two standards are obviously
very different, it's still not a bad thing.
Also like in USS Darkstar, the only bad
guys you get to fight here are Xenoids;
although dead human grunts often make appearances
to justify the item placement. I felt that
there was somewhat of a alien slave overload
when it comes to Mel Soaring 2: Star Rancor
and I think I've been zapped one too many
times to consider this fact not annoying.
Aside from your overzealous slaves, the
alien grunt often pesters you with their
many appearances. All in all, this is a
fiendishly hard but well-balanced addon,
but unforunately, the fights aren't the
best or the most varied.
Unlike the former Mel Soaring, this sequal
was fairly linear as well. All in all you
have a map that plays somewhat awkwardly
and also feels a bit uninspired. But don't
let that stop you from downloading this,
the visuals were great and the last fight
was just brutal!
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