Like the other Mel Soaring levels the plot
for this one is pretty irreverent and more
than a little odd. You play the eponymous
Mel Soaring, a soldier in the Quake 2 campaign,
who decides to take on the Strogg leader
because he's bored. As you do.
Once into
the level you get the usual objectives to
make your way through the Strogg defences,
butchering anyone who gets in your way,
until you find the leader. It's fairly typical
stuff, but no less effective because of
it. Just don't expect something stunningly
original and you'll be fine. |
As
with most Quake 2 levels in this day and
age, the framerate is pretty much perfect
throughout. |
The design of the level incorporates both
tight, cramped, corridors and jagged canyon
areas. While the outside bits are uniformly
pretty well designed and good looking, the
insides (which make up most of the level)
are a bit of a mixed bag. Several areas,
such as the start, are nicely detailed and
have plenty of interesting things to look
at. However an equal amount of areas are
bland, plain cubes with a couple of things
stuck on the walls in an attempt to spice
them up.
Basically
the visuals aren't bad by any means, but
they're just not stunning. Fair enough I
suppose, this is quite an old level and
the author's next Quake 2 level (Mel Soaring
3) is great to look at. If you wanted to
you could look at this as an indication
of how the author's style has progressed
over time. Alternatively you could look
at it as a Quake 2 level stuffed to the
brim with angry bad guys. Whatever. |
Although
there are no new textures in the level,
what has been used has been quite well chosen
and neatly aligned. Personally though I
thought that some areas had perhaps a couple
of textures too many leading to a slightly
messy look. Anyway, as I say the texturing
is fine and doesn't detract from the atmosphere
at all. One nice thing to note is that the
author has used several of the Palace textures
in the level, which is a welcome change
from the endless generic base levels. Lovely.
|
The
lighting is polished throughout the level
and really helps to bring the environment
to life. There's a good selection of light
and dark areas, plenty of colour has been
splashed around, and some areas feature
subtly flickering lights which is cool.
|
For the majority of the level the monsters
are well placed to put up a good fight without
resorting to cheesy tricks. Another groovy
thing is that pretty much any time you do
anything important several monsters will
spawn in areas that you've already cleared.
This really makes you paranoid and keeps
you on your toes which is a good thing.
On a couple of occasions I came charging
round a corner and blundered straight into
a Gladiator. A quick change of the underpants
later and I could kick their behind, but
the constant wariness is great.
The only
downside to the monsters is the end fight
where monsters clearly spawn in front of
you as you kill their team mates. If done
properly this could have looked like some
cool teleporter effect, but as is it just
looks silly. |
Spread
over the level are both of the shotguns
and machine guns, some grenades and a rocket
launcher. I would have said that the balance
of weapons was pretty much spot on, as adding
any of the more powerful guns would have
been overkill on a level of this size. No
complaints here. |
In
addition to a plentiful supply of armour,
health and ammo, spread across the level
are several secrets, each of which is handily
labelled. Personally I always like it when
a level has secrets that tell you which
one they are as it gives you a clue when
you've missed one. Of course this invariably
means that I spend the next five minutes
scampering around like a chimp searching
for the damn secret, but what the hell,
it keeps me off the streets. |
Suitable
music plays throughout the level which works
nicely, but I found ambient sounds were
a little lacking. Possibly this was down
to me not being able to hear them over the
constant screams and gunfire. Also the Quake
2 sounds got in the way as well! Tiddy boom
tish! Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Yes,
I am available for parties and social events,
very reasonable rates. Ahem. |
If
you were to list everything that should
be in a typical Quake 2 level then the results
would look pretty much like this one. So
while it features a fair amount to do and
some nice combat, originality isn't its
strong point. |
Errrr,
nope. Next question? Seriously though this
level actually feels even more like a computer
game than most do. It's probably the kooky
plot and obviously linear puzzles, coupled
with plentiful (and sometimes obvious) secrets
that do it. Probably. |
Fortunately
the level features easy, normal and hard
difficulty levels. I say fortunately because
on medium difficulty this level can be an
absolute swine to complete. I often found
myself fighting a Gladiator in a cramped,
cluttered corridor, or taking on several
Gunners and becoming snagged on a sticky
out bit of scenery. I wouldn't say it was
particularly unfair, just be prepared to
make frequent use of the quick save key.
And Valium. |
Around
an hour or so I'd say. As mentioned above
the level could take a lot longer if you're
not such a hot player. |
Lots
of bang bang shooty action crammed into
the level.
Some bits of it look pretty cool in that
classic Quake 2 sort of a way. |
Can
be difficult to move around due to cramped
and cluttered design.
Not startlingly original. |
This
is a fairly old skool level and it really
does feels it as you play. It doesn't offer
anything startlingly new or surprising,
but there's plenty of full on combat here
if that's what tickles your fancy. Oo-er,
etc. If you're pining for some traditional
Quake action then you won't be disappointed
with this level. If however you only play
the very best of levels then you'll probably
want to stay clear. |