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first off, let me say i was unable to complete this level,
even after instructions by the author, so im just gonna try
and be as objective here as possible. this level features
lots of interesting areas with ruins and atmospheric effects...and
that's kind of the problem too...it makes it extremely hard
to find your way around, or even know where you're going.
add to that the rather disjointed nature of the level and
you have a recipe for getting lost. and get lost i did, after
giving up trying to find where to go, i noclipped through
the walls, trying to skip to the next area. this just got
me more and more lost, i ended up in stranger and stranger
areas, eventually hopelessly disoriented. so i gave up. under
instructions from the author i managed to get no further at
all. add to that one of the main rooms slows your computer
down to a crawl.
overall, a good start, there are still many many things that
could be improved in this map, but the author shows a lot
of promise, i'm looking forward to more maps from in the future.
HIGHS: shows a good knowledge of the basic feature
set of the SE, imaginative ruins to climb around in.
LOWS: claustrophic, confusing, easy to get lost in,
slows down in some places.
OVERALL SCORE: 5/10
-mr
man-
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All right. So I boot up the Serious Sam, and run this 'entrada'
map. As always, I stick it out on Serious difficulty. I look
around, and I notice the slightly psychotic-looking room design.
No problem, I say, it's probably just 'cause it's an ancient
ruined temple built by some alien race with no appreciation
for symmetry. Throughout my time in this level I kept getting
the urge to go down to the local acid dealer's place and score
a few hits... Also, I'll admit that I didn't finish the level.
I didn't know how! I wandered around the tunnels for about
a half an hour, killing off stray harpies, gnaars, frogs and
a werebull, then I just gave up.
All right, enough rambling, now for the review. The level
design itself isn't all that bad - the architecture is nicely
done, there are quite a few cool effects, and only a few clipping
problems. Aside from a few spatial relativity problems, and
things like those bloody fish in the beginning and the frickin'
minigun which I couldn't figure out how to get to, the large
part of the level does look like a massive ruined temple -
and that water bowl is just cool!
Now there are quite a few ways to get crushed in this level
- beware of trying to open a certain set of big double doors,
for example. Also, what's with the lens flares coming from
absolutely no visible source whatsoever? I mean, I realize
that lens flares are fun to play around with (and if you ever
try looking at the sun, you won't get a lens flare, I guarantee
you), but it's just downright distracting. And that frickin'
sun gem near the water bowl? I'm blind, I can't see... hey,
what's that harpy sound... BAM!! I go down, having been beaten
up by a lone harpy. And finally, there aren't nearly enough
monsters to kill - and definitely not enough ammo and health.
Now I realize that what you just read may sound like a contradiction,
but I basically I spent most of my time on this map hunting
down lone harpies and shooting biomechs with pistols. Yes,
there are all kinds of neat secrets that you will accidentally
stumble upon. I just don't have the patience to go looking
for the bloody teleporter that leads you to them.
OVERALL SCORE: 4/10. Look,
I realize it's tempting to fool around with the engine's cool
features and not pay attention to monster and item placement,
and put TOO MANY LENS FLARES in, but whenever you feel that
temptation, have someone kick you in the balls. It's really
therapeutic and helps you make better levels. Fooling around
with the engine's cooler features is all fine and good, and
I realize perfectly well that you only get better with experience
- so we'll file this level away in the "Don't shun the author's
later levels just because this one's bad" category. I honestly
believe the man who made this map can get better with experience.
-fifthhorseman-
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