This is a sequel to Shaun's Q2 level. You are
Mel Soaring , a kind - of Duke Nukem guy. Maybe
his cousin. After your last mission in Q2 ,
you notice an asteroid coming towards the planet
(earth?) and upon closer examination you discover
it is actually a flying alien base. Time to
kick butt!
8/10
Playability
Although the author warned of major slowdowns
in the readme file , I only noticed a very slight
slowdown at the end when there were about 9
aliens on the screen at once. This was at 1024x768.
I'm sure this would be non-evident at 800x600.
Not enough to hinder gameplay. The switching
between the multi-level pak was almost instantaneous.
8/10
Structure
Very cool alien architecture. In fact , some
of the most creative I've seen. A linear level
but not boring. Some cool tricks to getting
into certain areas.
9/10
Textures
Very good alignment. I noticed absolutely no
flaws. Very good, realistic choices . A lot
of adversity used in the building structures
that really made it interesting. Worth stopping
and admiring for a second. In one part there
were some really awesome looking translucent
water textures used. Almost like a lava lamp
or something.
8/10
Lighting
Right from the start I noticed a very good
use of shadows and lighting to portray a kind
of spooky feeling. It really added to the atmosphere
of an asteroid out in cold , dark space. Some
areas were too dark for me. Maybe a good idea
to adjust the gamma before starting the game.
Too bad game designers can't try out their games
on video cards and test the brightness controls.
Unreal and Half Life are notorious for being
too dark on my tnt2.
7/10
Monsters
I liked the idea that you are invading the
monsters' space. Some of them seem to be just
hapless workers you walk in on. The thing that
really upset me was the monsters that kept resurrecting
themselves behind me ! You will have to watch
your back in this one. Not bad enough to ruin
it , mind you, but enough to anger you at first.
5/10
Weapons
You start off with the shotgun , and eventually
pick up a revolver off of a dead soldier. I
am not sure where the soldiers came from as
the plot states you are the only one sent to
investigate. You acquire a crossbow later on,
and that's that. I found myself running out
of ammo , even with carefully placed shots.
Keep an eye on ammo as it is scarce.
5/10
Items
Just enough health to keep you alive. I did
like the fact that you start off with your suit.
Man , it's annoying when you can't see your
items.
6/10
Sound/Music
Nothing much to talk about. Just the standard
half-life sounds.
5/10
Originality
I liked the premise of being the invader. The
architecture of the asteroid was very original.
10/10
Realism
As real as any other level depicting an alien
race that doesn't exist with buildings never
built using weapons that have not been developed!
N/A
Difficulty
Due to the lack of ammo and resurrection capabilities
of some monsters, I'd say this pak scores an
8 on the quick load scale!
N/A
Length
I finished the level in about 40 minutes.
N/A
Pros
Very cool architecture, plenty of aliens.
N/A
Cons
Alien resurrection, lousy ending.
N/A
Overall
Not the best in the west , but definitely worth
the relatively small download.
