Perhaps the fact that I haven't played Quake
II in a while gave this map an advantage but
I absolutely loved it. It was a little brief
and perhaps a little easy even on Hard - I played
through in about 10 minutes without dying -
but it was a gem all the same. Aside from the
couple of minor points that Jay picked out,
it was a great looking map, and the "new"
textures gave it a fresh look that really lifted
it. Though the path you have to follow is, indeed,
somewhat linear, it's very pleasingly structured,
with you looping round on yourself numerous
times. There is, perhaps, a little too much
scope for falling down and having to retrace
your steps for quite a distance but it still
a very elegant design. It was also a bit of
a shame that the two maps couldn't be compiled
into one - as explained in the text file - because
that would have driven the pace even higher
than it is already but, other than that, there's
very little wrong here.
[ Reviewed by: Jay ] - [ Date: Monday, 3rd
April, 2000 ]
This is an updated version of the original
review, changed after errors in the original
review were pointed out to me. Even if you think
you recognize the next paragraph, but have not
seen this sentence before, please read the whole
review from scratch.
It's been said before, but that hasn't stopped
me yet - new single-player Quake 2 maps are
few and far between these days, but when they
do come, they're far superior to the average
a year or two ago. The mediocre authors have
either become very good by now, or they've moved
on to other games, and authors that consistenly
have produced good SPQ2 maps (which pretty well
describes Kona) still return to SPQ2 now and
then, fortunately for us SPQ2 fanatics. When
last we saw Mel (in Q2, that is), he was on
his third battle, but only second against the
Strogg. We SPQ2 bigots are fortunate that Kona
decided that Mel's latest adventure would pit
him (and us) against the Strogg once more.
The story is short and sweet, and sets the
stage nicely, but you would be able to get along
quite nicely without it. This is one of those
"...move in whatever direction currently
is open, and blow away anything that moves..."
kind of experiences. The Baddies have occupied
an ancient castle - an environment which afficionados
of Classic Quake know and love - and are threatening
Mel in his seclusion, and Mel being a killer
simply has to deal with this intolerable situation.
The F1 computer says it all - "Annihilate
all enemies". Simple.
Well, not really simple at that. The objective
is not all that intellectually challenging,
granted, but Kona is not about to let us off
lightly. I was gibs within a couple of minutes
of starting the map - death is Nature's way
of telling us we were a wee tad hasty, there.
Kona does not throw dozens of enemies at Mel
the way we saw Mark Shan do recently in Magic
Lamber Forever, but with between 122 and 156
Strogg (depending on skill level; I faced 141
of them), this means that the groups of two
to five Strogg, and sometimes a couple more,
occur more frequently throughout the map. If
one compares the 141 enemies of both maps of
Mel Soaring 5 to the similar number in the first
level of Magic Lamber Forever, the smaller groups
of enemies means more groups, and thus more
combat opportunities. When approaching a door,
it is a really safe bet that something nasty
will be found on the other side, just waiting
to eat your face. Ammo is plentiful, and Mel
starts out with blaster, shotgun, and a pocket-full
of grenades, and quickly acquires the DBS and
machine gun. This is not a gift from Kona, but
merely necessary for survival. While not stingy
with ammo, Kona keeps you on a fairly strict
diet of health, much more so in the beginning
than the end. Not an impossible exercise by
any means, but no cakewalk, either.
One interesting aspect which I only discovered
on replaying the map, but could have figured
out on the first pass through - it is possible
to double back and get a different shooting
angle on discovered enemies. This is a nifty
aspect of the layout, and helps alleviate the
otherwise very linear feel to the map.
I mentioned the castle earlier. While Quake
fans will recognize the visual look and feel
of textures, particularly in the early going,
the shapes are not tye typical human rectangular
rooms with a roof and occasionally a circular
stairs. Rigby Castle has plenty of curves and
odd turnings. Though the action takes place
on three levels (including subterranean - that's
underground to a Marine), all except the below-ground
area is open to the stars, of which there are
lots. I enjoyed the visuals, since Kona put
in plenty of variation so that it was not all
the same mottled brown stone. The sky visible
most places is gorgeous, and includes a moon
with patterns of light and dark that my mind
kept trying to force into the Man In The Moon
- but Kona avoided that trap and used a different
picture, or at least sufficiently befuddled
my mind that the pattern never did fit the familiar.
There are some visual anomalies which players
who like to explore and look around a lot (as
opposed to those who want to see how quickly
they can get through) will find. These turn
out to be inherent in the Quake 2 engine - one
of the errors I made in the original draft of
this review was attributing them to design under
Kona's control, which was unfair, though due
to ignorance on my part.
When all is said and done, I think I'll end
up putting the Mel Soaring 5 starter icon into
my Good folder, where it is among the very best
of that particular folder. Though one can double
back some, I am not sure I could play it a third
time and still feel it was a different game
each time, at least not within the next six
months or so. Maybe if it had been a tad longer,
I would decide otherwise, but replayability
is probably my main judgment criterion. I suspect
that other folks who focus more on outstanding
graphics would rate this one Superb, because
the visuals are among the best I've seen, and
it was tremendous fun while it lasted. However
one calls it, though, Good or Superb, it is
definitely one that you must not miss if you
like SPQ2 at all. Go get it now, play it, and
give Kona your opinion - feedback is the only
payment authors like him who provide us the
free maps ever get for their labors.
