Rapture is a five-map episode in a style unrightfully
hijacked from Daikatana and Hexen along with their
intellectual property. :X To win, you must collect
four runes and defeat four barons. There are also
two start maps and two end maps which help move
an interesting plotline.
Rain Palisade
is a well-connected series of beautiful and
imposing grey and blue castles amongst realistic
rocks. Everything is built to an impressively
large scale. Details such as broken windows,
scattered bricks, warped wooden beams, and subtly
emulated sunlight (in one area) all give it
a realistic feel. Almost every area has something
to look at.
Combat progresses fairly, beginning with single
enemies and sniping practice but quickly heating
up once you enter the buildings and take on
well-defended positions. Most of the new enemies
appear first in this map. They include gremlins,
axemen, and toughened knights with better armor.
Someone forgot to skin the knight's severed
head.
There were a few minor combat-related problems.
If you enter the line of sight of the basement
full of zombies (an otherwise entertaining area)
while pressing a certain switch, they try to
block off the grenade launcher. Also, the mildly
exciting arena combat at the end is made easy
by an obvious secret inaccurately marked "hard."
=)
Rain Palisade - Final is a tiny map in which
you mow through a few monsters and take on the
first baron in a circular arena with an annoying
flashy light. The baron himself is an appropriate
first boss - entertaining and not overly challenging.
When fighting him, you may get to witness how
the coder never finished client.qc - there is
no message when he kills you.
Castle Rapture
is more visually complex than the first maps,
with bright wood and purple metal textures trimming
stone walls. It's a great-looking map all around.
However, it is rather cramped and all areas
are generally smaller. It seems somewhat haphazard
with open doors sliding through solid walls
and one area of HOM. The map also features lava
dripping from pipes in the wall which should
have been animated.
Progression is still reasonable and enjoyable
with several surprises involving strategically
placed ogres and one area where a few sparse
reinforcements lure you into a false sense of
security... This level also contains the fire
baron who, aside from the fact that you fight
him in a much smaller and more dangerous area,
isn't much more threatening than the first baron.
The baron himself is preceded by another surprise.
A Cross to Bear is
another solid medieval map, but in a more chaotic
vein than the preceding levels, being cobbled
together from various rocks and wood panels. It
has all the hallmarks of [Kona]'s twisted style:
lots of weird angles and intersections, heavy
and impeccable use of trim, and reliance on unusual
brushwork for effect rather than careful use of
detailed textures. The lack of traditional "setpieces"
can seem a little dull this far into the episode.
This map also marks a tremendous increase in difficulty,
with gang after unsubtle gang of well-placed monsters
and hardly any health throughout the map, inviting
a much more cautious approach. At the end of this
map lies the first baron with a truly formidable
attack. Take care to avoid it.
Storm Dungeon is
the final map and, stylistically, it's something
of a downer. It's a symmetrical deathmatch arena,
lifts travel through the floor, and the lighting,
most of which seems to come from sporadic lightning,
is just silly. [note: strangely enough, the odd
flashing lights only appear in software mode.
In GLQuake, the lighting was functional.]
This map clearly wasn't made for looks, though.
It was made to hold the hordes of monsters which
surge into the arena in a DMSP-style infestation.
It is sometimes difficult to tell what to do next,
especially with grenades landing all around, but
large caches of ammo, armor, and health (plus
the mjolnir if you use it wisely) even the playing
field somewhat while searching for a route.
The only real trouble comes at the very end, in
which you face the final baron, who seems fond
of stupid hitscan attacks. He can be very difficult
to defeat, especially if you're weakened by the
preceding massacre. Compounding this is the fact
that he initially appears in an area where it
can be very difficult to run away without taking
damage. There should have been health and armor
just before the encounter, but it's still possible
to win
