The very first Quake 2 level
to be reviewed here... and I'm sure glad it
was this. After playing the first two parts
of Castle of Stroggos, they were good, but way
too over-rated. This third and final release
of the COS set, Brian has been working on for
twice as long as the others, and after a whole
year in the making, The Final Objective was
worth it. After having not a single Q2 release
in the last two months (since Mel Soaring!)
this for sure makes up for it.
It starts off where COS2 left you, trapped in
some big cell with a Gunner guarding you. But
quickly getting out of there, I completed the
first level and wasn't really that impressed
by it. It wasn't that much better than COS1&2.
However, then it started to get better, and
better, AND BETTER! I was just blown away by
some of the brilliant design. I have so many
screenshots all of extremely beautiful sections
I can't pick what ones to use here! With such
great detail, it's no wonder it took Brian a
year to build. The lighting and texturing is
fabulous and the atmosphere was brilliant. Once
you get a few peaks of the space outside you
really get the feeling of being on a huge starship.
And yes, just like COS 1 and 2, many of the
rooms are monsters (in size, not literally).
But unlike the first two releases, these huge
rooms are amazingly beautiful.
The gameplay was also brilliant, although not
quite as grand as the design. There were a few
times that were too hard, like fighting a couple
Commanders with nowhere to run. But most of
the time it was very challenging and very fun.
The ammunition is always only just enough, although
you get some bigger weapons soon enough, you
had better save them up for tricky parts (like
the end). As great as the gameplay was, I was
sad to see it considerably let down by the big
fight at the end. With a couple of quad-damages
it could have been awesome fun, but trying to
take on three Makrons with hardly anywhere to
run behind was very frustrating. Or perhaps
I should have looked harder for secrets and
powerups (I only found a few in all six levels!)
I managed to beat the final Makron with just
5% health left, so be ready...
The special effects in COS3 were great - things
exploding all the time and creating a new path
for you, monsters smashing their way into the
room your in. There was one excellent part where
the doors around you suddenly shut, and looking
at the monitor it reads 'Human captured!'. Then
two Gladiators (and Gunners) open the doors
around you ready to finally stop the carnage
you have caused for them.
The missions objectives were great, you usually
knew where you're supposed to be going (although
I was stumped a couple of times). I especially
loved one small mission where you need to find
four power cubes (or something like that), then
plant them each next to two huge guns blasting
human spaceships away. Then you must run for
it as they each blow up!
To sum it all up, this was an extraodinary set
of levels, one of the best releases I have played.
Design, lighting, architecture and layout were
all brilliant, and I was kept busy for a few
hours on my Strogg killing spree. A great challenging
set that you MUST GET!
