It's been a while since the
last Quake2 level, in fact it was back in May,
Cranky Steve's Haunted Whorehouse by Jed. Finally,
our next level is again by Jed! The Whorehouse
had alot of potential, but it was just a little
too short. Light, on the other hand, is a mammoth
of a level! Jed intended to do a whole episode,
but instead cut it short. Nevertheless, with
a level with around 170 monsters, Light will
keep you busy for a long time. The level design
is kept fairly simple, with not alot of detail.
Instead it features huge rooms and outdoor areas
with some interesting angles. But what helps
even more are the Ikbase textures, which haven't
really been used in a Q2SP level. They give
Quake2 a very nice fresh look, and have been
used well by Jed.
This level requires the Awakening mod to run,
as it uses the new weapons. I wondered why Jed
would restrict a great level to users who want
to download this mod aswell (some people won't
bother downloading the 2.5mb level and then
the 8mb Awakening mod). But after actually playing
the level, it's fairly obvious - the weapons
are fantastic! This isn't a review of the Awakening
mod though, so I won't go into detail about
the weapons, but they made the level even more
refreshing and unique. The two SP Awakening
levels, The Ruins and The Mines by Eric von
Rothkirch were quite disappointing in that they
only showed off a couple of the new weapons.
Light has them all (almost).
Gameplay was very good. You
are consistently challenged with small and big
enemies. Also where the Whorehouse lacked it's
large enemies, Light definitely wasn't as you
meet three of the bosses.
If I had to be critical somewhere,
I think with all the powerful weapons you gather
up, the ending could have been a bit tougher.
The two most powerful weapons weren't even needed.
Also it's a little plain at times.
Overall, Light was quite a
unique level, different from the usual Quake2
sheep. With its unique textures, new weapons
and a huge layout and design, this is one the
very best levels of 2000.
