Citizen Abel was a nice little
level, the sequel was a big improvement, though
it didn't feature much gameplay so I wasn't
as impressed with it as I could have been. Citizen
Abel 3 takes place before both of these, and
it's easily the best yet. It starts off with
Abel being launched towards Stroggos, however
things get out of control and you're left to
fight for yourself. Eventually you make your
way to the Big Gun where the Stroggs are running
the show. Obviously, your plan is to destroy
it.
Citizen Abel 3 is again not your usual Quake2
release. Brendon has further developed and improved
his unique style of not having the typical tough
and fun map, but instead telling a story. This
level reminded me a little of some of Neil Manke's
levels, with that unique perspective. There
are many cutscenes/demos, and many F1 updates.
You can even read the logs from poor dead soldiers.
Level design is also rather
different - Brendon really pushed the idea of
you being on another planet with the stars above
and often darkness all below. When you get on
the Big Gun, you don't want to fall off the
side. Much of it takes place among terrain,
cliffs and destroyed buildings. All was made
very professionally. The only weakness in design
was that lighting was a bit bland at times.
Don't let the fact that it's
20 levels make you think that it's going to
take a long time to complete. There are probably
less than 50 enemies throughout, and the levels
aren't that big. It will take you a while though,
at least an hour. And it's great fun all the
way. This very unique release I really enjoyed
and I hope Brendon continues mapping with other
games (this was his last Q2 release probably).
