Ging'raa II Cargo Station
Mission Type:
Author:
Post Date:
Download:
Familjen Hall
October 27, 2000
Level Review
Basics
Reviewer:
Overall Score:
Date Reviewed:
Matthew Pate
67 / 100
April 27, 2001
Design:
Dynamics:
Experience:
70 / 100
69 / 100
65 / 100
First Impressions
Another speedy review, eh? Anyhow, the author included some neat background information in the readme, but it was a little hard to read as it didn't follow the "usual" layout that readmes tend to go by.
Review Screenshot 1
Review Screenshot 2
Design / Visuals
The architecture was solid, I suppose. It was fairly simple architecture and texturing, yet the layout was superb, with the player going up and down and around and through existing areas. There were crates, fences, halls, windows, big areas with AT-STs, and they all seemed connected to one another. Most rooms were boxes, but the way they connected to each other made them seem much more interesting. Taking this one step further and having really interesting rooms connected in really interesting ways would create a really interesting level (really!). I suppose the architecture wasn't all that bad, really, when you think about it. Lift shafts jutted out of the wall, with lifts in them, there were walkways along walls, and stuff poking out of walls (textured like a TIE Fighter). It just wasn't great, that's all. But nothing that was an eye-sore. The texturing in some places was a little questionable, as there was some sort of embedded stone in one room, then computer machinery in the next, which made it look a little abrupt. I must admit I'm not one of those people that notices texturing all that much so something has to be really bad for me to notice it. Not that I'm saying it was bad here. Most of it I didn't notice. But I did notice the bits that mismatched. No noticable mis-stitches, though, which is always a plus. Again, nothing really terrible, but nothing overly great. This is really starting to be the story of this level, isn't it?
Dynamics / Interactivity
There was a decent supply of enemies around, and one of the rooms off the initial T-junction is packed with AT-STs and stormies, but there were just enough powerups to balance it. Although, the idea was they were trying to capture you, so you spend the first few seconds after exiting your starting room fleeing the Imperial Might. Good stuff. The enemies were placed in sneaky places (though there were no Fan-Rodians, unfortunately) like behind a lift in the dark, so when you walked away after getting off an Imperial shot you in the back like Imperials are prone to do. There was lots of Imperial action, and a bit of Grans on the side. There were also some sneaky civilians located around and abouts, generally in my line of fire. Thus, I didn't get to use my Jedi powers much, as my force kept being taken from me by the evil JK gods. There weren't really any major enhancements. There were some neat COGs like doors/lifts and other such things. There was lots of stuff to shoot, though that isn't really an enhancement, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Really, I can't stress enough that the enemy and item placement were really nice. It, uh, well, shines in this department...no! I won't do it! I'm not going to do a "light in my eyes" joke! Nooo!
Playing Experience / Atmosphere
Lighting was good, with dark areas for people to shoot from, and you to shoot back into (and get all those pesky civilians - damn they're pesky!). The level succeeded at feeling like a crampy space station and had lots of stuff to shoot at, which is good. Technically pretty much perfect, barring a HOM and an adjoin set to GEO 4, which could have been seen and fixed had the level been tested more. Framerate was high on my PIII-500 and I suspect it would be great on any machine that can run JK at all.
Review Screenshot 3
Review Screenshot 4
Final Thoughts
An above average level that should provide you with 15 minutes of fun, and although there isn't all that much story/plot progression, you get to shoot lots of stuff!
Design:
Dynamics:
Experience:
70 / 100
69 / 100
65 / 100
Overall:
67