This review has been a long time in coming...sorry! The New Empire: Part 2 is a great level pack. It has tons of interesting features that will keep you happy and give you a great challenge.

The architecture of TNE2 was quite good. There were plenty of details such as pillars, sloped surfaces, consoles, air ducts, rooms with multiple levels, control panels, inset lights, and so on. All of these things kept the level looking interesting and diminished any boxiness that there may have been. In addition, many areas were varied in shape, and had ramps leading up and down even in the same room. This helped to create a more three dimensional feel, which is not something every level has. Unfortunately, most areas fell into one of two categories: cramped, or way too big. A lot of the hallways and side rooms suffered from the former, while both the giant area with the conveyer belts as well as the water tank thing in the beginning were quite massive, but had virtually nothing in them. More details and a little less size would have spiced them up a bit more. In a few areas, I was quite disappointed by the fact that I spotted HOM...and a LOT of it. The only other problem I had was that multiple floors in one area were carbon copies of one another, and it was really dull and repetitive going through them. On the bright side, texturing was quite decent. There was a pretty nice variety, and there was only a moderate amount of stitching errors. I thought the selections suited the setting perfectly, which was a major plus. On the whole, the level looked pretty nice.

Enemy placement was both good and bad. The enemies were often placed well, given a slight advantage over you to increase their effectiveness. However, they were sometimes packed together in overwhelming numbers and were rather difficult to defeat. It was a nice challenge, but some more power ups would have been gratefully accepted. As it was, I was struggling at times to stay alive. The new type of water enemy, shaped in a torpedo-ish form, was absolutely ludicrous. It took so many hits to kill, but it had no trouble ripping you to shreds. It was a negative aspect of TNE2. I enjoyed the stormies that were toting new weapons, and there were some scientist geeks in a lab. Unfortunately for them, they suffered from either CCS, or OSE. (Cardboard Cape Syndrome and Over-Starching Errors, respectively.) There was also a great new type of flying droid, only able to be destroyed with explosive weapons. All in all, enemy and item placement were pretty decent, but could have been a little better. But, aaaahhhh! get that light out of my eye! (Sorry if I stole that from you Emambu!) Enhancements are where this level really shines. To start off with, there was a high quality cutscene in the beginning. At first it was a bit boring and rather ugly, but then it was packed full of exciting action. I'll let you watch it for yourself though. I was happy to note that the mouths moved in the cutscenes; you don't see this level of detail too often. There were a few interluding cutscenes, and they were very good as well. In addition, there were all the new enemies that I mentioned, as well as neat things like exploding doors and grates, conveyor belts, forcefields, and a prisoner-suit skin for Kyle. My absolute favorite enhancement, possibly of all time, was the disco bar equipped with a jukebox. You could change the song, and it was really funny and enjoyable. A major plus! I'll let you experience the rest of the new enhancements on your own so I don't ruin the excitement of anything else...

The atmosphere of TNE2 was great. Although the lighting was not really that spectacular, it was decent. There was some use of shadowing, some color, some dim areas, and so on. The gameplay was very interesting. You had to find different routes around obstacles such as locked doors and giant chasms, whether it be crawling through vents, swimming, or shimmying across beams. The objectives were functional and decently entertaining, although at times it seemed a little key huntish. Not too bad though.

Overall, this was an excellent level pack, download NOW! Make sure you visit the disco bar too, that was one of the best parts. I'm sure you'll have to find your way in there for some reason though...hint, hint.