First off, I want you all to abandon the idea that this level is a continuation of the previous one. It's not, or if it is then it is very loosely tied together. I'll be getting into that later though. Secondly, abandon the idea that this level follows the same style as its predecessor. "The Dark Siege," was the poster child for mediocrity in DF editing. Nothing about it was good, and on the flip side nothing about it was truly bad. This level falls into the average category too, maybe slightly higher, although not for the same reasons.

Architecturally, this level is an improvement to the previous one. Though there is still much more that the author can do, I am pleased to see a step forward rather than backward in this area. Exterior scenes no longer look like hallways with rock textures. Now at least, the ground and the walls are broken up and a bit more uneven, giving the area a more natural feel. The small river at the end was a nice touch, and if the author had made the water flowing it could have been even better. Interior scenes, on a whole however, stayed to about the consistency of the previous level. There were some good moments, like the bridge and cargo room on board the ship, but many of the rooms were square and spartan. More detail would really have helped. Little things like control panels, beams, platforms, pillars, etc should not be overlooked. Now, I'd also like to say that the texturing was a step in the right direction, but I can't. Quite frankly, I was disappointed in the texturing overall. First off, you need to make sure that your textures mesh well. I gotta say that some of the rooms, especially towards the end, looked downright ugly. The rock textures inside the cave scenes did not go well with the Imperial base modifications. Compound that with boxy architecture and linear movement, and you've got an entire area that looks flat. Also, it can be unwise to change textures every time you change a scene. Within the span of two minutes I went from a base carved into the rock, to a normal looking base (metallic design), to exterior scenes, and then back to a normal looking base. What you end up with is a patchwork quilt of textures that frustrates the players. And lastly, make sure that your textures are aligned. There were several stitching errors, and a lot of them were in plain view.

Once again, the author continues to prove his talent in level dynamics. Enemy placement was almost perfect. Only one exception kept it from that. The author mixes in a few Trandoshans with the Imperials inside the planetary base. Now, In "The Dark Siege" I didn't make a fuss because the plot mentioned smugglers helping out and they were all confined to one area, which wasn't near of the base's critical points. This time however, there's no mention in the plot and the Trandoshans are much more spread out. There aren't too many of them so it's not a big hassle but it is something the author needs to watch out for. Fortunately, the rest of the placement was dead on. Not only were the Imperials put in believable locations, but they were also off to the side a bit to allow for sneak attacks on the player who isn't careful. The actual number was also good overall. There was one room that had way too many stromtroopers, but other than that I had no problems. Item placement was fair overall. The revive did make things a bit too easy, especially in the beginning, but there aren't a whole lot of shields lying around so it does balance out. However, there are several advanced pieces of weaponry (since this is a weapons base) lying about as well as a good supply of ammo. Ideally, the best difficulty setting is Hard as it counters both the revive and the ammunition, making for balanced play. Enhancements were frequent but not all that complicated. However, they did fit in nicely with the theme of the level to bring about a well-rounded feel. The biggest change comes with the addition of a new weapon: the Devastator. The thing looks pretty nice and it shoots missiles that look a lot like the ones fired from the Assault Cannon. It's too bad that the damage is still equal to what you'd get from firing a Jeron Fusion Cutter. So, the end result is a lot of barking but not much biting. Still, it does look good. Plus the new BM, FME, VOC's, and GMD (music file) certainly help out. The new LFD is a solid addition as well.

Too often in the past, I have opened up this section of the review with something along the lines of, "this is where the level starts to unravel." Unfortunately, this one is no different. Start with the lighting, or should I say lack thereof. Most of the ship is under the same intensity. When you disable the engine room, the lights go out but that's about it. There's no shading by the cargo crates or the beds or anywhere that you'd expect a change in the degree of light. In addition, the lighting is the same both inside the base and outside, which hurts the atmosphere of the level. Look, I know that doing lighting in DF is hard, but it can be done. Does anyone reading this honestly think "Discovery at Ironfort" would have been as good with monotone lighting? What about "Mt. Kurek?" I know this author is capable too because I saw a little bit of variation in his previous level. I had hoped that it would have been carried over. Maybe "Dark Siege III" will be different. Moving on, the level continues to fall apart as both major and minor problems pop up throughout. For instance, the background story that's supposed to tie this level in with the previous one is horrendous. There's one sentence that explains how the weapon you stole from Dentron brought back interesting results. Well... great, care to tell us what they were and how that pertains to this mission? Speaking of this mission, how did Kyle ever find out about Gurutha or that the Storm-12 was scheduled to go there, and how did he manage to breach the ship in the first place? There's no mention of this anywhere. Also, I find it hard to believe that the Imperials would put all of their information on the most devastating weapons in the galaxy, and never make a back-up copy in case the original gets stolen (the plot has us believe that Imperials will no longer be able to create these things without that tape). Maybe I shouldn't be so skeptical. After all, these are the same Imperials that build ships that can be disabled or destroyed with a flip of a switch, and let's not forget the state of the art push-a-button-to-blow-everything-up self destruct mechanism installed in most of their bases too. If you're going to tell a story then at least put some effort into it. The plot is usually the first thing a player sees and it's supposed to convey a sense of purpose to the level. A lackluster and constipated plot with loose ends hanging about will only be detrimental in the end. It's a bad first impression. Semblance was another part that hurt the level's atmosphere. The level is just much too linear. The ship in the first part at least had side rooms to explore, but the base... every room had two entrances: the one you came through, and the one you needed to get to. Every room. Who sets up a base like that? Then there were little realism problems like a TIE fighter stuck in an enclosed room and the only door is five times too small for it to fit through? How did it get there? Also, if you exit the ship and turn around immediately, you'll find yourself staring at a rock wall. Question: If I just exited an Imperial ship, then why am I staring at a rock wall instead of an Imperial ship? It doesn't make any sense. As far as gameplay is concerned, there weren't any outstanding problems. Other than the stitching errors this level is bug free. It also runs nice and smooth on any machine that's able to run DF.

Like its predecessor, this level comes out average despite it being for different reasons. This level has some good parts and some... not so good parts. What the author needs to do now is spend a little more time on the areas he's having trouble with, so he can bring up those faltering scores and produce levels that I know he's capable of. As for this one, it's good for one time through, if you have some free time.