ToaM2 is the much anticipated second instalment in the ToaM series, and I'm going to try to write this review with as few comparisons to the rest of BoaM and ToaM as possible, but I'm obviously going to have to compare them with this level in many cases to get my point across. Incidentally, if you don't know what I'm going on about when I refer to the acronyms ToaM and BoaM, you must have been living under a rock for the past two years and you probably wouldn't be reading this anyway. So, is ToaM2 Anthony's best level yet? Read on and find out...

Architecturally, ToaM2 is by far the author's best offering yet. Gone are the boxy hallways that plagued the BoaM series, and in their place are interesting and varied multi-level rooms, relatively natural-looking cliffs and windowed corridors. Basically, the level is split into three distinct parts, each with its own unique style of design, but all of high quality. The first, and shortest, of these sections is a fully authentic creation of the Millennium Falcon's interior. Although amazingly accurate and detailed, it was actually made by two other people, so I'll not dwell on it in this review. The rest of the level sees the player swapping between the other two locations- a brilliant cargo train, and a murky, atmospheric swamp and Hutt Palace. The latter of these is definitely the worst section of the level in terms of architecture, but that's not saying much, since there's still a lot of things worthy of merit. My major gripe about this area was that everything was so massive, often at the expense of detail. For example, although the cliffs in the swamp weren't totally flat, the rivers were so wide and long that the cliffs were inevitably plain and straight. To make them interesting to look at would have caused a serious drop in framerate. If the author had made the rivers much narrower, they would look more realistic, and there would have been scope to cleave out interesting shapes in them. Luckily though, he had the good sense to make curves and turns in the river to maintain at least some realism. The Hutt Palace itself was also a rather boxy affair, again due to its immense size. Granted, a giant, fat slug lives in it, but even he doesn't need a palace THAT big, and the length of the bridge over the water to it was a joke, especially since it had no supports to stop it from falling down. On the plus side, you don't actually spend more than a few minutes in this area, and there are several little details such as a house with an open fireplace and some trees to spice things up a bit. Texturing here also suffered from the sheer size of the area, with very few different textures inevitably repeating over and over, although this didn't actually seem too bad because it was so dark. The palace itself had a single dull brown colour scheme, but in my opinion this worked to its advantage, and made it look foreboding, adding to the atmosphere. The train, however, was a different story entirely. For a start, each area was far smaller and much more detailed, and the texturing was done extremely well too. This detail was no more apparent than in one carriage with a relaxation pool, complete with correctly labelled male and female changing areas- one of my personal favourite things in any level. The detail here even went down to things like pink curtains for the female area and blue ones for the male one. In addition to this, we are treated to an open carriage carrying coal or something similar, a guard's van at the back, a two-levelled control station at the front, and a throne room with a beautifully designed (and satisfyingly smashable) stained glass window. Add to this lots of windows looking out, some parts where the floor was made up of grating, so the track could be seen below, and bedrooms with co-ordinated beds and curtains, and you get the idea of just how detailed and richly textured the train is. It's just a pity there are no more than about ten or fifteen carriages, as I was really enjoying exploring them when I suddenly reached the control cabin at the front.

As we've come to expect from the BoaM and ToaM levels (I said I wouldn't do this, didn't I?), the dynamics of ToaM2 are probably its best asset. Although the level is rather short architecturally, there are plenty of things along the way that slow you down, including a number of original and innovative puzzles and situations (although one of these definitely does the exact opposite of slowing you down). I could explain these in detail, but that would spoil the surprise. Rest assured though, you won't be disappointed in them. Another interesting feature is that Han follows you for most of the swamp section, although he does have the annoying tendency to swap sides and to push you into the water, drowning himself in the process. Better still is the very beginning of the swamp, where Han drives you along in his dinghy, while you fire at well-placed mailocs along the way. Speaking of enemy placement, this was also done very well, with a mixture of old and new enemies placed in prime positions for attack. The mailocs in the swamp were creepy as they flew out of the dark, and although the dinghy was moving much too fast for them to do any real damage it was still fun to take pot-shots at them as I whizzed past. For the rest of the swampy area though, enemy placement was a big letdown- in fact, there were no enemies. I suppose it's better than having grans and the like just sitting around in the swamp, as we see in so many levels, but there could at least have been some creatures to liven things up. Something similar to the cave monsters in ToaM1 would have been ideal. Likewise, item placement was non-existent, but realistically there were so few enemies, there was really no need for any powerups. Again though, the train comes out on top, with lots of interesting guards, and well-placed powerups that aren't just lying around on the floor. Also, ToaM2 is the first ever level to contain Hutts as enemies, and the Gamorreans are even the right colour- well, they may be too bright, but at least they're green and not grey. The Hutts, innovative as they are, were not without their problems. A couple of them were the ordinary brown colour you'd expect, but most of them looked as if they had thrown up on themselves. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Hutts are not pink, yellow and purple. Finally, no review of an "oaM" level would be complete without commenting on the cutscenes. Anthony has a reputation for making some of the best cutscenes in the business, and the ones in ToaM2 are no exception. As usual, there are high quality voices, lip movements and detailed character animations, but it surprised me that there were fewer cutscenes than normal for an "oaM" level, and they were all pretty short, and generally less cinematic than what we've come to expect. In the Falcon at the start, for example, Kyle opens the door of the cockpit, and Han, supposed master of the quick draw, takes several seconds before he bothers to turn around, by which time he could have a smoking hole in the back of his head if it was someone less friendly than Kyle. The humorous animation for Kyle as the ship leaves hyperspace makes up for it though, as you'll find out.

The ongoing story of the "oaM" levels is one their major strong points. ToaM2 picks up where ToaM1 left off, and adds many a twist to what you'd expect, building on the characters of familiar faces such as Fett and Mohc, but also adding new ones to the mix. The cutscenes obviously do most of the storytelling, and the very final one leaves the level on a cliffhanger, but it is a little silly, and it seems as if the author actually wanted it to sound cheesy and funny. In terms of the actual level, it's hard to decide whether the train or swamp is the more atmospheric. The swamp is packed with ambient sounds, and a green tint which adds a sense of mystery to it, but the train actually looks like it's moving, which is particularly effective when you're looking through a window or some grating at the track, and the sounds for the train are all present and correct. Lighting, though, is far better in the swamp, and there is some excellent use of shadow, without the streaking sometimes associated with lighting in JK and MotS. Unfortunately, the train suffers from being fully lit in many places. It is in the day, and I suppose it would be well lit, but some more shadows wouldn't have hurt. Luckily the details of the train should keep you occupied, so I doubt you'll pay much attention to the lighting anyway. ToaM2 was also very stable, and didn't crash on me once. Also, none of the framerate problems associated with ToaM1 were apparent here and I don't remember seeing a single stitching error.

Download ToaM2 now! Seriously, if you've been following the BoaM and ToaM series so far, you'd be stupid not to. Even as a stand-alone level without the ongoing story it's still brilliant. Sure, it's not as engrossing or atmospheric as ToaM1, but the train is one of the best things I've ever seen done in JK or MotS, so it's worth downloading just to explore that. Look hard, and you might even find the star of Behind the Mercenary...