Usually I talk about a level's plot in this segment of the review. However, how hard is it to screw up the plot in a level like this? The only thing I can say was there weren't any plot errors between this level and the part of the movie it's based on. Therefore, I'll take this little segment to say: If you haven't seen Episode 1, then stop reading now unless you want to the ending spoiled for you. You have been warned.

The author does a fairly decent job of depicting the final battle scene in the "Phantom Menace" as far as the architecture is concerned. The arena was large and open, just like the movie. Catwalks were placed at different levels of the room. Pillars of energy vertically stream down at various points in the room. Yes, all in all it was a pretty good re-creation of the final scene. My only gripe was, despite being very large, it just didn't seem to capture the immensity of the room like the movie did. Of course, the author didn't have Industrial Light and Magic helping him, but making the room a bit bigger would have helped. Texturing was a little off. This is one the rare occasion where the same textures would have been acceptable. Alas, the catwalks are different in both color and texture at times. This in turn hurt the realism and atmosphere. Also, there's an unbelievably horrendous stitching error about halfway up one of the walls. It's even noticeable from all the way on the other side of the room.

Not much to talk about here. There are three characters total: Obi Wan, Qui-Gon, and Darth Maul. There are no items at all. If you want to heal yourself you have to use the force. The placement of Darth Maul was good. He was in the center of the room, which gave me enough time to check my bearings before attacking him. Fortunately, there are quite few enhancements for such a short level. The first thing you'll notice are the new cutscenes and WAV's. Then the battle starts. The author does a good job with the Cogging and use of AI's in the level. Qui-Gon fights well and is a big help since Darth Maul's double bladed saber can hit you even when Maul isn't facing you. All the characters are skinned well and look believable. The enhancement that you will probably notice the least are the textures. However, this is only because you will be so busy fighting Maul that you won't have time to really look around.

One of the best parts about this level was how it was able to recapture some of the tension and mood that the movie instilled in us during the final battle. The AI for Darth Maul does a good job at fighting off two attackers despite the fact the double bladed saber did most of the actual work. In fact, if you've mastered Jerec's fighting style then this level won't be that difficult since Maul fights exactly like Jerec. He even sounds like him when he gets hurt. Lighting was average for the most part. In most saber battles that I've played, authors would disregard the lighting completely and focus solely on the fighting. Here, the light is all one degree. However, not only is it light dim, which adds to the mood, but it's set like the lighting in the movie. Most saber battles fall apart with the lighting. Not so here. This level fell apart concerning the realism. Although the plot of the level follows the movie, the actual events are different. For one thing, I managed to beat the level without the loss of Qui-Gon Jinn. Now, everyone who saw the movie knows that he died. What should have been done then? Halfway through the level a cutscene depicting his death would have helped greatly. Also, unlike the movie, I never got to fight Maul in that huge ventilation room beyond the laser fields. Instead, all you get to see is a forcefield that doesn't rotate or tun off. I ended up killing Darth Maul in the big arena with all of the catwalks. Then there's the fact that Qui-Gon, and even Darth Maul, will occasionally fall off the catwalks. This is especially annoying when it happens to Maul because the level is unbeatable if he falls. Now, none of these things are extremely serious alone, but it all adds up. Plus there's one more thing which hurts the level: replay value. I think that this is the bane of all authors who do saber battles. I haven't- yet- played a saber battle that managed to overcome this problem and make the level interesting enough that the player would want to keep it on his hard drive for several weeks or months. Case in point, this level just isn't nearly as fun the second time. Unless you're an ardent fan of saber battles, don't be surprised if you find yourself deleting this level after a few rounds. On the plus side, there weren't any bugs, and my computer never locked-up while playing this. Also, the framerate was high because it's not a big level at all.

As far as saber battles go, it was above average. It has it's share of problems, but that shouldn't stop you from trying it once. Then again, don't be surprised if you find yourself playing it only once.