Overall, these levels were better than their predecessors, but I felt that much more progress could have been made. The episode was actually a collection of eight levels, but I'm going to condense it into one review because they are very similar.

The architecture of the series was rather poor. In nearly all of the outdoor areas, the walls were vertical and bland. There were just lots of big open areas with flat ground and boring walls. The absense of sloped surfaces really detracted from the outdoor look, as well as the lack of good details like ledges and rock formations, etc. There was virtually no eye candy to make anything look interesting. I was pleased, however, to see some sloped, eneven grassy land later on, but on the whole, the outdoor architecture was dull. The indoor architecture wasn't quite as bad, but it was no work of art either. All of the indoor areas had rectangular hallways that turned at right angles. There was some use of sloped surfaces, as seen in the bar in the Gamorrean palace, but it was too limited. To make things more interesting, some 45 degree angles and sloped ceilings, pillars and such should be added. There were a couple of nice flights of stairs, some pillars, sloped ground and a few other minor details, but overall the entire series was blocky and boring, perhaps with the exception of the last level. That one had a lot of icy, uneven tunnels and ground, as well as a few pits and caves. The texturing was fairly decent. In some levels there was an excellent variety, yet in others there were a mere four or five different ones used in the entire level. For example, the ice planet and Sulon were covered with the same textures on the walls and floor, yet in the Gamorrean level, there was a nice variety and good usage. I did see, however, that most of the time they were stitched correctly, despite a couple of mishaps on the ice planet. The biggest problem was consistency; the author did a nice job on certain levels, but others were totally neglected it seemed. More texture variety keeps levels from looking dull and boring, so some of these levels should look into getting a revamp with that in mind.

The enemy placement of the series was questionable. In the first level, you fight stormies, stormies, and more stormies. And after that, some more...well, you get the idea. They were just standing around in the caverns waiting for someone to happen by that they could try to kill. In the third level, all you fight are Gammoreans, and an occasional Mailoc or two. It got really boring running through similar levels, fighting the same enemies in every engagement in the whole mission. There needed to be better variety in enemies, as well as better placement. Instead of standing around, they should be lurking in dark corners, on ledges, in wall niches. Item placement was decent. I'd say for the most part, there were enough powerups. In a few areas, it got a little hairy, but that's the way it should be. I didn't spot too many floating powerups, which is a major plus! A lot of weapons and ammo these days seem to be equipped with mini-repulsorlifts...but back to the review. I had a major problem with the first level. The only things that occupied the level were crates. With the exception of a few trees and the Falcon, all you see are non-stop crates. They're everywhere! Very boring. In later levels, however, the items got a little more interesting. The enhancements of this level series were mediocre. There were cutscenes, but they were incredibly dull; all you do is sit there and watch a stormtrooper scratch his head while text pops up on the screen. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, make cutscenes that actually have some action! Throughout the levels, I noticed a few good enhancements, as well as a lack of some needed ones. There were a few new 3dos, but they didn't make a huge impact. In the ice level, there was a nice power-slashing deal for a forcefield, and the other levels had the usual assortment of common cogs. I noticed some nice flashing lights and scrolling skys, but as I mentioned, some more things were needed. For instance, in the first level, instead of sitting around the stormtroopers should have been out searching, patrolling for you. That's just one of many things you can do with cogs, but it's up to authors to implement interesting things into their levels.

The atmosphere was actually pretty good throughout most of the levels. The lighting was much better than previous encounters. There was good use of shadows to create a spooky mood, for example. You pretty much felt like you were in what each area was supposed to be, though the lack of detail sort of made you wonder a little. Gameplay was a high note for the series. There were a bunch of neat things to do, like swimming through waterways, exploring caves, searching for slash panels, finding ways past locked doors, fighting Kell dragons with your fists (which is not something I'd like to do daily). But anyway, there were some interesting gameplay features that made things relatively enjoyable, but they still didn't make up for the lack of architectural detail.

There was some improvement shown from the previous attack of levels, yet more is needed. There needs to be so much more detail in the architecture, and the texturing could use some more variety. Interesting cogs would help to eliminate the stagnant feel of some of the levels, and better enemy/item placement would make them more enjoyable as well. Download it now, and enjoy yourself when you get knocked out by Bossk...I know I did!