The Flight Home
Mission Type:
Author:
Post Date:
Download:
Jason Chase
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
Level Review
Basics
Reviewer:
Overall Score:
Date Reviewed:
Emambu
72 / 100
Unknown
Design:
Dynamics:
Experience:
74 / 100
69 / 100
83 / 100
First Impressions
I always try to be optimistic about a plot, but I must admit that I'm getting a bit tired of this particular setup: Kyle has been captured by the Imperials and placed on their ship (which is usually a new form of mass destruction). He somehow manages to fool the Imperials time and time again and escape. Then he goes about and single-handedly destroys or disables the ship. Attention! To all authors! Make your plots unique and interesting. This means: No more "Steal the Death Star Plans", no more "rescue Crix Madine, and no more "New Imperial weapon that captures Kyle who escapes and blows up the ship" routine. Fortunately, there weren't any plot problems that went with the story (other then the fact that Kyle's home planet is Sulon not Sullust). Otherwise, I would have tacked on another 1000 words about the importance of a sound plot. But enough of that. Onto the review!
Review Screenshot 1
Review Screenshot 2
Design / Visuals
To be completely honest, I was skeptical when the mission started. Most authors tend to use Imperial ships as excuses for using boxy architecture. Furthermore, this level is the authors first entry into level editing as a whole (not just DF). The author then went further and apologized for any negative effects that this level might have (something that scared me, especially when it's his first level). With all of these factors, I wasn't expecting much in the way of architectural detail, or architecture, or anything for that matter. Much to my surprise, this level had some scenes where the architecture was really good. Sure, the room that you start out in is a rectangle with almost no detail, and other rooms consisted of a box and a rectangle (the bed); however, if you look carefully, you will see that the author was, indeed, trying. The bridge for example shows that the author, does in fact, know how to construct a room that is architecturally pleasing and detailed realistically. The generator room is also well done. In certain areas the author used the "spider-webbed" windows that the Emperor had in his throne room. This helped give the level an "Imperial" feel, and it instill a certain uneasiness. However, before you start to think that I'm praising this level let me also say that much of this level consisted of boxes with very little detail. Moreover, some rooms didn't seem like rooms that you would find on an imperial ship. Perhaps the biggest problem though, was that the author seemed to add rooms just for the fun of it. This gave the level a slap-stick feel to it, a level without much semblance. Texturing was pretty unimpressive. The author continuously used the same textures over and over again to the point where it got monotonous. Most third-party levels, and even a few LEC levels, have had trouble keeping the texturing varied but in a realistic manner. This is why there is such a fine line between good and bad texturing, and so I wasn't expecting too much from the author (he really stressed over and over that this was his first level). However, that doesn't make the repetitiousness any less disappointing. Still, the textures used were ones that we're used to seeing on a Imperial ship, so that deserves some credit.
Dynamics / Interactivity
Oh, man! Enemy Placement here was absolutely horrendous. The author apologizes for the over-use of enemies (he went further and said that he himself doesn't like frag-fests). However, how hard is it to not add enemies? Also, they were placed without any strategic thought to them. I guess it's just a pet peeve of mine, but if you're going to place enemies then place them realistically. Don't put stormtroopers and officers in the middle of a hallway! Stormtroopers tend to guard doors and other important locations. Officers, when they're not moving from room to room, monitor computer terminals, stations, and other functions that you would expect officers to oversee. Now, unpredictability is one thing. However, random placement is another thing. It's no fun to walk into a room with 20 enemies, and blow them away without any purpose or point. Also for the amount of enemies, I thought that there were not enough items. Don't get me wrong, ammo was plentiful, but shields and health packs were lacking. Most of them were clustered in various rooms, but a few were strewn about in hallways (not something I would expect from Imperials). Enhancements, however, was the levels shining point. New BM's Helped add to the levels over-use of textures. There were also modified 3DO's and a VOC which is supposedly the authors voice. These also add to portions of the level which really would have suffered without them. My favorites were the subtle enhancements that the author used - like the officer in the bathroom holding his...uh, well anyway...
Playing Experience / Atmosphere
Atmosphere was an interesting part of the level. Sometimes, the atmosphere was incredibly tense with some of the things that author makes Kyle do (Like float across a chasm that's been deprived of oxygen). However, where the atmosphere failed to capture me was in the setup and feel of the ship. At parts the level stops looking like an Imperial ship and starts looking like a space station or a depot of some sort. Also, the general setup of the ship didn't look or feel realistic. What happened to the sterile white corridors that we've all grown used to? Again, as stated earlier, most of level felt slapped together without much semblance, which put a damper on the mood the author was able to established strongly from time to time. Mechanics for the most part was well done. The author went out of his way to try and find all of the bugs that were in his level and state them in the text file. However, of them, the only one I noticed was the HOM on the bridge. I have no idea what causes this and neither does the author really. Other then that, the level was bug free without any crashes or lock-ups.
Review Screenshot 3
Review Screenshot 4
Final Thoughts
For a first level, it wasn't too bad. I remember saying something similar to this when I reviewed "Thaku: Rodian Bounty Hunter". However, this level had some new features and twists that made it a lot more interesting then Thaku. If you're into frag-fests then this is the level for you. However, for the rest of you, you might still want to check it out for some of the more subtle enhancements since that's the only other good reason I can think of.
Design:
Dynamics:
Experience:
74 / 100
69 / 100
83 / 100
Overall:
72