My one qualm with the plotline (it was pretty sound otherwise) is the dark trooper bit. It seems a little too superficial or tacked on. Furthermore, since the author calls it a "new stormtrooper" I have to assume that this takes place in the beginning of the events surrounding Dark Forces. At that time, however, Kyle knows nothing about the Dark Troopers. In fact, he doesn't even know they exist until Tak Base. Therefore, it ruins the established plot in DF, and it would have been better had the author simply left the DT's out. The fact that the author used Hoth as his setting left me a bit concerned as well since the timeline the author chose is between ANH and ESB. Then again, it is possible to squeeze in a secret Imperial base on Hoth without disrupting the events in ESB. After all, Hoth may not be a big planet, but it's not small either.

I have often found that in DF level consisting of both indoor and outdoor architecture, most authors tend to master one and skimp out on the other. Sure there is the occasional one that excels on both aspects- "TIE Defender Base" and "Dark Prelude" are two- but most only excel on one aspect if any at all. Such levels that have amazing exterior architecture but poor indoor architecture are "Power Station Zeta", "Black Sun", the second level in the "Hoerby Trilogy", and "Beyond Glory." Well, today I found another one, "Hidden Enemies." Exterior architecture was very well done. The author has a good eye for elevation and depth because there are some really good looking cliffs and canyons in this level. The ice stairs are a little too man-made for my liking, but that's about it. Unfortunately, most of the level is set within the imperial base, and it doesn't quite seem to equal the exterior scenes in architectural detail. Most of the base was your typical 90 degree cubic rooms and rectangular hallways. This makes for boring and uninteresting play. I cannot stress how important detail can be, and how good use of detail can really help bring out a levels atmosphere (not to mention its replay value). Textures were overused and repeated over and over. At times it seemed that entire rooms were composed of one texture. However, I did notice one thing: When the author varied the lighting in certain rooms (like the security room), the repetitive textures didn't seem as bad or, at the very least, as noticeable. The good use of shadows made the level seem more real and helped take the edge off the repetitive wallpapering job that the author did. I hope other authors take note of this because it doesn't just apply to this level.

Of course, even the best architecture cannot save a level if the dynamics and experience are so poor that the player is overwhelmed. Case in point, this level suffers from similar circumstances. There are simply too many enemies in this level. There are tons of stormtroopers and aliens (more on that later) in this level. Certain areas contain multiple Trandoshans mixed with Grans, Gammoreans, and the occasional imperial thrown in for good measure. Mines litter the outside areas, even the beginning parts where you barely have enough health to ward off the mobile enemies. Enemy generators are also placed around the level, adding to the difficulty. Can it be worse? The answer is yes because I'm talking about the "easy" difficulty setting. For the suicidal, there is a "hard" setting. I can't beat it on hard. However, this due to the sheer number of enemies then any cleverness by the author. This is perhaps the first DF level where I died because five Trandoshans fired on me at once at the same time as a mine blew me off a precipice. Now you might think that because of the number of enemies, the author would include lots of shields and health packs. Not true. From the beginning I was constantly on the brink of death. If you play conservative, there's enough shields to get through on easy. If the author just wanted to make it difficult, then he succeeded. However, there are other ways to make a level challenging without having to add enormous amounts of enemies. On a different note, one thing you might notice when you view the text file is that there isn't anything new to the level. However, this doesn't mean that the level doesn't have anything to offer as far as features or enhancements go. While there might not be anything new, there are some features that separate this level from the average one. Such features include a tram, an alarm switch (has to be deactivated), and some hidden elevators. Now, none of this might seem new or shocking, but it certainly doesn't hurt the level. In fact, it helps take some of the edge off the poor enemy and item placement.

Earlier I said that the author implemented differences in the lighting (and shading) to help bring out the level's atmosphere. Well, it's true. The lighting that the author uses really helps bring about a certain coldness in the level (hey, it is Hoth). My only wish is that the author could have been more consistent. There were several opportunities (i.e. rooms) that he failed to capitalize on, and therefore left them with one degree of light. The final pit, for example, had several places where the author could have added shadow to help the mood. Unfortunately, the whole thing was left in one degree of light. Realistically, there were several problems. For one thing, I never understood what possessed the author to add aliens (Grans, Gammoreans, and Trandoshans) to this level. This is supposed to be a secret imperial base, but I counted more aliens then imperials. It's bad enough when there are any in this type of situation, but to have them make up the majority of enemies... is too much. Also, I have a problem with Kyle single-handedly killing the important leaders of the empire. Its one thing to take out one or two, but I think I slaughtered about twelve. Maybe if some of them escaped, the level could have been more interesting. Perhaps even a sequel could have been made with the opportunity for the author to correct some of the mistakes here. Gameplay, was smooth for the most part. Some of the larger exterior scenes might slow-down some of the older Pentiums (addressing those who haven't upgraded yet). One thing I did like about the level was the fact the it was free of bugs. I didn't find any places where I experienced HOMing or clipping or a computer lock-up. One thing the author did forget though was beta testers. Even if there weren't any bugs to catch, I'm sure they could have helped the author with some of the levels other problems.

Despite all of my complaining and bashing, this isn't a bad level. In fact there are some spots that are quite good. Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good in this case. If you want to try it out to see if you can beat it on hard without losing all of your lives, then go ahead. For the rest of you however, this level might be fun to try once, if you have some free time.