This is a decent level by Anthony Piggott. I'm sure you'll find that it far surpasses any of his other levels in quality and enjoyment.

The architecture was fairly decent in Birth of a Mercenary I. I found plenty of details like pillars, control panels, crawlspaces, non-box rooms etc. Furthermore, I was very pleased with the use of stairs. Even a few steps leading up to a doorway really made the level more detailed and interesting to look at. The ceilings of some rooms, instead of being simply flat, had a more of a truncated tetrahedron look to them. Gear shelves and pipes in the walls added even more detail to the level. The hallways too, were much better than previous experiences. Instead of merely being long and rectangular, many made multiple turns of less than ninety degrees. All of these things combined to make a pretty nice looking level architecturally. The texturing also was far from terrible. Though there were some textures that seemed to be used an awful lot, the choices all looked like they would appear in an Imperial facility and complimented each other pretty nicely. Another thing that pleased me was the use of elevator "guts" textures on the wall that they ride up. It made it more realistic to have them climbing up a track instead of a blank wall. I did notice some misalignments of textures, but they did not detract from the playing experience very much. To sum it up, a nice job was done on level design.

The enemy placement was quite good. There were not a whole lot of enemies, and they were placed decently to get maximum effect from them. There was seldom more than pair of troopers working in conjunction, creating highly effective placement. Huge masses of troopers did not make the level difficult; it was more the hoarding of power ups. There was not too great an amount of shielding and health, but it was enough to survive. Barely. In a couple of spots, I found myself being extremely cautious because of my hazardous health condition. Fortunately, this shortage of power ups did not annoy me. It simply made the level a little more challenging and enjoyable to succeed at. That's not to say that some more shields wouldn't have made me happy though! I was pleased to see that many of the power ups had shelves and were not merely lying on the ground. Item placement was a little scanty, but well done. The enhancements of Birth of a Mercenary had ups and downs. For instance, there were a lot of cutscenes that were very nicely done, but they dragged on forever! To be frank, I'm getting tired of watching words pop on the screen with no action to watch. Though there was much more action in these than usual, there were still long periods of boredom for me. Other enhancements included a couple new skins, the use of cameras, and the usual assortment of common cogs.

The atmosphere of the level was rather good, but there were a few problems. I found that in some areas, the lighting was absolutely hideous! Two or three shades of colored lighting were mixed into the same area, combining to make a gruesome look. My feeling is that colored lighting is a special resource; use it correctly and artistically, not en masse. It should be used to accent and enhance the look of your architecture, not light rooms completely. After the initial assault of colors, things calmed down a bit and looked much nicer. There wasn't a whole lot of shadowing or illumination change, but things still came off as better than average. It felt like an Imperial base, though the lighting would have made Grand Admiral Thrawn see his lunch again in the beginning, had he conducted a surprise inspection. The gameplay was pretty nice; the frame rate was decent throughout, and the level was pretty fun. There was a little puzzle at the end involving elevators and big doors, albeit a rather simple one. I am pleased however, to see that the author is trying to make up some puzzles for the level.

This is a pretty nice level. I suggest that you download it now and check it out. Trust me, it's a lot better than Vader's Journey!