#346
Posted 18 April 2019 - 11:03 PM
I'm TDL, and I'm comin' to feed the rest of your back !
(going too far ?)
_LeSang's Pyramid : Before the level begins, we end the main Hub with a fancy teleportation effect. Along with DisBase, Ghost Ship, Chaos Sphere and this level ... Sounds like you guys really love this effect ! Good thing you made them all distinct from one another. Now the level itself. Quite clearly this is THE big reference to Serious Sam with the night setting and the long walkway to the great pyramid at the back. I was actually expecting to have one big invasion à -la Serious Sam, especially with all the arsenal you're given in the starting area, but no in the end. I don't know if I should be glad or disappointed. The starting area looks cool. The night setting is a very nice change and the light effects around the structures on both sides add to the spectacular style of the setting. Also the music is VERY fitting with all those elements along with being fitting for a boss fight. The beginning of the music actually reminds me of that Firework Factory level from Spyro 3 somehow.
Now I REALLY like that thing with LeSang telling you something different depending on what character you're playing as, especially since he alludes to their respective back-stories. Snowfall's an exception for fairly obvious reasons (especially when we know the end). Too bad Highwire doesn't reply to LeSang though. And who the heck is Galbaland for Zaxtor ? It can't be the Evil Emperor right ?
The first corridors in the pyramid are nice. Though it would be nice if the second door could open just like the first one because the switch is kinda unnecessary IMO. Then this huge room. It's very baren but it's a boss room in the end. Though it makes you expect a huge behemoth that will never come. Also right on my first playthrough I was betting that the ceiling of the pyramid would open just like in Serious Sam. It's very easily predictible but it's cool. Now we finally see the corridor from the introductory briefing. And we finally get to face LeSang, it's about time after all we went through.
So he's basically fighting just like the boss in James's mission in Switzerland in Ep2. Despite being more epic it's kinda easy. The room is just sooooo spacious he's very easy to dodge as long as you let some distance. However it all changes when we get teleported. EPICNESS POWER. That huge moon and the space-like setting along with the good color choices on the environement. You really made this boss fight one of the most, if not possibly THE most, EPIC one of the whole game, seriously. Now it's a bit trickier since space is a bit more limited. I notice there is a unique Invincibility power-up on one of the 2 edges of the arena. It's of no use to me due to my knowledge of the characters allowing me to find the ways to end the fight very quickly despite ignoring the enemy spawns but it's cool to see something new. IMO, Merlijn's possibly the character who can benefit the most from the power up, especially if you don't have the Blunderbuss, I would have taken it if I hadn't got the fully upgraded weapon. The spawning of enemies can render the fight tricky but 1_ You've got the artefacts so if you use them you're good to go and 2_ You've got ALL the weapons and the H item so use them too. And there's even a Super Armor and a Sphere. Ending cinematic's cool. I'm glad to see that it's all between Sang and LeSang since this moment really belongs to him only afterall. And it ends peacefully with a nice shot of the desert at dusk with that AMC Transport voxel which I love even more with this cinematic (as if the previous ones hadn't done that already).
Conclusion : Well there's not much to say really. VERY cool aesthetics with the night time and good works on the lighting. A well made boss fight which is distinct from the one I compared it to from Ep2. It's a short but good experience. Though the complain I would have is that the fight is kinda too easy IMO, after everything we've been through to reach it. Like the Serpent God in Ep2 it mostly depends on your character. With Sang and Geoffrey I mauled him down to bits with the H items and the 8th weapons. Pretty sure James's Laser XM-8 will make short work of him as well. Same with Micky's Meson Cannon and 7th weapon. Rusty and Highwire are a bit more difficult due to their weapons but Highwire's Rocket Launcher is devastating, and Rusty's Pulse Rifle clears the field of battle easilly. Merlijn's Blunderbuss with the upgrades is a killing machine. Zaxtor's Plasma Launcher is devastating, his default Devastator clears the field, and the 0th gun is like a 1-enemy smart bomb. For Snowfall I believe simply planting the 0th gun in the middle of the field and using the 8th weapon is engough. So you see in the end it's a bit too easy IMO. I once used the Sphere on my first try but then the Super Armor and Invincibility I never needed them. That's the only complain, otherwise it's a good conclusion to the Egypt levels. Short but epic.
In the WHOLE of Egypt I must say that I really liked the journey. It's extremely long indeed, I sometimes wondered when it would end but the variety and pacing still kept me going, and there are occasions to get lost since it is THE most non-linear mission of the WHOLE game BUT it's just extremely varied, WAY too varied to be boring. Varied in settings, scales, lengths, pacings, aesthetics, gameplays, fighting styles ... VARIETY EVERYWHERE. It may take an eternity to complete compared to Zeta Base but it is an eternity I really enjoyed. It set me on a drive that just kept me pushing farther and farther, it was a big effort stopping the game for other occupations. If I had to take only 3 missions as my utmost favorites than this Egypt mission would clearly be amongst them ! The only complain, which has been recurrant, that I would formulate is a lack of armors in the levels, apart from The Tomb and the Inner Sanctuary. Because the enemies are so hard to fight, the Cobras are bullet hell with splash dammage, the Grey Anubis just keep spamming their axes and the Skorpion Ladies are Plasma Bullet Hell with Heat Seeking Missiles. It's VERY easy to loose all your armor, hence why I kinda wish there were a bit more. For health items however I don't complain, we're regularly supplied in reasonable ammounts and the supply decreases progressively as you're getting fully stuffed out. And lastly this mission is THE ultimate testing ground for your characters' loadouts if you want to create the most ballanced set for each without taking specific missions into account.
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