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Inter-episode discussion  "past, present and future"

User is offline   Micky C 

  • Honored Donor

#1

So for those who have finished Episode 2. What did you like and not like about it? By extension, what did you think was done better than Episode 1, and what did you think Episode 1 did better?

Is there anything people might like to see in Episode 3?
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User is offline   Jblade 

#2

As Micky said, we're interested in finding out what you thought about the story, plot developments, gameplay, themes .etc .etc This information is fairly important to us, as we haven't received a huge amount of feedback for the TC (apart from bugs :D) so we're not sure what to explicitly try and improve for the next episode.
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User is offline   Lt.Havoc 

#3

Well, for one, the story was interesting but I am not sure if it was well told. For example, James mentions in the Mountain reaches map those pre-cambrian Octobrains but how could he know about that? I mean, did the EDF give them the info based on the UFO wreck? If so that should have been said in a cut scene. It is clear you are building up a new big bad that is even bigger then everything we have seen and that all this you went through in EP2 was small fries compared to what is coming. I am just not sure if that will work out or not because once you are done with that new threat, what is left? you would have to invent a even bigger threat and so on and so forth, so you need to watch out not to end up going too overboard with it. Also, worldbuilding: as said in episode 1 back then, you folks created a vers interesting setting, but sadly its not well explained. I did play through Imagination World but not to the other mods/TCs from the other members so I dont know the background for that. I think it would be interesting if the player could read up on that ingame, by going through a brief history of the world after Duke Nukem 3D or something. it could also be done with flashbacks to expand the characters, their motivations etc.

The levels itself where all very well done and well, very HUGE, almost too huge in some cases (there where points in City under siege where I didnt knew where to go or what to do and Zeta Base is easy to get lost in), some others are just frustration (Zxantors map comes to mind, its made to drive you insane). The Ghost Ship was one of those maps that I am not sure what to think about, one one side I liked the map, until the point it went all Doom/Event Horizon on my ass and tried to mess with me. Zeta base was similar, it was clearly inspired by Doom and similar games/movies and I honestly dont care for Doom style maps where you are basically always suspecting jumpscares at every corner and where the map tries to creep you out. Dont get me wrong, being creeped out is fine, jumpscares are not, but thankfully these are very rare (as pointed out, I do not care for those screaming ghost things, they can go to hell and stay there for all I care). however, despite all of this, the maps where all fantastically done and show what you can do with build these days.

Some of the boss fights felt really challenging, like when you fight the Cycloid emperor or the Battlesuits, some others where push overs like the Snake God in the Shadow Realm and the boss in the Ghost Ship map. Of course there is then the end boss battle and, thats one though fight but you can do it. Somehow the Episode 1 bosses felt more balanced compared to the bosses of Episode 2.

Weapon wise we sure got a lot of new and great stuff. James got a bunch of really neat guns, the LR300 is a excellent choice of a weapon as well as the Kal-Tech Bullpup shotgun, only the Whalter PPk feels a bit like a gimmick weapon, because it doesnt pack that much of a punch and for regular gameplay the FiveSeven makes more sense because of its armor pricing rounds. Sang finally stepped into the 21st century with the FN2000 and the Russian SMG, was about time he got some better guns. Micky sure has a ton of fun weapons even if I am not sure why the new caseless weapon cant penetrate armor (that or the Cyborg Demon things have really thick armor) but the big particle weapon he gets is really nice. Mikko got that sniper rifle I have yet to try out (I also have to check if you can even buy new guns for him) and well, Rusty and Highwire dont get any weapons as you said, a bit sad about that, seeing as there is also room for new weapons.

I really liked the fact that you also can play EDF missions , replay any mission you want and that you also now have to mine resources now even if its a bit unclear why you need those extra facilities and what they all do. It would be interesting to set up offices elsewhere to recruit new people and stuff like that. That is one of the things that I think mikko mentioned in his review, some of the rewards for the extra missions is not always clear, same goes for the extra facilities and the mining.

Also, seeing the Shadow Warrior enemies return and seeing also new enemies like Ninjas and Triad members where really cool. Speaking of it, Hong Kong taken over by Triads and Yakuza? Would that not get the attention of the Chinese seeing as its a special administration zone and the PLA has a special division of some of its best soldiers stationed there? Also, dont forget the People Armed Police, they would sure deploy there to keep the peace and Hong Kong under Chinese rule. Would be nice to see that mentioned in the next episode how the Chinese are about to take back Hong Kong etc. have it as a news article or something.

I will post more feedback soon, there is still the one or other thing I have to do ingame still.
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User is offline   Jblade 

#4

Most of what follows is spoilers, I won't use the tag because it'll make the message a pain to read.
Spoiler

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User is offline   Lt.Havoc 

#5

Okay, lets post the rest of my thoughts and answer your questions:


Spoiler


Also, Mikko and Trenton solaris compete for followers? That cant end well! I think that its a bit much that Mikko has not only a megacorp but also millions of cultists at his disposal. This will lead into trouble I think. Anyway, I really liked the Mars maps, seems like you watched the original total Recall more then once.
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User is offline   Jblade 

#6

Spoiler


This post has been edited by Jblade: 03 April 2015 - 08:50 AM

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User is offline   Lt.Havoc 

#7

I just think the title of the episode is a bit misleading, because the Showdown was on Mars and not in Hong-Kong but I hope we see more Asia themed maps like the Hong-Kong ones, maybe go to Japan or something for a mission or central Asia, there are tons of places the game could take place.
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User is offline   XThX2 

#8

I finished the TC just now and I must say this was a truly unique experience, even more so than Episode 1! This TC makes me wish I still modded for Eduke, it truly does, so that I could help out in the development of the future versions. Here's a review of the sections:
Spoiler


So yes, I've actually tried all the classes on these maps as well. Some feel really left out: Highwire, Zaxtor, Geoffrey and Merlijn. Especially the latter two as they have absolutely no mission specific to them that requires their presence. The first two feel left out from the actual adventure as well. I don't count the abomination of a map of Zaxtor's that only he can play on, that's just not what it should be. IMO, while introducing a new player character is good, you guys should however have paid more attention to the original cast IMO as the latter two have yet to be properly introduced. They don't even have any dialogue, they might as well just not exist! Don't you agree? I think you guys also need to work on this, but I'm sure you already are aware of this.

Overall, I like the mod a lot, best I've played so far and even better than some actual AAA games I've played. Definitely kept me hooked up all this time with many of it's features.

Also, I really really like the voice acting on certain things. Who is the voice actor for the PE soldiers and Magnus? I really felt like they were actual studio recordings and that's quite a good thing. I also like the overall voice acting in this episode, really well done. The only thing I remember that I hate with the voices is the constant play of the "Locked" sounds for some of the classes, this should be a random event. I don't need them to say it's locked to me everytime and it gets quite irritating after a while.

This post has been edited by XThX2: 04 April 2015 - 09:35 AM

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User is offline   Jblade 

#9

Quote

So yes, I've actually tried all the classes on these maps as well. Some feel really left out: Highwire, Zaxtor, Geoffrey and Merlijn. Especially the latter two as they have absolutely no mission specific to them that requires their presence. The first two feel left out from the actual adventure as well. I don't count the abomination of a map of Zaxtor's that only he can play on, that's just not what it should be. IMO, while introducing a new player character is good, you guys should however have paid more attention to the original cast IMO as the latter two have yet to be properly introduced. They don't even have any dialogue, they might as well just not exist! Don't you agree? I think you guys also need to work on this, but I'm sure you already are aware of this.

Not sure what you mean by Zaxtor as he has plenty of new dialogue and equipment in this episode.

Highwire, Geoffrey and Rusty are 'left' out because they've left the community. They still did some VA in the past for the next episode but I can't give them greater inclusion in the TC when they themselves have gone and are no longer around to provide voice acting. It's unfortunate, but this is the reality of the TC. They're not going to be really implemented into the plot anymore, although Rusty at least started one last level which will be his 'send-off' next episode.

I appreciate your comments, I can't say I agree with all of them but thanks for giving us detailed feedback - Micky will be glad to hear you enjoyed his maps.

About the Mars mine map:
Spoiler


About the last boss:
Spoiler


This post has been edited by Jblade: 04 April 2015 - 11:01 AM

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User is offline   XThX2 

#10

View PostJblade, on 04 April 2015 - 11:00 AM, said:

Not sure what you mean by Zaxtor as he has plenty of new dialogue and equipment in this episode.

Highwire, Geoffrey and Rusty are 'left' out because they've left the community. They still did some VA in the past for the next episode but I can't give them greater inclusion in the TC when they themselves have gone and are no longer around to provide voice acting. It's unfortunate, but this is the reality of the TC. They're not going to be really implemented into the plot anymore, although Rusty at least started one last level which will be his 'send-off' next episode.

I appreciate your comments, I can't say I agree with all of them but thanks for giving us detailed feedback - Micky will be glad to hear you enjoyed his maps.

About the Mars mine map:
Spoiler


About the last boss:
Spoiler



I wasn't really aware they left for good, that sucks. Oh well, that explains some things.

What I meant with Zaxtor was that I feel he could use some more "user-friendly" missions to somewhat introduce/explain his stuff more.

Also, what about the voice actors I've mentioned?
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User is offline   Jblade 

#11

General Graves and the Paradigm troops were voiced by Zero X Diamond, who's also the Brutal Doom guy's voice. He did a fantastic job and he's actually joining the team to help us work on Episode 3 :D Magnus was by Marty Kirra of the Doom community, and he did an amazing job as well.

This post has been edited by Jblade: 04 April 2015 - 11:33 AM

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User is offline   Micky C 

  • Honored Donor

#12

Thanks for the detailed replies Lt. Havoc and XThX2. We're definitely going to be making episode 3 (and some WIP levels had already been started for it), but it's difficult to know what we should do with it when the overall feedback on episode 2 has been so low. So we appreciate the time it takes to write those long posts :D

Shadow Realm trivia; the map isn't so much meant to be a map in its own right, rather it's a build-up to the boss battle (i.e a boss map with an extended first bit). People seem to think it's one of the best (or at least best looking maps), but in reality I only spent a relatively small amount of time on it (a few weeks in total IIRC), compared to something like Ghost Ship where I spent much, much longer (and even then James had to come in at the end and finish it off). Then again there was probably a few years' difference between when I started Ghost Ship and Shadow Realm, so a difference in mapping speed is to be expected.

Edit: We're always open to more feedback from anyone, either good or bad :D
We can try to avoid the bad stuff in the next episode if possible. Or maybe fix/reduce any bad stuff in the current episodes if it's feasible.

This post has been edited by Micky C: 04 April 2015 - 04:41 PM

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User is offline   Lt.Havoc 

#13

No problem, I like to give feedback, I did that with episode 1 so I do it with Episode 2 as well. As for the little feedback you folks get: I think its because not a lot of people know that Episode 2 is out maybe? I only saw this by accident because I decided to visit this forum after being away for ages. So far its only here and the ModDB page that announced that the game is out, so my guess is that the word has to be spread around and pointed to these forums to leave feedback, that should maybe help.
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User is offline   Jblade 

#14

View PostLt.Havoc, on 05 April 2015 - 12:27 AM, said:

No problem, I like to give feedback, I did that with episode 1 so I do it with Episode 2 as well. As for the little feedback you folks get: I think its because not a lot of people know that Episode 2 is out maybe? I only saw this by accident because I decided to visit this forum after being away for ages. So far its only here and the ModDB page that announced that the game is out, so my guess is that the word has to be spread around and pointed to these forums to leave feedback, that should maybe help.

I'm not sure why we haven't gotten a post on the Duke4 front page yet, I would of thought this had earned it.
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User is offline   Micky C 

  • Honored Donor

#15

Like I said it's not a matter of not earning/deserving a front page news article, it's just that we haven't submitted one yet :D
At least historically, news on the front page has been moderately user-driven. Probably less so recently since people aren't submitting much stuff.

Considering that there was no article up at release, Terminx said he was going to get Yatta to give us an article when the patch came out. But we might as well write the thing ourselves, unless you want him to just copy and paste the first post in the main thread.

View PostLt.Havoc, on 05 April 2015 - 12:27 AM, said:

No problem, I like to give feedback, I did that with episode 1 so I do it with Episode 2 as well. As for the little feedback you folks get: I think its because not a lot of people know that Episode 2 is out maybe?



Hopefully that's part of the problem. It would definitely be nice to have a public release trailer on youtube that people can also randomly run into. However there also seems to be some kind of attitude in the Duke community these days where people who play the content don't really leave any comments, at least on this forum (not sure how it is over on steam these days). I expected few more posts like "whoa, I just finished level X and moment Y was so cool!" This episode certainly has more set pieces than episode 1.

This post has been edited by Micky C: 05 April 2015 - 01:31 AM

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User is offline   Rhaisher 

#16

Hmmm... :D To be honest... I haven't beaten Episode 2 yet: I'm waiting for a patch: I like to beat the optional missions first in order to obtain budget, buy upgrades, etc. (In short: I'm a completionist) But I've found a few bugs here and there that have pulled me back in my attempt to do so. (The one impeding you to finish 'Ice Station Colossus', for example) Meanwhile, I've gotten back to play the user level 'Zeta Base (Beta)' in EP1 to have an even greater budget to improve everything by the start of EP2 when the patch comes out. :D

Anyway, 'City Under Siege', is one of the best maps I've ever played: I just LOVE big city-themed maps. The part I liked the most? The 'shrinker-booby-trap' (or whathever it's written) section. I freaked when, by accident...
Spoiler


'Big Trouble In Real China' (IIRC, that's how the first Asia-level is called) is awesome as well...
Spoiler


I'm really, really hooked to this game: it's far, far better than most of nowadays games.

Mikko's new voice REALLY fits the character, BTW! It's very cool! :D

Once I beat EP2 I'll post more feedback. I'm feeling the story since IW, so don't worry. :D
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User is offline   Micky C 

  • Honored Donor

#17

Glad you like it so far. You're not playing Zeta Base from the thread James posted a while back are you? There's a new and greatly improved version of Zeta Base included with Episode 2. I'm not sure whether Repent Base has any rewards, but it probably does given that the other secret levels have them.
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User is offline   Jblade 

#18

Here's a patch:

http://forums.duke4....017-patch-v201/

it's not fully 'live' yet as I want to make sure it hasn't messed anything up, once it has that done it'll be uploaded to moddb.

As for Repent - there sort of is, but you have to work for it a little bit.
Spoiler

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User is offline   Lt.Havoc 

#19

How do you even get to Repent Base? I have found that EAF password as well but I didnt see it unlocking any missions. Thats the thing, compared to EP1, I have a really hard time finding all the evidence, I found all but one Evidence in EP1 but only have like a few collected evidence in EP2 and I took time to explore the maps carefully.
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User is offline   Jblade 

#20

View PostLt.Havoc, on 05 April 2015 - 03:50 AM, said:

How do you even get to Repent Base? I have found that EAF password as well but I didnt see it unlocking any missions. Thats the thing, compared to EP1, I have a really hard time finding all the evidence, I found all but one Evidence in EP1 but only have like a few collected evidence in EP2 and I took time to explore the maps carefully.

Spoiler


This post has been edited by Jblade: 05 April 2015 - 04:03 AM

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User is offline   Rhaisher 

#21

Micky C, on 05 April 2015, 01:43 PM, said:

You're not playing Zeta Base from the thread James posted a while back are you? There's a new and greatly improved version of Zeta Base included with Episode 2.


Yeah… I know. But I don't want to spoil myself anything. I'll play it when it becomes selectable in EP2's mission interface. I'm trying the patch James released and report any bug findings in the right thread. :D
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User is offline   Micky C 

  • Honored Donor

#22

Btw does anyone have a particular favorite level? I've heard Shadow Realm mentioned a few times in various places, but I'm sure it's not for everyone.
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User is offline   XThX2 

#23

View PostMicky C, on 08 April 2015 - 02:54 PM, said:

Btw does anyone have a particular favorite level? I've heard Shadow Realm mentioned a few times in various places, but I'm sure it's not for everyone.


I think mine is the Zeta Base and the Hong Kong levels, they are just so amazing. Ghost Ship also comes very close. IMO all of the E2 maps are really fun. The Mars Attack part is still a very greatly introduced part IMO. See, I can't really pick :D
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User is offline   Lt.Havoc 

#24

I really like the Mars Maps as well as the Hong Kong ones, but honestly, this time around I thought the maps where even better then in Ep1.
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User is offline   Jblade 

#25

Cool - I'm much prouder of this Episode than the first one, not to look harshly on it since I still think it's good (it's much better than IW which had really poor level design) so it's good to see people are preferring this one to the previous one.

Any thoughts on the music and soundtrack? I think the Mars section is probably the highlight of the episode personally.
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User is offline   Lt.Havoc 

#26

I became all giddy when I heard the total Recall Theme. Have to say, the soundtrack at times really felt like it was inspired by 80s action movies, like you looked up some New Retro Wave musicians on youtube and asked them if you could use their songs/make songs for the game.
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#27

Personally I didn't find that IW had bad level design and the fact it wasn't innovative doesn't make it bad.

I think it's about time I write a complete feedbakc, I never did that and although I seem to miss that Repent Base level I think I've played enough for it.

And BTW is there a secret level in Ep2 like there was in Ep1 with Doom Disco ?


Now on to it :

First I played Ep1 again directly in Amragedon difficulty in order to be rid of it and I was positively surprised that most maps had had modifications to them, although they're just aesthetic it shows that you didn't do the levels and simply forgot about them so that was neat. I found that the new difficulty was weirdly ballanced though.
Some maps like Megabase were not as hard as I thought they would be but it was still manageable but Disbase was a pain in the fuselage to play through, and I had to do it TWICE because of that bug with the secret exit not counting the level as completed, even though my second play with Mikko went better than my first with Zaxtor it still fellt too harsh whereas the rest was "reasonably very hard".

Not much else to say about Ep1 maps since everything has already been told.

Now I will segment things a bit just to be sure.

Maps :
-----------

_City Under Siege : That was a nice map, it reminded me a bit of the first level of "BNP The Gate" but with more of a spectacular thing to it. Surely I was a bit lost on my first playthrough but using the TabMap helped me unstuck myself. And the fact you have to investigate multiple buildings in the order you want is nice, non-linearity is good when it's not overwhelming and it clearly wasn't here. The ship section was also good, more linear but the setting and atmosphere made up for it. And the backtracking wasn't big enough to make it tedious and the boss fight at the end was also good although having only the enforcer gun kind of makes you feel underpowered against the boss but since more of us have a lot of experience in fighting Cycloid Emperors I guess it's not that much of a bad thing besides we had places and pillars to hide behind which is realy a good idea when indoors like that. As for the escaping I was relieved when I saw that it wasn't punishing, I didn't take long to understand we had to use a ship because I had tested it on the vehicle testing map but even with that I had a small hard time navigating it and fighting enemies with it and despite all that I still made it in time which is why I say it's not punishing in a good way, because you don't explode when running into a pillar that sudenly appears and the timer is large enough for you to fight enemies and escape (personally I don't like leaving enemies behind and I hate it when we are forced to fortunately it is not the case here while it could have been).
As for the cinematics I liked that fact it looked very US movie like but not too much, and the musics were nicely chosen and fitting.

_Showdown in HK : I realy liked that map, my favorite along with "The Wharf", "Island Facility" and the "Oil Rig". I first thought it would look too much like Shadow Warrior, which I personally don't like but that's another debate, and absolutely ALL the fears I had for those themed maps got washed away !! It was fun hearing the enemies say things, theire voices and accent sound not only authentic but I was having fun hearing them ^^ (not much is needed for me). Overall it's a bit like City Undersiege but in a more reasonable way, proving that you don't need spectacular things to have a good map. it looked original (I don't recall seeing something similar in SW or any other Build engine games or mods) and the places we got to are varied and I should say not represented enough, mostly the port looking section and the litlle subway and the train (I liked all the train maps so far, too bad the "Marsian Train" from Ep1 is out though I would have liked to have it back). Difficulty wise it was well balanced, not too hard, not too easy and the level design is clear anough and I didn't get lost one bit, never had to use TabMap and my sense of orientation wasn't called upon despite the relative non-linearity of the map. Obviously I was happily surprised with the "Mission Info" we find (I didn't for the previous level but now I know how) in it and the following map, it's a unique and interessting gameplay mechanic and the old PCs made the sounds we no longer hear these days, you guys made it very good in all of the details !.
The soundtrack was an interessting remix. As much as I don't like SW I actualy kind of liked its first level's music and the soundtrack of that HK map was a good remix of it, never sounding out of place at any time.

_The Fishing Wharf : Another of my favorite maps. A nice and "peaceful" setting and soundtrack, and yet original as well since I say wharfs and ports are "underused" and you guys used it perfectly. Yet again originality is its best asset and that litlle construction site was good as well, I mean it could have just been "You go on top of the frame and get out" NO you can also go in the cabin and the toilet and there's actualy a sub-quest there. The fact we had to use a motor-bike kind of reminded me of IW in the MJ12 facility, but the fact we use it in FPS view makes it easier to drive I'd say since you don't have to manualy turn the camera and the road is easy peasy to navigate and not too long although I'd say the jump at the end should be closer to the tunel because it's a bit hard to make the jump when you want to go back to the port, I often fail the jump and not by much, you should move that slightly more toward the tunnel that would make the jump equally easy in both ways, right now it's extremly easy in one way and kind of hard in the other way. In terms of difficulty I'd say the ballance is maintained. the section in the Sanctuary (keycard) was kind of hard but not too much. Same for when you come back from the bike and want to cross the store again with the purple card, it's so suden that it's a bit hard but at least we are nicely armed in slot 8 and potentially with HE grenades so that's also good in the end.
Finaly the fact you get an extra cinematic when you chose not to go back to base it also a neat detail, too bad Highwire and Geoffrey are absent there it would have been very very neat to have ALL the OCs say theire words there, but I was already happy to see that Zaxtor and Merlijn say things, since Zaxt only said 2 things and Merlijn only 1 in Ep1.

_Island Facility : although my least favorite of the main Asia level it still remains one of my favorite maps of the main episode (I'll talk about the extra missions and EDF later). Yet AGAIN original setting. Although a facility or base is not longer original these days you guys managed to make this one original via its architecture and atmosphere, it doesn't look like any SW map if I recall the LP I saw of it and the musics used in this map were fitting. The section with the tank was good, and also I like the fact we make a REAL use of the "Jet-Boat" as I call it, it wasn't as fun as in IW but I liked the fact we got a chance to use it for real, and it's also usefull in order to go back in some places to check if we missed things; mostly when you have the toolbox in store and actualy know where to use it (I did). This map is also the only time where I use an atomic ammo with the Zilla launcher because of the 2 powersuits in the tank section, in my first playthrough my tank was too damaged for me to have any sort of chance to beat them and survive and as if you guys had thought about that eventuality I had the Zilla launcher and an atomic ammo, decided to test it and was very satisfied with the result and decided that I will ALWAYS use it there (I realy like the fact that it feels as if you guys predicted that situation of the tank being too damaged making us screwed and consequently made it so that we should have the atomic rocket to get us out of trouble, even if you didn't predict it, it realy feels like you did). The boss fight at the end fellt kind of not original I'd say, its setting is, but the fight itself feels like Highwire's Ep1 boss times 3 but at least it's not too hard since we're given enough supplies to handle it without running out of ammo and we have a reasonable ammount of place to take cover. The only thing I didn't like about this map, but that's kind of my fault, is that at the beginning if you manage to climb up the valley thanks to platforming on the trees you actualy end up having tons of place accessible at once and you don't know where to go and in the end that's how I got stuck without the Green access card. I'd say the map could use a small temporary invisible wall there.
Also it would have bee nice to have enemies waiting for you on the dock if you decided to go back to base. You actualy did say that it would be stealthier to use the boat directly but using the flyer results the same while we expect to have more enemies at the beginning. Also doing that pulls you in that mission with very litlle ammo but since you can ask for a supplies drop I suppose it makes up for it, I didn't try it on that map so I can't realy tell, and since it looks like the supplies drop happens arround halfway through maps it looks more like a bonus that gives you more room for innacuracy for the rest of the map than a bonus to help you start the map in better conditions BUT the idea of supplies drop is there, it works fine and although it doesn't make much of a difference (unless you're a poor shot) it's always better to have it than nothing and the fact it has a cost prevents it from being overused.

_Tower Of Life : Another realy good and YET AGAIN original map, actualy I'd say it's the most original one of the entire game along with the Oil Rig and the Hidden Dojo( later talked about). That map makes the Katana REALY usefull since in Ep1 there was no use for it, and it's also a map that fits Merlijn's gameplay as well whereas most maps feel too open to be decently manageable with him. Anyway it has good gameplay, good soundtrack, ballanced difficulty, the backtracking although more present than ever still doesn't feel tedious and if you have a bit of an orentation sense or use the TabMap (I didn't need to) you can manage it with no problem. Realy nothing much to say about this map, apart from the fact that this map is adapted to absolutely every character's gameplay (just like the Pyramid EDF mission). And there's nothing I didn't like about this map.

_Shadow Realm : That map didn't impress me but it is clear that it has a very good and, guess what, original aesthetic. Like an Abyss Dimension gone Asian. Gameplay wise the fact it's more exploration based didn't bother me at all, and although we can be stressed because of having nothing but a sword, which we're not used to unless having played Merlijn a bunch (which I obviously did since he's one of my fav OCs) that map actualy feels like a relief. I mean the previous maps were packed with action both indoors and from far away and in that map we have few enemies althoug in regular succession, and attacks from far away are realy dodgeable and the level design is "simple" and not overwhellming in any way, I mean there's no way you can get lost, your objectives are clear, and personally I wasn't thinking when I played this map and never had to. Even though we have a tough boss fight at the end I liked that this map is like a relieving and original with a good sense of scenery to it. The boss was kind of hard though, I mean those orbitting red skull heads are unavoidable when he sends them on you, personally I never manage to dodge them, and the spinning plateau makes projectile weapons very hard to use, fortunately you are given more than enough ammo to handle it. The only I didn't like is that you actualy lack health items there, surely it's easy not to get hit if you're focused ever so slightly in the first part; but when you face the boss having only a sphere feels like not enough. I'd say you should add at least one more in the arena itself like you did in the Abyss Dimension where we have 2. The difficulty of the boss relies too much on the OCs you're playing as, I did it only with James and Merlijn so far and it was far easier with James and his XM8 than with Merlijn with whom I had the misfortune of testing the Tibetan Warcannon which is extremly hard to use against that boss, the blunderbuss would have been far easier to use (joys of testing new discoveries). Other than that it's another solid map, not part of my favorites but very close to it.


I don't want my post to be too long so I'll end it there and talk about the rest of the main episode maps in a later post, then in another post I'll talk abouth the side maps (including Repent Base which I haven't unlocked yet but I know how to now) and in one last post I'll talk about the new equipment (some of which I still miss) and the enemies as well. I realy want to make my first REAL feedback ever as much complete as possible.

This post has been edited by thedrawliner: 13 April 2015 - 12:33 AM

2

User is offline   Jblade 

#28

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And BTW is there a secret level in Ep2 like there was in Ep1 with Doom Disco ?

Yes, in Loke's map 'Far Mountain Reaches' - there's switches hidden around the place, you need to hit 3 of them to open up an alternate route near the end. I'll give you a hint and say the first one is near the start area :D

Thanks for the detailed feedback! It's good to get some solid info on what you liked and didn't like about it, I'm definitely looking forward to hearing the rest!

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Finaly the fact you get an extra cinematic when you chose not to go back to base it also a neat detail, too bad Highwire and Geoffrey are absent there it would have been very very neat to have ALL the OCs say theire words there, but I was already happy to see that Zaxtor and Merlijn say things, since Zaxt only said 2 things and Merlijn only 1 in Ep1.

Unfortunately Geoffrey, Highwire, and Rusty have moved on from modding and stuff so they weren't available to do voice acting. It's a shame but of course that's part of life, some people just use video games to pass the time in their youth but for others (like me) it's a more serious hobby. I definitely had fun working with them whilst they were around (and they will always remain in the TC as characters for the past episodes) but for future episodes it's time to 'pass the baton' and make way for newer characters.

This post has been edited by Jblade: 13 April 2015 - 01:18 AM

0

User is offline   Micky C 

  • Honored Donor

#29

Yeah thanks thedrawliner that post must have taken a while to type up.

Btw you don't need to take the bike to get back to the boat in The Wharf. It's intended that you take a little shortcut from the end of the dock to the construction site. A rope helps you slide down but otherwise you could probably just jump off.
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#30

Yes I already knew about Geoffrey, Rusty and Highwire, I don't blame anyone for that, as you said that's life, at least their OCs still have a use in the episode, I mean having maps you can play as anyone is still good, otherwise it would have been lame.

Ah so there is a secret level, I actualy don't remember what level "Far Mountain Reach" is though, but I'll remember whenever I'll play it again, I've been playing on Expert in hopes of unlocking the golden guns (at least that's how I suggest they are since we had to do that in Ep1 I suppose it's the same here) so I couldn't realy focus on that but thanks for the hint :D


And Micky thanks because I did find the rope near the construction site but I always thought it was some sort of secret, mostly considering that there realy is a secret just nex to that on the roof and I always found the rope and used it there but I never ever thought of using it as a shortcut ^^;
I use the bike more as a reflex but even now that you told me that I may keep on using the bike because I like it ^^
And actually I found A BUG on that section, on the slopes if you drive at a certain speed without touching anything you end up climbing up the slope to the ceiling and beyond and if you accelerate when going down the slope from that same speed you levitately drive in thin air. (I know it's not the place for that but I'm afraid I would forget it after typing that)
And finaly it took me 40 minutes to type my review and just 3 minutes to re-read for typos but I'm sure I've left some either way :/
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