Hello again, AMC community and developers! It’s been a while, and I wanted to apologize for the ridiculous gap between my feedback posts. Up until a few days ago, I’d been without a computer for a few months, and I didn’t relish the thought of typing up my textbook-length posts on my phone. I’ve got myself a new laptop to work with, however, and I intend to finish providing my episode 2 feedback, come hell or high water! It’s good to be back on the AMC forums.
So, without further ado, time to pick up where I left off: discussing my impressions of The Wharf, Oil Rig, and Island Facility!
The Wharf: For quite some time, I’d honestly list the Wharf as my favorite level in the entire TC. I think it may have been surpassed by Arsia Mons or Zeta Base in my YouTube playthrough, but I still consider it to be an absolutely fantastic level that offers quite a different tone than most of the levels in the TC.
From an aesthetic viewpoints, the level holds up incredibly well. As soon as you step off the train from Big Trouble in China, it immediately hits you that The Wharf is going to be a hell of a lot different in tone than BTIC was. Set on a dark fishing wharf infested by Triad and Yakuza, the level mainly delivers in terms of atmosphere. The moody rainstorm, the lighthouse and other glows in the distance, the darkened corners of the architecture and sense of isolation - they all give The Wharf this eerie, mysterious tone, compelling you to explore this seemingly quiet yet silently teeming ghost town. It’s a complete break away from the fast paced, in-your-face action of BTIC, where you felt like an agent raiding a building filled with thugs; in the Wharf, the name of the game lies in exploration and finding your way through this dark and gloomy pier, constantly awaiting an ambush around every corner. The musical choice for this level fits well with the tone; it manages to sound mournful, dark, and mysterious all at once, and contribute to the mood you’ll be in as you explore the dark corners of the pier.
The Wharf primarily consists of three main sections - the opening on the wharf, consisting of a fishing store, laundromat, pier, herb store, and restaurant; the second, containing a construction site, temple/shrine, storage facility, and run-down tunnel; and the third, consisting of a forest, pier, underwater wrecks, and an interconnecting series of buildings, ranging from restaurants to living quarters and stores. In all 3 areas, the level showcases a lot of the cultural and architectural authenticity exhibited in BTIC, as well as in many other areas of the TC. The level’s design is mostly linear in how you approach these sections, but there are some branching paths and side locales, as well as a bit of backtracking. The first section section primarily focuses on combating Triads and Rippers in the outdoor mall area and interior of the restaurant and herb store, with some exploration in the other structures (fishing store, side rooms of the restaurant, etc.) The second section is much more exploration-focused, with only a few firefights with some new foes (namely, wasp drones and those strange giant green hulks), as well as a challenging and stimulating drive past the destroyed cars and laser tripwires in the ruined tunnel. Finally, the third area is a mix of the two styles; there are sections of moody exploration, such as in the forest area and the underwater shipwrecks, as well as intense firefights against Guardians, Triads, Yakuzas, and Rippers combined. Overall, the Wharf manages to constantly feel varied and exciting to explore and fight through whilst maintaining that atmosphere of eerieness and tension.
Highlights in the opening area lie in the interior design of most of the buildings. The fishing store, laundromat, and restaurant, in particular, while fairly small in design, pack a lot of attention to detail and give off a strange, tangible vibe. They’re abandoned and quaint-looking, but they have an almost cozy feeling to them; you feel welcomed into their interiors, to take shelter from the rain and take in all the little details that contribute to their atmosphere and design. Definite props to the restaurant area, with its several side rooms - bathrooms and corridors, etc. - as well as the added dialogue for when you try to get James to eat a piece of sushi. I admittedly got quite a chuckle out of that. The only parts of this section I wasn’t a huge fan of were the storage room in the restaurant and the herb store. The storage room is a little too dark, and the means of progression - interacting with a 10ft stack of crates to move them out of the way of a grate - is a little unintuitive. And the interior of the herb store feels a little uninspired; the fight with the Yakuzas and Rippers is fun, but it mostly just consists of sameish looking shelves pasted in regular intervals to the exit door. Just a few minor details - lights, interior decor, a slightly more varied room layout - would give this one room a pleasant aesthetic kick.
Moving on to the second area, the dark atmosphere present throughout the level reaches a peak here, perhaps matched only by the underwater exploration. Whenever I think of the Wharf, this is honestly the part of the map that first comes to mind. The storage room containing the power for the tunnel door has a interior design that reminds me of some of Shadow Warrior 2013’s interior factory areas, which was interesting. All 3 of the areas in this section had some feature that made it appealing to explore - the candlelit temple has an tangible eerie vibe and some great firefights, and the construction area felt well laid out and realistic, with the support beams of the building and the various accessible sub rooms (porta potties, foreman’s office, etc.) Again, the use of the computer terminals to divulge secret mission information is an excellent gimmick that challenges the player to thoroughly explore the level for the floppy disk & password, although I wish that more methods were used to discover these missions. My only issues with the construction site lie in the relative oversimplicity of the construction framework’s design, and the firefight with the wasp drones. They’re an interesting and unique foe, and it’s such a cool feeling to fight a voxel-based enemy in a game running on the build engine; at the same time, they’re really hard to see in the rain (and in most other levels, to be honest), which can make fighting them in the rain on top of the construction site a real pain in the ass. I’d ask for a larger hitbox/more visible voxel in order to keep these enemies from being too annoying. The tunnel driving sequence was also quite enjoyable, and added some more variety to the Wharf’s core gameplay. My only issue with it lay in how tight some of the curves were, which made it impossible to react in time to the sudden appearance of a set of laser tripwires.
The third area definitely shifts the focus a bit more back to combat; right after the awesome motorcycle jump, you get ambushed by a nasty squad of Triads. I find it quite fun to use my motorcycle as cover as I pick them off from a distance
The diversion in the forest is a nice idea, but it needs some work to make it feel more interesting / rewarding. Where it stands, the relative narrowness of the forest makes it feel more like a tree-filled corridor, and there’s only one path that leads to a weapons cache. It’s decent, but you’re assaulted by Rippers immediately afterwards, which takes some of the wind out of the relatively small prize’s sails. I’d suggest fleshing out this area a little more, with a few branching paths and some other hidden caches, so that it’s a little more memorable. Maybe place a keycard in there, to encourage its exploration?
The pier area, consisting of a boardwalk flanked by a series of interconnecting buildings, boats, and shipwrecks on the ocean floor, had some intense and memorable firefights; picking off Guardians with my LR300 by looking for the glow of their red eyes was definitely a high point. I also really enjoy the reward for exploring the ocean floor. You get a fire shield, and a rope that allows you to directly rappel to the construction site after you’ve gotten the keycard for the laundromat! That’s rewarding level design, and it makes up somewhat for the overdarkness of the ocean. Don’t get me wrong; it definitely feels like I’m exploring the depths in the dark of a stormy night, but any area of the game that on base brightness settings I need to rely on the map to explore, I consider too dark. Also, fantastic placement on the crossbow weapon; I didn’t even get it on my first playthrough, and only learned of it by browsing the forums! It’s why I keep coming back to the TC; there are always new secrets I’m exploring and discovering. The connecting buildings were also interesting to explore; by this point, I’m usually pretty beat up and scrounging for health supplies, so the combat in these sections felt intense. My only issue is that the designs of these buildings, specifically the restaurant, feel a little sameish from the ones in the first section by the laundromat. Perhaps some new building layouts would make this part of the level feel significantly more memorable.
Finally, the level wraps up with a brief backtrack to the laundromat, where the AMC Team discovers the coordinates of a new target: the offshore island facility. Again, the decision to either segue straight into Island Facility, or to return to base to heal, switch characters and equipment, etc. is commendable. Honestly, more levels in the TC should use it, as they appeal to several playstyles - it appeases players who want to play the levels in rapid succession, as well as those who’d maybe want to head back to base to change characters or knock off some EDF missions. The cutscene on the boat was also very nice; the effect of the Aurora Borealis was a little underwhelming, and it felt weird listening to the ordinarily brazen and outspoken characters such as James share a more reflective moment (some cheesy dialogue, for sure) but it’s a solid wrap up to an excellent level, nonetheless.
Overall, the Wharf just kicks ass. Its theme and tone are consistent throughout the level, the balance between exploration and gunplay is super varied, and it just has a memorable something to it that keeps me coming back to it more than most other TC levels. .
Oil Rig: Let’s get this out of the way first: this is an incredibly memorable and atmospheric bonus level, keeping the tone of Episode 2’s Hong Kong segment while simultaneously offering a unique and unexpected environment to explore. However, it’s not without its quirks, which make Oil Rig a sometimes frustrating, but still enjoyable, bonus level.
The first things that hit me about this level were its compact size and aesthetic. Oil Rig is dense and open ended, yet highly compacted and misleadingly complex. There are various interior areas, high climbs to cranes and scaffolding, shipping crates to traverse, and the wave-rocked underbelly of the rig itself. All of these areas are well designed, all maintaining that mood of being isolated in a derelict, hostile structure. It’s got a great feel of authenticity to it, even more so than the realistic structures we saw in The Wharf and BTIC. Additionally adding to the atmosphere are the rainstorm, skybox, and lightning effects. It’s incredibly well done; few games properly achieve the tone of a gargantuan rainstorm, so the fact that you guys pulled it off in a freaking Build Engine game is commendable. There’s just one issue; the rainstorm seems to take a serious toll on performance. Looking back on my YouTube recording, my FPS definitely dipped below 20 in a few areas whilst staring out at the rain effects. It’s super impressive aesthetically, but overall, I’d recommend toning down the density of the effect for the sake of smoother and more responsive gameplay (FPS drops always are more noticeable than pretty visuals, IMO).
Oil Rig’s gameplay isn’t anything we haven’t experienced up this point, but its relatively short length and marked variety make up for this fairly well. Highlights include the mix of up long-range and up close battles with the Yakuza (using the flamethrower as Micky in the interior section is just wicked awesome) as well as some fairly straightforward level exploration (strengthened by viewing other detailed areas of the ship, such as the cranes & the underside) and keycard hunting. A couple sections I didn’t particularly enjoy: the battle with the wasp drones on top of the crane, and the platforming across the broken ship pieces on the rig’s underbelly. In the former example, the rain effects dropped my FPS down to about 20-30, making the drones rather annoying to fight. These effects also served to make the drones more difficult than usual to see. And lastly, the relatively cramped combat area means that if they choose to use their rockets, there probably isn’t a lot that can be done to avoid them. And as for the platforming section on the bottom of the ship: the wave mechanic looks good, is pulled off fairly well, and is pretty damn unique. But the platforming itself wasn’t all that great. I’d recommend toning down the distance between the jumps. I just found myself (off camera; I edited my excessive screw-ups out) plunging into the water when I was making a running start, or missing the other platform by a hair, leading me to save-scum after pretty much every jump. Not my favorite platforming section, admittedly. The drowning animation was pretty cool, but even it can get a little old when you’ve had to endure it 15-odd times during a single platforming section. However, this area was redeemed with an intense firefight against the Yakuza that spawn when you pick up the keycard. Very well placed AK-103 encourages the player to snipe out those jerks from a distance.
And finally, Oil Rig ultimately ends on a high note because of the rewards it provides the players (outside, of course, of just the experience of the level itself). Being able to blow up those powersuits is a nifty little feature that, in turn, makes one section on Island Facility significantly more manageable. This is definitely a big plus and a cool advantage; however, if you’re transitioning straight to Island Facility from the Wharf, you’ll already have played through Island Facility before Oil Rig, and won’t be able to reap the benefits of destroying the power suits. Of course, you can travel back from the Wharf after the level ends instead of getting on the boat, but then you miss the cool cutscene that plays when you transition straight to Island Facility. Ultimately, here’s my suggestion: Have “The Wharf” be unlocked in City Under Siege, and have “Repent Base” unlocked in The Wharf. That way, players can beat City Under Siege, play Oil Rig & destroy the power suits, and view the cutscene in transition to Island Facility.
The other awesome reward lies in rescuing Liz, who supplies you with new weapon upgrades! While not as cool as the new guns from Matvei, her presence is still a reward you can continue to appreciate (she appears next to the upgrade salesman), and her weapon upgrades are often pretty cool. Of note, I remember the M16 Masterkey shotgun becoming an absolute killing monstrosity because of her upgrades. And finally, we get our hands on Zaxtor’s Super Galil; the weapon’s launcher may be bugged, but it’s beautifully designed and a blast to use. It’s always enjoyable to put time into an extra level and receive cool and meaningful rewards, so props to you guys. Overall, a solid level, not without its frustrations, but definitely delivering in terms of gratifications.
Island Facility: In my eyes, Island Facility primarily represents a combination of the large scale exploration and level diversity encountered in The Wharf and the intense firefights experienced in BTIC, with several standout experiences encountered during the level, and a boss battle thrown in at the end. While I’d overall rank it slightly slower than the those two maps (and slightly higher than Oil Rig) in terms of enjoyability and atmosphere, Island Facility is an incredibly cool map in its own right, and one that I often view as it a representation of many of the best features included in the AMC TC.
When your character steps off that boat (or jet, depending on if you decided to return to base), the first thing that tends to strike you is the sense of the environment’s scale, and ominous feeling of infiltrating the “belly of the beast”, so to speak. You’re surrounded by towering cliffs, and you can see the dark and imperious silhouette of the facility itself nearby, rising above you. The red sky and overhead clouds (another excellent skybox effect), combined with the facility itself, really give you the vibe that shit is about to go down. For the most part, the interior design of the facility itself is well designed, but isn’t quite as memorable as most of the outdoor areas (which benefit largely from the sense of scale they have, allowing you to view other areas you will soon explore). They’re not bad, but they give off that “generic video-game factory” vibe (if that’s a thing; pardon if I’m speaking out of my ass) and are a little too familiar to some of the interior areas explored in the original Shadow Warrior. Standout interior areas include the reactor room, the storage rooms (i.e., the one containing the mini-nuke, and the one containing the powersuit), the early “reception areas”, the room in which the player battles the armored mech bosses, and the wasp drone assembly room containing James’s KSG 12 shotty. These areas benefit from tighter attention to detail and varied architecture when compared to some of the indoor hallways & a few of the outdoor areas. None of the level’s design is bland in any sense of the word, but there were a few sections that felt a bit more along the lines of level filler.
Where Island Facility really shines in terms of its gameplay is the white-knuckle combat and variety. Blasting Triads, Yakuzas, and Rippers in close quarters, battling powersuits with tanks and armored boats, and duking it out with the two mech suits using any available AP weaponry… these were all exciting and intense moments that really allow for Island Facility to stick out well in my mind. In terms of balancing, there are only a few moments that could use some tweaking. The first outdoor battle with the Yakuza (there’s a watchtower with one of them in it, I recall) is kind of a pain in the behind if you didn’t bring a long range weapon. Players transitioning from The Wharf will be well stocked and just fine, but if you’re jumping straight into Island Facility, you’ll have to try to pick off Yakuzas a good distance away with just your pistols and a shotgun (as well as your temp weapon, but it might not be suited for long range.) This can be arduous, as well as a health and ammo sink. As for the armored mechs… they offer some serious offensive firepower, and are a great fight (even if they’re the same as Proktor Vilmos’s mech from The Revolution) for SOME characters. With James, however? Load up AP slugs in your XM8, and drop those punks in a rather underwhelming 30 seconds. For the sake of rebalancing and improving the fight’s memorability, I’d suggest either reducing the effectiveness / limiting the ammo provided for weapons like James’s XM8 altfire, or increase the boss’s health pool & add some more attacks (Cycloid Emperor lasers, perhaps?)
In terms of exploration, the level is also fairly solid. It can be confusing on a first time playthrough, but the keycards aren’t a nightmare to find, the footwork/backtracking involved is large but generally still interesting, and there are rewards for those willing to deviate from the main path (James’s shotgun, the mini-nuke, etc.) The most memorable sections for me definitely lie in both vehicle sections, and the area immediately following the tank section which contained the reactor core. I’d say that the boat section is a bit underdeveloped: driving off the cliff into the water was exciting, but it’s pretty much just a straight and uneventful shot to the intense battle against the powersuit in the docking area. Some other obstacles (mines, other boats [?!]) could definitely flesh this area out. The tank section is incredibly intense, and a blast; you simultaneously get that powerhouse feeling when steamrolling squads of Yakuzas and the big green bastards, as well as the white-knuckle battles against the powersuits and wasp drones that really force you to focus-fire and attempt to dodge their projectiles. The outdoor area you explore is a bit flat - it needs to accommodate for a tank, understandably, but a few added details, such as plants, outdoor decorations, and building exteriors along the road would flesh this section out, in my opinion. And of course, using the mininuke against the powersuits was just so damn satisfying. I never really found many opportunities to use them in Shadow Warrior, but to one-shot the powersuits with it in this level felt quite empowering, and provided an alternative solution to players who get their tank heavily damaged.
Island Facility also packs quite few memorable setpieces and surprise moments. For example, the Yakuza boss appearing at the end of the walkway, only escape your grasp and ambush you with troops; the TNT-rigged dojo (admittedly, the structure felt out of place, but it’s still quite a cool moment, though the fact that the Yakuza boss’s trap allows you to access the lair of the mechs is a little silly); and the glass shattering after the mech fight, causing the room to flood. The latter definitely takes the cake here; I distinctly remember thinking to myself “Oh no” when I saw the glass cracked, and nearly panicked and drowned when the room flooded. The placement of the oxygen bubbles is quite forgiving, which helps mediate the shock. However, the door leading to the recently seppuku’d (?) boss is pretty easy to miss compared to the goddamn gigantic openings leading outside of the flooded room. My first instinct was to swim for my life; then I encountered the invisible walls, and realized I had to go back. Perhaps a cutscene indicating that a door had opened would prevent other players from making the same mistake
Just a fantastic level, overall. What strikes me about this level is the cathartic feeling you get after completing this level. The tank section and battle with the mechs are some of the most action heavy moments of the Hong Kong segment of Episode 2, and the tone noticeably shifts afterwards. Discovering the corpse of the boss, silently swimming away from the emptied hull of the facility, and the general moody and less intense tone of Tower of Life all serve to contrast from the ridiculous heights of combat you experienced immediately prior. It’s a well-done transition in tone, and it serves to make the incredible moments of this level stick out even more.
Until next time (hopefully not another 4 months)! I’ll be looking at Xuglop Train, Repent Base, and Hidden Dojo then.
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It's a good thing he did though. As you said, special use of the portals for things like that are cool and the TC could use more of them, along with other character-specific mechanics. Part of me still wishes my character could do more than being able to salvage a toolkit 
I mean I'm supposedly the smarted (or at least most extensively educated) character on the team, being the official engineer and scientist. Especially compared to James and his repeated use of would/could/should of haha 
