Hey, it's feedback time !
4th level and one of my favorites ^^
Big City :
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Ah the perfect playground ! I say that for the UEPB, that level's super outdoor nature makes it the perfect playground for that weapon, I love that ^^ AND you get an open armory with 2 recharges for it in order to triple the fun
![:rolleyes:](https://forums.duke4.net/public/style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)
Anyway it may not be as big of a city as in other mods that I witnessed but it has its little charm, and the fact we can visit around half the building is always nice, otherwise what would the point be ? Free roaming all around the place may be a waste of time but at least it's worth it for finding the bunch of Atomic Healths that are hidden around the place. At first we may feel stuck right away, even though the fallen grate is clearly a clue I remember that I felt I had found the Bar (first mandatory place) by chance. It was funny seeing all the aliens dance, and it's a superb place for the particle gun (no matter what mode), also I kinda scared myself because the flashing lights tend to make enemies look like what they're not, especially the Enforcers : they're normal but the flashing lights make them look grey (the horror T_T). Then it's also kinda funny that the "Bar Tender" arrives while we're upstairs, a bit as in "Damn I leave my bar for a few minutes and it's already all trashed up >_<". Then the "Texting Device", which looks like a regular SmartPhone, which IMO is one of the best ways of guiding the player, because it's a breath of fresh air from the usual enemy spawn even though it still applies here but less often (only within buildings (especially the IMF one)). Not as if it were any problematic thanks to the UEPB (and pistol just in case ...). That concert room where we find the Black Access Key was quite nice, a bit empty looking because of all the free space but if it's a concert room then why not. That 255 building is one of my favorites along with the Video Store (later), its selection of rooms is interesting and varied, although that variety makes me wonder what kind of building it's supposed to be ... a research center maybe ?. Then IIRC we see the Self Storage building ? that's kinda one of the least interesting one of the bunch ... nothing much inside it ... and that glass door with an elevator button will always be an enigma to me >_> Then we go directly to the other least interesting building with the blue Keycard and enforcers in it. Apart from potentially precious resources, there's literally nothing in here and what may be misleading is the fact you have to get out in order to have a message for progression. What bothers me is that that place just feels like its only purpose is to serve as a "script triggered", I'm making kind of a big deal out of it but I'm just saying. Then the shop ... nothing much to say here, just your typical shop, kinda small but at least the space is used intelligently. However those invisi-troopers are a pain, it's nice that we're given NVs for them more than once in the level because, even though I can kinda deal without it, they're real strong and resistant. Then the IMF building, now that's probably the biggest piece of the whole stuff in my opinion. Not my favorite building (I prefer the 255 one) because it's quite cramped up, especially on the ground floor. At least I can satisfy myself by hearing enemies shoot themselves for some reasons. There are too many rooms to describe but the overall selection is also interesting and varied, it's even trying to differentiate from the 255 building which adds to the overall diversity in the level. The room I especially like is the DJ one, very detailed and credible along with a nice reference to Duke (although the music kinda covers the character's voice). Also it's nice to see the Cafeteria with all the PC screens showing things ... like that "Video Games Kill People" video, won't watch it but just for the title it's no surprise that 80% of the "Like-Bar" is red with dislikes (BTW I never really understood the thing with that guy and you Zaxtor but I'm not going to put my noise in "none-of-my-business-Land"). And finally I like how you ALWAYS took the time to model all those PCs with mice and even the mother-board in the DJ room ! So we go from room to room with unlocks and everything ... too much room to remember everything. Then our first CPU phases, super easy, that is until we stumble across the corrupted clusters that I dislike :/ Then a quick go to the Library, nice looking place even though there's nothing special to say about it. I'm starting to lose the wire but I believe at that point I found both the Dark Red and Violette Keys along with the Chip and used that CPU in the room with the Red Keycard from the Library ... I'm pretty sure I didn't do that on my very first playthrough O_o It leads me to believe it's sort of a secondary quest but it doesn't bring me anything special, I'm a bit confused, can't even remember how I managed to beat the level without all that in the first place on my first time >_>
More easy CPUs and then the 666 Building I believe. A bit weird in terms of atmosphere and architecture, feels more based on a gimmick than on a wish for details but I suppose the wall limit was being problematic at that point. Then first boss, a bit weird since it's actually easier than the first Orange Trooper from the second level. At least we get 2 special dark red Enforcers, even though it's easy to take them one by one without making both wake up at the same time, and using the UEPB cautiously works mighty fine. Or we can also get behind a crate and Chaingun them so that they're stuck in regular firing, their spits alongside it being too short ranged to reach me. Easy peasy but I suppose the situation can quickly become hazardous if we don't have the UEPB and don't think of using the Devastator. Then I'm very confused because there are 2 blue Keycard locked doors, one of which opens with the boss, and there's a locked door behind that (never managed to open it) that leads to a mess of tight platforms that lead to exactly the same results ... very confusing O_o Then one final time into the 255 building I believe, the Secured Area door surely is unlocked super late for the very first accessible building. Then a quick go at the Video Store, I liked looking at that place. I don't know half of the movies there are and I haven't watched 1/6 of the selection but there are some that caught my interest. I can't believe you managed to stack up on all those tiny Hi-Res pictures of movies of all sorts, I didn't realize on the moment but it's really impressive. We take a fuse that just happens to appear here for no apparent reason (guess the Mutual Friend isn't as far as we may think ?) and up to the end of the level with one last boss. Very easy with the UEPB once again. Otherwise just keep our distances, super easy since we're not stuck within the area we can use the whole city !
Now a mention about the music which is just super excellent, a bit short and repetitive but damn it's excellent, nothing more nothing less
![:excl:](https://forums.duke4.net/public/style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)
!
Conclusion : Pretty much another of my favorite levels in the game, with its atmosphere, free roaming, not too persistent guidance, balanced difficulty thanks to the wideness of the area, variety of pretty much everything, easy bosses, and more importantly a big freaking playground for the UEPB ^^ all topped by a superb soundtrack. I'll still prefer the first level for its visuals but that city level gets a fave from me for its gameplay and variety.