Reviews - Suparsonik

I left a review on TWHL. Just read it there. Twhl.info

Well, I've finally played it. It's been a long time coming, but I finally sat down and played Echoes. I'm still in awe at some of the sequences in this mod, because they were incredibly well set up, but I'll give it my best shot.

The mod starts off in a pretty nondescript, but well designed parking garage that you navigate through until you get to the infamous elevator sequence (like Blue Shift), encountering plenty of humorous sequences set up by the author, keeping you entertained if you wait around long enough (or in some cases, are fast enough) to witness them. The mapping is really REALLY well done, and I dare say the best usage of the Nightwatch textures to date! There are a few problems I have with it though, that I'll get to later in the review.

Let's skip to the after disaster bits. The quality doesn't change at all compared to the pre-disaster parts, and the mapping still looks great, with the combat (mostly) holding up to the same standard. There's some extremely cheap enemy placement that I'm not a fan of, but I'm willing to overlook it because everything else is so damn interesting. This mod has one of the best introductions of the military I've ever seen, and while we're at that, the area that you first see them arrive at changes as you progress through the mod too, which is rather neat. The gargantua chase sequences are very well done (not sure how some people thought you needed to kill it at that point you first encounter it, considering you never have enough weaponry to take it on until the very last encounter) with an awesome garg vs. tank battle (guess who wins?). The ending was a bit abrupt, but I liked that it wasn't exactly the most happy ending, since not every mod needs to have one. The G-Man sequences were a little odd, but not TOO jarring (except maybe that HL2 model port, sorry). Before I forget, I said I had some problems with the mapping, and I think my main issue was the amount of backtracking. I can't say I'm NOT a fan of seeing familiar places change, but it kindof got a little tiring just basically running to a certain point then doubling all the way back. I did enjoy seeing new paths open up though. I just think it was a little overdone is all. I'm running out of things to say so I'll end it here.

A very solid nine. It was overall a very enjoyable experience, with some very minor things that knocked it down a peg (nearly two! until I thought it over a bit more).

Why is this so highly rated?! The content is inconsistent as hell and it's basically the equivalent of those awful "HD" mods for Half-Life!

Absolutely amazing brushwork; some of the best I've ever seen done in the engine. Gameplay isn't focused entirely on combat either, which is a nice refreshing change from the normal formula of Half-Life mods. Puzzles are relatively clever most of the time with only a few very minor issues that I disliked. I can't really do this mod very much justice with my review, so just go play it!

Ten out of ten.

I consider myself to be a person of few words, so I'll try to keep this short and in small points.

System Shock 2 is the sequel I didn't ask for and I sure as hell didn't want either. The blend of FPS-RPG elements seems haphazard at best and very clunky in implementation. The gameplay doesn't help either. The Dark Engine clearly wasn't meant for head-on combat (as exhibited by the Thief games where combat is mostly avoided) but unfortunately the player is forced to combat enemies all throughout the game. The pacing isn't very good either; I spent four hours just trying to get off the first floor I started on. The story is okay in most areas and I did like the concept of The Many, but the ending literally ****** me off to no end because it ruined an otherwise satisfying sequence and basically turned the entire game into one big joke. However, the voice acting for characters, the textures, and the sound design was top notch, just like the first game. Now comes the points on why this isn't a very good game and some points on it being good:

- Gameplay is clunky and very bad in some areas (guns constantly breaking in the beginning and the middle section of the game, movement is awful and feels very awkward compared to other games at the time, melee combat is also literally the worst thing I have ever experienced in a game like this; I fail to understand how you could be standing in front of someone and miss with a melee weapon, etc.)
- Skills are often split into seperate skills for absolutely no reason other than to overly-complicate things (Why is maintenance and repair seperate skills? Doesn't it take some maintenance knowledge to be able to repair something and vice versa?)
- Story is alright mostly, but the ending is quite possibly the worst videogame ending I have experienced in quite a long time. (The comedic relief was completely out of place and ruined the whole ending sequence turning the game almost into one big joke.)
- Pacing isn't very good. I spent four to five hours just trying to get off the medical / science (and engineering) deck to be able to explore the rest of the damn ship. After finally getting off those floors, the game started to pick up again but falls flat once again once I reached the Command deck and boarded the Rickenbacker. The Many's flesh home also suffers from being terribly boring and monotonous (kinda like Half-Life's Xen section) and also slightly ridiculous at the same time!

There are some good things about this game however:

- The voice acting is excellent for the time and is top notch just like the voice acting from the first game was.

- The textures are great and the level design is alright, but somewhat monotonous as I managed to get lost a few times.

- The sound design is excellent, nothing more to say.

All in all, this isn't really that great of a game, and I don't understand how this overshadows the first game so much. The first game is superior in literally every way. I might have missed a few things so I might come back and edit this review later.

Looks absolutely ****. Nothing was upgraded. Go play the original through a source port or something.

Bad.

Garbage.

Okay -- I'll admit that this game can be fun sometimes, but seriously? A 10/10 rating is a little ridiculous. A lot of things in this mod are quirky and strange. Some are just absolutely **** (I'm looking at you, voice actor for Tor) and others are just plain annoying (I'm also looking at you, grenade physics). It's a mixed bag, really. I'm also not much of a fan for the mixed "SD" models they are using. I'd rather them make a return back to the standard models or a median of the HD pack or maybe even the improved one (aka Romka's and A.I's edits of the PS2 models). Overall, it's decent but nothing revolutionary or amazing.

The game of my childhood. Though I have much more experience with the Unlimited version, which improved (and rarely detracted from) this version of the game. A well-balanced game with great sound design and an excellent soundtrack done by Maxis regulars: Jerry Martin, Marc Russo, Kirk Casey, etc.

A very close ten out of ten. It might be nostalgia clouding my judgement, but I don't give a damn.