The year is 2531. In the year 2531, during the infancy of the Human-Covenant war, human scientists stumbled upon a new world. Named "Lumoria", the planet was laden with both flora and fauna as alien as anyone had ever seen before. Nestled amongst the planet's varying terrain lie architecture left behind by a once seemingly all-powerful race known as the Forerunners. But what began as a scientist's greatest dream of study and discovery quickly turned into destruction and terror when the Covenant found the planet as well. When the Covenant attacked the human research vessel, the scientists had no chance. Their final hopes lay in a beacon dropped in desperation. A beacon found by you. Arriving at the planet aboard the small, stealthy UNSC Frigate Endless Horizon, your mission is to defeat the Covenant, discover the mysteries behind this new world, and give humanity their hope back. Welcome to Lumoria.
Where to start...
I think it's difficult to summarise or talk about just how I feel and think about Lumoria. This project is easily 10/10 in my book. It shows what happens when talented developers come together to produce an amazing Single-Player experience, that quite frankly, blows anything else out of the water that anyone has already done in Custom Edition.
For me, personally, Lumoria has served as an insane amount of inspiration on my own project. It reminded me time and time again what can be achieved through hard work and dedication.
Now, onto the details:
Level Design:
Fantastic stuff. The way each level and encounter is designed always allows the Player to approach from multiple angles, allowing him to tackle the encounter the way he chooses. It's amazingly well put together. You can see how the developers wanted this area to play, and the hard work they put into each and every encounter.
Aesthetics:
I think the Forerunner architecture in EP1/2 is pretty much spot on what Forerunner should look like. It looks Forerunner, but more importantly it feels Forerunner. The exterior environments look awesome. It contains those awe-inspiring areas that the original Halo, and following Halo games encapsulated. The feeling that you're just a tiny speck in this planet is so very well captured.
Story:
I found the story in EP1 pretty interesting, but let down in some areas. This is where EP2 picks it up. The addition of more interesting characters and elaborated story really makes things interesting, it makes the story feel alive, like there's more going on. Although I do feel that a certain baddie could have been elaborated on, it was still a very interesting story. I was disappointed to see it end, not because I didn't enjoy it, but because I knew this was the end of the level.
Overall, I really enjoyed both EP1 and 2, and Lumoria as a whole serves as huge inspiration for myself, and no doubt, many many others.
10/10.