Reviews - micky_c

Although small, the 17 maps really pack a punch. Here's why the maps are great;

Quality:
A majority of the maps have been made by mapping veterans who've been making Duke maps for years. The guys know their stuff. They've generally filled the map up with good detail, good gameplay (combat/progression), and even new, original, never-before done tricks and concepts!

Variety:
Because each floor is made by an individual mapper, each floor is vastly different from all the others, this obviously includes detailing style, type of progression, and combat. Some authors sometimes focused on one thing more than the others. Due to this difference in focus, and due to mappers' own personal strengths and preferences, things will never get repetitive. The episode always feels fresh, new and exciting. There's something for everyone.

Creativity:
There was a very big limitation in that the authors had to fit their map within a very specific shape and size. Limitations always inspire creativity; ideas that they wouldn't have thought of otherwise, making this a different experience to other maps/episodes. Plus, allowing the mappers to focus on such a small space really allows them to concentrate on making that small space extra good, as opposed to having to dilute their effort over a larger error.

So what are you waiting for? Try it out, you won't regret it!

An amazing episode that really captures the feel of the original game. I can't believe they made each map in a 24 hour period, with all the levels feeling solid and polished, with good layouts, trimming, shading and gameplay.

The maps also make use of verticality with a bit of rooftop action (we really need more quality rooftop action in Duke), and something a bit more ambitious in the penultimate level.

The maps each only take about 5-10 minutes yet really show how fun classic, vanilla Duke 3D can be, and how an experience like this really needs to be brought back with modern games. Classic Duking at its finest.
Try it out now! I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

This was amazing! The first level starts off a bit slow, and besides the new art and a few references played like an ordinary Duke 3D level (although the view from the top of the lady killer is stunning) and there's good atmosphere.

After you get the bike, there's a bit of a turning point and gameplay starts becoming more ambitious and interesting, plus all the references, both in-your-face and the smaller ones, and the obvious/exact replicas as well as ideas/locations etc which are only loosely based on the old trailers.

Is it DNF? No, but (besides the start maybe) there is not a single boring moment in the entire thing, and you'll have a huge grin every time you come across something from the trailers (especially when it's gameplay related and not just a visual thing). It definitely has a DNF feel, but some parts have it more than others.

Soon after you start, it grabs you like a vice and it won't let go until you finish. 100% Recommended! Go download now.

This is great stuff, clearly a lot of effort is put into it. The graphics look great (love the visual style), and the way the story mode works is fantastic: the game saves for you at critical points, the notes hint at where to go next, there are special items and things you can use in the game to progress, and the story actually makes you want to keep going and solve the mystery. All with some incredible suspense and a great map layout.

If nothing else, this mod gives you the opportunity to play some very high quality user maps. Again and again (not to mention the original maps.) The leveling system combined with the large pool of maps, which if they appear more than once, appear in a different order, thereby forcing you to utilize different strategies based on your strengths and weaknesses each time you play them. Worth at least a few playthroughs.

A simple, but highly powerful and highly flexible engine. Incredible new features are always being added and improved, and you can base anything on this engine from a classic 8-bit fragfest to a modern looking, modern playing FPS with all the bells and whistles of modern engines. Not to mention a lot of the games, mods and TCs on this engine are fun to play, as well as simple to set up and understand.

This is a great mod, (that's a word I'm going to be using a lot in this review.)
Great levels,
Great music,
Actually that's it :P

Imperium has 8 medium-large incredibly (and I really do mean incredibly) detailed levels. I'm referring to level design and object detailing, usually there's some kind of compromise/trade-off between the two but not here. There were times when I stopped playing and simply looked around admiring the scenery.

The music was made specifically for this mod, it sounds amazing and fits the levels well, helping to set the mood. Some of them are also quite catchy and I'm having trouble getting them out of my head (I'm not sure whether it was the music itself, the gameplay, or a combination of the two that caused that)

All these aspects come together to create an incredibly epic atmosphere, along with a real sense of progression as you move through the levels. Good use of cutscenes (especially the prologue! god damn that was good!) help to convey the story and occasional horror elements, all which contribute to the feel of the mod.

I ended up rating this 9/10. I'd give it ten except for that I got stuck a few times and it took me ages to figure out how/where to go next (I'm still not sure how I got past certain areas.) And an ending cutscene would be nice if an update ever comes out (but that didn't really bother me.)

All in all, you MUST try this at least once, you won't regret it, and a big thanks to the authors!