Thanks, Vasya. Then I think I’m screwed — I just can’t make it through to there on so little ammo, and I don’t have the heart to go back to the start and play on Normal or Easy.
848b3d9f71de828890839ced4c5c2799ec25a07e111b61c5787b9a401740b95c
overall_rating
4.605937921727396
39
Soulsucker (ctsj2_aleks) is a satisfying map in a runic setting, with enjoyable progression and a nice selection of enemies. All the areas look pretty much the same, but that’s not too much of a problem because it’s usually pretty clear where you need to go next. The ending is appropriately climatic. All in all, while this map doesn’t break any new ground or blow me away, it was a huge relief just to play a regular map after the ludicrous difficulty of Scvmfvck II: Fvcked Harder and the ammo starvation of MacGyver Goes Lovecraft Beta (ctsj2_hcm).
Dehydration Station, Ranger really could use a drink (ctsj2_bal) is by some distance my favourite of these maps so far. Set in a distinctive location — a sort of desert-island oil rig — it offers an environment that you can see most of from the start, but which progressively opens up in a satisfying manner. Very nice.
Breakfast Under The Balloons by radiatoryang (ctsj2_radiatoryang) is by some distance the most memorable map in this pack so far. Set around the base of, and then up in the branches of, an enormous tree, it’s a setting that I’ve never seen before in Quake — and as I have rated 698 releases, that’s saying something.
Everything is on a vast scale, and I enjoyed the proper gut-level vertigo of peering down out of the branches of the tree — although that feeling was a bit spoiled by the way Quake’s crazy dropping calculus meant that falling from the highest available point to the ground cost only five health points!
Novel setting, lovely visuals, new forms of combat — what’s not to like? Five stars.
Weeping Shades of Indigo (ctsj2_h4724) is a small but tightly constructed level with very difficult combats, but difficult in a way that doesn’t feel unfair. I did chicken out and back down to Normal skill, but it seems to me that I could make it through on Hard if I wanted to work that hard. The space is used well, and there were plenty of times when I really had to stop and think. Recommended.
Dearth to Dust (ctsj2_ionous), while rather different from Weeping Shades of Indigo can, by coincidence, be described in much the same way as I described that map: “a small but tightly constructed level with very difficult combats, but difficult in a way that doesn’t feel unfair. […]. The space is used well, and there were plenty of times when I really had to stop and think. Recommended.”
I particularly enjoyed finding out late in the map that my intuition of how to deal with all the fiends at the beginning had been correct.
Amid A Fresh Carcass (ctsj2_trashbang) has a promising beginning in a fresh setting — the wreck of some kind of huge ship in a desert. The problem is, that’s all it has. It’s over so quickly. Sweet enough, but too short. I’d love to see the concept developed into a full-sized map.
For Here Shall They Reign Again (ctsj2_iyago) is a nicely constructed medium-sized castle, densely populated with 100 kills (on Hard), largely in a sequence of enjoyable set-pieces. Very solid build quality, and plenty of fun.
I will say nothing at all about LZJ124’s unnamed map because LZJ124 did not name his or her map. Name your maps, people! It’s so easy! It takes, what, 20 seconds? NAME YOUR MAPS.
Enfer (ctsj2_xeo) is another example of a castle map that is not especially big, but which judges its combats well, so that the gameplay is better than you would expect. Multiple times I got my health knocked right now, once into single digits. In the final combat, I was briefly completely out of ammo (apart from grenades, which were no use against a shambler), before discovering more. The whole thing was pretty thrilling.
One minor problem: After collecting the silver key, when I was very low on health, I jumped across the spikes in a lava pit to get back to an earlier earlier where I’d left unused health packs. Having done that, and retraced my steps, I found that it was not possible to get back into the post-silver-key area, as the bars that had blocked my retreat earlier would not now lift from the other side. I had to noclip though to continue.
Death in the shade (ctsj2_dfl) is a pleasant journey through a runic temple with some fairly straightforward combats and not too many surprises. I have nothing to say by way of criticism, but somehow it doesn’t feel like it’s going to linger in the memory. The nail traps on the bridge to the gold-key door feel entirely superfluous, though (so I guess I do have something to say by way of criticism).
The New Order (ctsj2_dr57) is a fantastic way to finish this pack: not necessarily the best map in this jam, but definitely the most unique (leaving aside Pac, which is only a novelty). This one is an art heist, carried out by traversing the rooftops of several skyscrapers and fighting combats along the way. I found this hard, but not so hard it was frustrating. Several times I had Aha! moments that were really satisfying. Really nice, and it feels so good to play something I’ve never played before in this 27-year-old game.
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Needless to say, the pack as whole is very well worth five solid stars. There’s just so much goodness in here that I am prepared to forgive even the two maps I couldn’t finish. Great work!
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Unregistered user “mrkillerovsky” posted:
On Fairweathers map, the circular room with the quad in the middle doesn’t seem to work, at least for me. The quad always falls down into the ground and I can’t progress. Does anyone know how to fix this?
I’m using Quakespasm btw.
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Got kinda mixed feeling about this jam. Some maps are confusing, some are enjoyable, some are outstanding (for these see comments above)). So I think 4 stars is just about right overall