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| Sam
Ketner has done a few things differently with Cresta, it's full title being
'Assualt on Moonbase Cresta'. For instance he's packed it with new
textures and sprites. It also has a vastly different theme compared
to his previous levels in the Warcade series.
There is a short story-line, but when did that ever effect the way Doom was played? Anyway, the first thing you will notice is that this level looks and feels great. Just take a look at the screenshots (hi-res thanks to ZDoom) and you can see what I mean. The text file doesn't state where the new textures and sprites came from, but all are of a high quality. I was especially impressed by the 'radar' sprites. But it's not textures alone that make this level great to look at. For example, instead of making computers with a single flat, Sam has used several sectors to achieve a much better and highly original effect. The lighting was also top notch. The level uses a considerable amount of Boom effects, including undernukage, colourmaps, and most importantly, lifts and silent teleporters. You will need to get a hang of navigating the lifts if you want to move around the many floors o the level - it's extremely easy with the new 'arrow' textures! Silent teleporters are used on at least two occasions, and operate seamlessly - unless you use the automap :-) Without these lifts and teleporters Sam would never have been able to simulate the cool Moonbase roof top etc. Unfortunately the high quality found in the look and feel of the level is nowhere to be seen when it comes to gameplay. My first question to Sam would be, "where are the weapons and ammo?" You do get the plasma early, but you run out of ammo straight away against _heaps_ of imps, and then you run out of bullets, and then what, you're supposed to punch everything? Certain that I must be missing something I had a look in my editor to see just what weapons were in the level. Yep, there were a couple of SSG and heaps of Plasma guns... multiplayer only damnit! The level was impossible for me to finish without cheating (only way I could see the level to review it...). Why would anyone choose not to put in either of the shotguns? The monster placment was also weird in every sense. The first enemies you encounter are a room jam packed with imps. But then, the rest of the level has barely any enemies at all. In short, this level would be great in a TC. It's almost as if the author has assumed that the player will aready have all the weapons and ammo. Although the level is spoilt by inconsistent monster placement, and a complete lack of weapons and ammo, the design of the level is as good as the rest is bad. * The problems in this level could have beem avoided with an experienced beta tester!! |
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Overall: 7.5/10
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