- Joined
- May 29, 2010
- Messages
- 35,798
I avoided this for the longest time because I was under the impression that only the first set of levels was any good. However, another poster here (I forgot who, and can't find the exchange) assured me that was not the case. Well, he was right. While it lacks the polish of Half-Life, almost all the levels are fun to go through, barring a few near the end with failed gimmicks (underwater maze, indestructible turrets that can only be turned off temporarily, enemies that spawn out of nowhere in plain sight). Oddly enough, the last few levels reverse course and deliver a frustration-free reward for having put up with all that nonsense (though it is a bit cheap how the final boss is an outright lift of Doom's cyberdemon). The alternate paths and C&C were nice, though it's a shame they contributed to its buggy release. Tim Cain would have approved given his thoughts on Quake 2.
Wages of Sin starts off a bit weaker with its damage sponge spiders, however once you get to fighting human enemies, it starts delivering Deus Ex-quality level design. I was impressed, and not at all surprised to see that the two guys mainly responsible went on to work on some of the most acclaimed cinematic shooters (Medal of Honor, CawwaDuty, Uncharted), even if those titles are perhaps not the best use of their talents. Unfortunately, the final boss is an utterly terrible series of damage sponges and I got so fed up with it that I just god-moded my way to see the ending cinematic. A lousy sour note to end such a high quality series of maps on.
At least Zak Belica's music remained great throughout. I wish this guy worked on more stuff I was interested in. My favorite tracks were Elexis's theme (love theremin-sounding synthesized operatic vocals) and Manero's Casino from the expansion (jazzy, makes the inevitable backtracking a pleasure).
It was nice to finally find a classic fps I could enjoy after so many disappointments. Not going bother with Emergence though, since it appears to be three hours of nothing (I'll make a note to listen to the soundtrack of course). (It was actually five and a half hours of okay.)
Wages of Sin starts off a bit weaker with its damage sponge spiders, however once you get to fighting human enemies, it starts delivering Deus Ex-quality level design. I was impressed, and not at all surprised to see that the two guys mainly responsible went on to work on some of the most acclaimed cinematic shooters (Medal of Honor, CawwaDuty, Uncharted), even if those titles are perhaps not the best use of their talents. Unfortunately, the final boss is an utterly terrible series of damage sponges and I got so fed up with it that I just god-moded my way to see the ending cinematic. A lousy sour note to end such a high quality series of maps on.
At least Zak Belica's music remained great throughout. I wish this guy worked on more stuff I was interested in. My favorite tracks were Elexis's theme (love theremin-sounding synthesized operatic vocals) and Manero's Casino from the expansion (jazzy, makes the inevitable backtracking a pleasure).
It was nice to finally find a classic fps I could enjoy after so many disappointments.
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