Exhumed
Since the source port for Eduke32 was released, I've decided to give it a try and see how the game compares to other Build engine titles. First of all, I really like the change of scenery. Ancient Egypt can be a nice setting, considering some parts of Serious Sam. And it looks really nice, with all the dungeons and catacombs mixed with more open areas. One thing that I really liked, was the level design, and how the developers were transforming them in real time, to reveal some nasty trap or a passage. There is no hand holding and later on with maps growing bigger it's easy to loose track if you just missed pressing one button or a door. Also, there is a lot of jumping and platforms compared to other FPS games of that era. Luckily, the controls are really smooth and I've never died due to my clumsiness.
There is a lot going on beside finding keys, and due to the checkpoint system combined with limited number of lives supply it is necessary to be careful later on. The weapons aren't the strongest point of Exhumed. We've got machete, a pistol, M-60, grenades and flame thrower. Plus later on the Cobra Staff, which is like a rocket launcher, but with a homing missiles. It can kill you easily if you are close to the enemy. I learn about it rather quick. For the most of the time I used M-60, since it has great accuracy, there is a lot of ammo that can be found for it and it has a stopping power even for a big crowds. Pistol is a good when we really are out of luck with mags for the previous bad boy, and in the beginning. Flame thrower is good, but you need to be close to the enemy and it's harder to control the crowd with it. Grenades are great, but tossing them took me some time. There are also explosive ancient barrels with skulls on them, that will open new areas and can kill quickly almost everything.
We've encounter many creatures on our path, starting from cute spiders that are always swarming in packs.
And then we've got Anubis Warrior. You will see this guy a lot, mostly in a bigger groups. They should magical balls at you, or if you are trying to get intimate at them, use melee attack.
"Excuse me sir, do you have time to talk about our lord and savior Anubis ?"
Other than that we've got: piranhas, Am-mits (a strange creature that will charge at you and has a weak spot underneath), Omen Wasps (very nasty bitches, pardon me, but I really hated them), Mummies (what is interesting, it's they can transform you into one of their own for a short time period. You can use their magic staff that is really overpowered, but so satisfying to use). Plus hot Bastets - humanoid enemy resembling an upright lioness wearing a bikini. They teleport quickly once they've been attacked and take some time to kill. Strangely, I found that pistol is the best, and most economical choice as a tool for dealing with them to conserve the ammo for M-60. Be ready for some really nasty cat fights. Way later on we are introduced to strange insectoid creatures called Klimaats, that are actually an aliens and have nasty laser weapons.
We encounter as well a mid-boss like creature as well called Magmantis. As you can clearly deduce, he is in the lava pits usually at the end of the level waiting patiently for us. Luckilly, we've got some powerups, that can be found. Like severed slave hand, that gives additional kick to the power of our weapons. M-60 will tear him into pieces. Still, it is a magnificent beast and during the last part of the game we encounter more than one of them in the same place.
There are some additional magical items, which can heal us, invulnerable, light our way or breath underwater.
We've got three boss fights, and they involve :
Set, an ape-like god with tentacles.
Selkis, a human/robot/crab hybrid. Shoots auto-laser and claws you. Spawns a lot of spiders when she dies, and you have to kill them as well.
Kilmaat Queen - The final boss, she shoots yellow charges at you. The place we fight is really small, so you need to be careful.
In the last level we need to destroy all the special alien devices used for navigation. After that, we gain entrance where we destroy central computer and see the ending credits. Overall Exhumed plays rather well and deserves more recognition due to the level design that really shines when it comes to Build engine games, and with its unique setting I just wish we could see another FPS like that.
But yeah, this time I have Stun Droid at start, so it's not too hard. Just tedious.
