Winter 1 has its own high res texture set that looks really good. There are also a lot of haxored enemies that provide some nice variety for the combat, which was mostly fun and fair. In the storyline both you and the Pfhor are investigating an ancient alien base, and you’ve got to beat the bad guys to whatever secrets can be plundered from the ruins. Despite the name, this campaign has nothing to do with snow, Christmas, winter, or anything similar. The name seems to be the result of the season when this collaborative Marathon mapmaking effort came together. My level by level analysis:

Flushed. My least favorite level, because you’re thrust into combat with nothing but your fists and a paltry amount of ammo. Thankfully, the level is small and short.

The Balance. It’s a huge sprawling alien facility. There’s a nice dichotomy between a system of rough caves populated by F’lickta, and the more organized, functional alien fortress. The ammo shortage from the previous level was quickly resolved and I had no more ammo problems going forward. Architecture was top notch.

Kick the Can. There’s a sewer system that connects to a bunch of above-ground areas. There are six different switches you have to hit which are in the above-ground areas. Thankfully, the terminals provide a decent map, and the level itself is easily traversable. The level flow for this campaign was really good; basically I just wandered around and shot bad guys. When I ran out of baddies to shoot my automap would point me to the next unexplored area, which was seldom far away.

Wishbone. Another good level that does a lot of things right. Terminals that provide useful information! Automaps that can actually be read by the player, because there aren’t huge amounts of overlapping polygons everywhere! A distinct lack of annoying puzzles and hidden switches! I have to mention these things because so many Marathon scenarios make those mistakes, and it’s nice to play a scenario where there is just some good, straightforward combat.

Seven Times Unlocked. My favorite level, the level design was superb. There's a central hub with health rechargers and pattern buffers, and 7 branches that are attached to the hub. Once you enter a branch you have to complete it before returning to the hub (or do some fancy grenade jumping to get back). Each branch has a specific theme to it. Like one branch has a bunch of snipers on ledges. Another branch has a simple platform puzzle. A third branch has a new type of Enforcer that attacks. Fun stuff!

Faktree. The theme behind this level is that there are some yellow lighted areas which you are warned not to step on. The first such area cannot be avoided, but it teleported in only a few weak baddies that I easily dealt with. The next yellow area could be avoided, but I was feeling so confident after overcoming the first yellow ambush that I deliberately stepped on it. “Those yellow areas don’t scare me!” I said. I immediately regretted my words and actions, as a massive teleport ambush commenced! It was a huge, difficult battle, and I died many times. But I was laughing about it, because I sure got my deserved comeuppance for my overconfidence! There was also a weird bug that happened when I went to use the x1 health recharger and it got stuck; I got a continuous recharging sound but no health. But reloading from an earlier save fixed the problem.

Airport Extreme. The final level has multiple objectives. Looking at it on the automap; everything is based off a giant central circular area, which is pretty cool. However, this level did have a lot of overlapping polygons, and that, coupled with its large size and numerous objectives, meant that it was the most difficult level to navigate, and I had to do a lot of backtracking over a large area. On the upside, the enemy does spring several clever ambushes upon the player as they progress. I was not a fan of the final battle. You do get a save terminal and x3 health going into it, which I appreciate. But then you’re thrust into combat against a major juggernaut and an infinite supply of super troopers. After much death and frustration on my part, I discovered I was just supposed to run past the bad guys, flip two switches, and smash a panel to win. It seemed kind of underwhelming for a final battle, and a player was highly unlikely to win without using “a priori” knowledge, which I don’t agree with. But overall, Winter 1 has a really solidly made campaign, and it’s well worth checking out!