Very Good Demo.
After finishing KTA4 and Phoenix I had to stuff my face with some more Ryoko maps and this came in clutch. This scenario uses no AR and has pretty unorthodox progression. Not as convoluted as the other reviews say, methinks. Also has a lot of funny references to Rubicon so maybe you might want to play this after you've played that first
Highlights Marathon Infinity's weapon balance and enemy design. No reason not to play this if you're at all a fan of Marathon combat.
If I have a particular complaint, it is that the health/oxygen bars have a strange clipping at their edges (even and most notably when they are full). Although, I wonder if this is at all fixable...
EDIT: setting the size to Normal slightly mitigates the issue, but is no fix.
Beautiful sprites and mapping. Nice combat on TC. Weapons that feel straight out of Unreal Tournament in the best possible way. Can feel quite different from regular Marathon at times, but perhaps that is more to its credit than anything else.
Arcadey feel combined with the long breaths typical of Marathon campaigns, combat polished to an absolute fault and with its own identity, plain old good mapping and a satisfying arsenal. Everything garnished with a fairly good story that explains various new gameplay elements in an immersive way and provides awesome setpieces to play through, as well as great balance even and especially on Total Carnage. I see very little reason not to treat yourself to this scenario if you are able to.
i've been waiting for this ever since DOUCHEMAPS dropped
I played these levels long ago and playing them again was enjoyable. I like the details, architecture, and the clever designs. These levels are not easy but require thought before running in. I found the replaying these levels to be good. I hope you can design more. This package is well worth playing. It certainly captures the marathon flavor and action.
M2SE, you've been with us for many years, but it's time to retire. Now we have a whole new soundtrack now. I love how well the music fits with the levels and how some of the songs are remixes from M2SE as a little reference. This IS the M2 official soundtrack and nobody can tell me otherwise!
A fun romp. I really liked the 3rd level as it was a difficult, clever, level. Overall, very good.
I enjoyed playing this scenario demo. Worked well. Really nice detail and a clever layout with good complexity.
I just finished the 3 levels in this demo and so far it looks really good! I love all of the changes that was put into these levels and it makes it fun and refreshing to run through.
I can't wait to see more of this project.
1. Ribbons. This level was I guess supposed to be a stealth level. You start with no weapons and only a little health. There are no health rechargers or health canisters anywhere in the level, so you die in one hit! This made it the hardest level of the campaign. I just don’t understand where the stealth aspect was supposed to take effect. Enemy triggers seemed to be normal, it didn’t really seem to be possible to sneak past anyone without being detected. There are also two simulacrum Bobs next to some precious ammo. These enemy Bobs have lots of extra health, and while the terminals do warn you about them, it’s quite easy to blunder into them by accident and be instantly killed. Much of the level consisted of wandering around in underwater areas trying to figure out where to go, including one particularly nasty underwater area (“pump station”) with instant-kill platforms. This was my least favorite map of the campaign.
2. Satellite of love. Lack of ammo remains a problem, but at least now we have health rechargers! There’s some good combat, and I liked the circular architecture, which was appropriate for a satellite. Differential shading for this level was great, and helped accentuate the Jjaro tileset. The end has a bizarre gauntlet where you have to run past an un-killable fusion turret in order to hit a switch, which then disables the turret and allows you to proceed.
3. Harpooning. The ammo shortage has been resolved. There is a spectacular 5D space. Basically, there is a portal that starts out closed; it’s basically just a wall in the middle of nowhere. When you activate it, you can step through the “wall” to a whole new area. It’s really creative, and one of the best uses of the 5D space I’ve seen.
4. Melted Wires. Your goal is to activate an engine core that will turn on another 5D portal. There are several battles pitting Bobs vs. Pfhor, but both sides turn out to have a ton of reinforcements so player participation in these fights is actually just going to waste your small supply of ammo. In order to reach the engine core some difficult jumps across a lava lake must be made. The core itself features a decent platforming puzzle.
5. The Rift. Despite being the last level, it features the easiest combat. This is because you’ve got lots of ammo and easy access to health rechargers. Also, there are a lot of enforcers on this level, and they are hostile to the rest of the Pfhor, so enemy infighting is going to significantly thin out the ranks of the opposition. The campaign is unfinished (many of the terminals are missing pictures) but overall Marathon C might be worth your time if you want to see some examples of differential shading done right and some really cool 5D space.
Amazing! I can use this to light my entire map in one click!
A flowery and sometimes cryptic narrative, a pair of levels with difficult oxygen management, constantly shifting allegiances, and battles against elite men and extra-terrestrials alike make this the most varied and overall challenging game by far. The atmosphere is heavy, but the incoming barrage is heavier...
More ammunition in the levels. Bigger hordes of hostile aliens to take out. Less platforming. It'd be a textbook improvement if it weren't for the lack of music!
The best story of the trilogy by far. It has catchy tunes, beautiful texture mapping, and tense action. Some of the platforming is annoying though.
What a surprise this is. Seems to work!
Thedoc45 did a great job job creating a package that targets older PCs. If you like the XBLA sprites for MInf, but CFP isnt running great on your PC, this is for you!
I love the nice quality of life things done with the textures and it makes the game more alive. My one issue is the view sprites and raised a bit. The MA-75, rocket launcher, and napalm thrower is just fine as they are. But the fists, pistol, and fusion pistol have this weird thing where if I look all the way down and shoot. The kick raises the sprite so high that you can see where the sprite ends. This could be a simple fix by lowering the texture, probably. Overall, the plugin is really good.