Reviews

This is basically a whole new game, and it’s of professional quality. Everything has been changed; the graphics, weapons, monsters, sounds, everything.

The new graphics look great. There’s a new main menu screen, new chapter art, and interesting terminal art. There’s a lot of variety with the new textures; players will explore derelict human starships, bizarre alien worlds, and surreal underground ruins. Sparks will fly out of smashed computer consoles, burning embers will rise from magma lakes, and fog will blanket the horizon on a desolate planet. It’s breathtaking.

The player also gets an entirely new arsenal of weapons. All of the weapons serve a purpose; none of them are useless. For example, one new gun is a mining drill called the “Vel,” which has a high amount of accuracy and can shoot through multiple targets in a line. It’s great for taking out enemy snipers at long range, or putting the hurt down on a horde of monsters coming towards you in a narrow corridor. However, the Vel needs to be charged up before each shot, meaning that it’s a very poor choice for close range combat when the slow rate of fire can prove to be liability. All of the new guns look great and handle really well.

There’s a wide variety of enemies in Apotheosis X. Although you’re fighting the Pfhor, all of the Pfhor have a new look, and in some cases new combat capabilities as well. For example, the new Pfhor hunters not only look like total badasses, they now have a melee attack and make electronically distorted activation sounds reminiscent of the hunter howls from Marathon 1. There are also some completely new non-Pfhor enemies, such as a tough swamp-dwelling monster that can spit acid at the player. The quality of the sprite animations is high.

The campaign also has its own unique music track. It mostly consists of unobtrusive ambience that helps to set the stage for what’s going on in the campaign. For example, when you first land on the alien planet Fenris you’re treated to a music track that includes gusts of wind, which syncs with a landscape of grasslands, and ephemera of dust being blown across Fenris’s windswept battlefields; it’s really quite a touching introduction to the planet. The music is also dynamic; sometimes when a major battle breaks out the unobtrusive ambience will be replaced with more fast-paced action-oriented tunes. My favorite music track was “Zero Point Ordinance.”

Level design is top notch. I very seldom got lost, and the terminals did a good job of keeping me informed about what I needed to be doing. Many terminals included useful maps. Many of the different levels had an architectural theme to them. For example, the Fenris wilderness levels had lots of hexagonal ledges that were evocative of real world salt flats. The underground alien ruins often had some crazy surreal designs that used the Aleph One game engine in ways that its makers never could have envisaged; it’s really amazing what the devs were able to accomplish using so-called “5D space,” and I’ll note some specific examples in my level-by-level analysis below. The human levels had a theme of functionality; just looking at the automap it was obvious that one area was a cargo bay, another area was a computer core, ect. The levels must have been meticulously planned; certainly looking at the automap after fully exploring a level will highlight some really impressive architectural designs.

Level notes: Cracks in the Pleasuredome: The part where the Pfhor boarding party blew open the ship’s hull was really cool! The Pfhor boarding craft had a neat design — basically you can see its exterior by looking out the nearby window, but you also get to see its interior next to the hull breach. The ominous music, ferocious firefights between humans and aliens, blaring alarms, and the destroyed state of the ship all lent itself to a sense of being part of the last line of defense; I loved it!

Upon reaching the Darya terminal I was unexpectedly teleported to the next level, which was mildly annoying, because I hadn’t fully finished exploring the current level. So I had to go back to a previous save and lost several minutes of progress. Yes, there was a pattern buffer literally on the opposite side of the Darya terminal that might have helped with that, but the player is invariably going to see the Darya terminal first, and thus won’t get a chance to save their game if they get unexpectedly pushed to the next level. My opinion is that terminals that are about to inter-level teleport the player should give forewarning. It should be a message like, “Prepare to teleport. Press ESC to abort.” Certainly all the Darya terminals should have this. The only exception might be the surreal Noah terminals, where such a lucid message might be immersion breaking. But even then, there could be some kind of signposting about imminent teleportation that might be given to the player.

Noise Flies High: The huge cannon looked really impressive! The gameplay idea of pressing a button to release friendly drones to attack the enemy was inspired. The exploding barrels added an additional dimension to the firefights; they are a danger to the player, but an opportunity when the bad guys walk next to them. One thing that was really neat was at the end, in the control room, when I looked out the window to a spectacular view. I could see outer space, the cannons, and two previous rooms that I had visited earlier in the level!

Lost Behind the Stars: As mentioned earlier, the alien planet showcases hexagon-based ridges. Imagine my surprise then, when, upon fully exploring the level, I realized the whole level basically encompasses one giant hexagon! I thought that was a nice touch. One other thing that I really liked, and which is a recurring event in Apotheosis X, is that the player is constantly revisiting places they have already been, but often from a different angle or elevation. Bringing the player back to familiar territory in this way helps to establish a sense of place, and is a hallmark of professional level design.

Ghost Hardware: The new swamp monsters were fun to fight.

One More Fluorescent Rush: This level is focused on a river, and the player will be fighting in the water, on the riverbanks, and on a series of escarpments next to the river. Again, there is a theme of doubling back, as the player crisscrosses the map to reach the end; it’s very well made. I liked the smoke rising from the fires; I understand that making such effects in the Aleph One engine is difficult and few people have even attempted it, but here the devs were able to make it work and look good.

Final Credits: The most combat intensive level yet, and the challenge was welcome! There were three arenas to fight in, and I liked that the player got to initiate the fights by hitting a switch; this allowed the player to reconnoiter the arenas first and plot their defense. The new Apotheosis juggernaut makes its appearance here and it doesn’t disappoint; it proves to be quite a threat! The terminal art picture of the hunters on the attack looked beautiful; it’s my favorite piece of art in the campaign. The aesthetics of this level were superb; shattered walls and piled up debris really lent themselves to the idea of a highly contested battlefield.

Don’t Step on the Mome Raths: After the hectic fighting of the previous level, this one starts out with no combat. Or music. Just a lot of ominous foreshadowing that something bad is about to happen. The player must explore a darkness-shrouded underground facility, and it seems every time the lights come on they reveal the grisly scene of dead humans, or perhaps a brief glimpse of a new type of enemy. I thought it was a great build up and introduction for the new enemy type! The final part of the level, where the player sees a bunch of bad guys in a non-combat situation, and behind them on the horizon a huge Pfhor battle fleet, well…let’s just say it was visually stunning.

All Things Uncertain: Normally I’m not a fan of Rebellion levels, but this one isn’t so bad, largely because you get your stuff back pretty quickly. We get to see some neat looking Pfhor textures, and the level itself definitely looks and feels like a Pfhor prison ought to.

After the Flood: This is another map which is based upon…you guessed it, a giant hexagon design! In this case it’s a deep hexagonal pit surrounded by ridges, and as a central hub it works well, with lots of opportunities for firefights against enemies at different elevations. When the player starts completing mission objectives they are rewarded with a visual treat in the form of giant beams of light. Telling players they are making a difference is all good and well, but it’s even better when the player can actually see that their actions are having an effect; basically, I loved the giant lightbeam graphics! I also liked the majestic view of the mountain vista.

Omega Devices for Dummies: This is a very short level, but notable for two visual effects. Firstly, the player actually starts on the opposite side of the giant chasm from the previous level, which I thought was neat. Secondly, the portal at the end of the level actually looks different when viewed from four different directions! This is a really innovative use of the Aleph One engine using 5D space; I’ve never seen anything like this before, and it does a good job of highlighting the narrative/idea that you’re messing with bizarre alien technology that’s literally and figuratively out of this world.

No Assembly Required: The fight on the huge bridge was intense and fun.

Saturn Devouring His Son: By this point in the story the player is getting a lot of mission objectives from an artificial intelligence that’s under alien influence, and what better way to show that than to have disjointed messages, with much of the information given in the form of poetry? I thought it was well done.

The Great Fen: The name of this level confused me at first, because it’s clearly not a fen (wetland), but rather a giant lava lake. All became clear upon reading the terminals however. As for the level itself, it’s a tall tower surrounded by a moat of lava. Just getting into the tower was difficult, because there were a ton of enemy fighters and enforcers sniping at me from higher elevations. Frustratingly, often the difference in elevation was so great that the enemy could shoot at me, but I couldn’t angle my gun up enough to return fire. Thus, the only thing to do was to run forward and hope for the best. I thought the battles inside the tower itself were much more fun, and the tower design was architecturally impressive. However, I did not realize the elevator at the top of the tower could stop at multiple floors, which caused me some confusion for a few minutes until I figured it out.

The Salt Pile: The plot revelations on this level were pretty much the climax of the Apotheosis storyline for me, and the music track that starts playing when you gain entrance to the central tower was appropriately poignant for the backstory that was being presented. For these reasons, this was my favorite level of Apotheosis X.

Ascension Day: It’s a short, combat heavy arena level. After all the exploration levels that came before this, it was a nice change of pace.

Sky Burial: Vacuum levels exist in Marathon, but they’re not generally fun because the player is not in any danger of death by suffocation as long as they make regular trips to the nearest oxygen recharge station. So, there’s no real threat, just a lot of tedious backtracking. Sky Burial mixes things up a bit because it includes a really cool innovation — you can “swim” through the low gravity environment to reach higher elevations, and in fact doing so is necessary to complete the level. The design of the ship is a mixed bag. Architecturally, it looks impressive, exactly as a gutted starship should look, with busted-up doors, floating debris, and malfunctioning equipment. But the ship was so dark I found it easy to get lost. Getting lost in a normal Marathon map is bad enough, but the fact that you have to float through the ship means now you can get lost at multiple elevations, which is even worse. Thankfully, the level was also short. I did like the part at the end where the player enters an airlock, and thus is no longer subject to vacuum conditions.

Calm Horizons: I thought the mission objective of activating an “umbilical” to gain access to a Pfhor starship was really cool. The starship itself looked amazing when viewed through the spaceport windows. Upon activating the umbilical I thought the level was over, but no, you actually get to travel up into the starship you saw earlier, which is the height of awesome level design.

Velvet Ashes of Dreams: The ambush in the cargo bay: Hells YES, it was executed so beautifully!

Dinosaur Adventure 3D: The level is notable for a lengthy elevator fight, in which the player will be attacked by multiple waves of baddies coming from multiple angles. I liked it. The player also finally acquires the last weapon of their by now considerable arsenal, but it is definitely worth the wait, due to how cool it is.

Wireless Messiah: This level is notable for its good aesthetics. There’s a great view to be had looking out the station’s window at the level start. The attention to detail, where even just eye candy is meticulously constructed, is all really impressive.

Beaver Skin & Fishing Line: Story-wise, the Darya terminal at the end hit pretty hard. The fight in the darkened shuttle bay was fun. The ending of the level, where reality itself seems torn asunder, was visually awesome.

Arch of Time: The combat of the final level was suitably intense, especially the ending battle when the player is basically on a timer and being attacked by enemy hordes coming from all directions. What a rush!

MINOR SECRET LEVEL SPOILERS AHEAD!!! Tony Hawk’s Moving Castle: It’s highly likely the player is going to get killed very soon after entering this secret level; so…a pattern buffer feels extremely warranted at the level start! As far as the level itself, the combat was by far the most difficult in the entire campaign. I liked the challenge, and there were several areas where I really needed to consider my tactics in order to persevere. There were three chips in this level. Only one needed to be found to open up the level exit, but if you find all three it will open up an optional extra hard area to play through.

Gravin Threndor: In this second secret level I was wowed by the pretty lighting effects. END MINOR SECRET LEVEL SPOILERS!!!

Overall, Apotheosis X is a great campaign and definitely worth your time. Thank you, devs, for taking me on a memorable adventure across strange, surreal, alien worlds!

I don’t even know how to begin reviewing this. It’s got to be the most bizarre Marathon scenario ever made, and that’s going up against some pretty stiff competition. In terms of story it’s unique and innovative; in terms of gameplay it has some pretty serious flaws. In terms of graphics it’s almost a total conversion, since almost everything has a new look except for your weapons, and even those have different functionality.

The scenario has its own website, which is worth checking out, since it showcases some of the zany graphics and dark humor the scenario has to offer: https://huddycreative.com/archives/HQImages/websites/losdisneys/download.html

Level 1: Los Disneys The story is that in the future (year 2015) the tyrannical Disney Corporation has bought the state of Florida and renamed it “Los Disneys.” From there they are plotting to conquer the world, and it’s your mission to infiltrate their theme park to stop them. One part of your initial briefing concerns collateral damage, where you’re told to “spare the tourists as you would any other civilians, but if you just can’t help it, (expletive) the tourists.” So yeah, there is a definite theme of dark humor for this scenario. It’s not for everyone but I liked it. The terminal art was notable for featuring a great dichotomy between wholesome family-friendly Disney characters and more ominous pictures of heavily armed totalitarian thugs with Disney flair as part of their uniforms.

Unfortunately, the initial terminal and a few other textures had a graphical glitch in which part of the texture was unfilled/blurry. I’m not sure if this was part of the original Los Disneys or a consequence of it being ported to a later version of Aleph One. Aside from that, however, the initial presentation of the theme park was impressive. There were tourists walking around and taking pictures, numerous famous attractions were depicted, and the ambient sound was appropriate for a crowded amusement park.

You start out with only a pistol and a small amount of ammo, so your first priority is to raid an ammo bunker used by corporate security. Unfortunately, the initial terminal actually gives you wrong directions for how to get there! You’re told to go down Main Street and turn left; actually you need to turn right. Going left will probably have fatal consequences, and be doubly frustrating because there are no save terminals until midway through the map, so you’ll likely be kicked back to the beginning after dying on the left-most route. In any case, there are a number of Disney characters (that are actually robots) that will turn hostile once you enter their area in the theme park. The graphics for these baddies depicts them as innocent-looking until they attack or take damage, at which point their true evil nature will become obvious. So I thought that was some pretty cool artistic license.

Once you have guns and ammo, your next objective is to explore the two “ears” of the park, which is shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head on your auto-map. The eastern ear has a neat part entitled “Leap of Faith,” in which you have to find a way to get across a seemingly uncrossable pit. I thought that was clever. You’ll also start coming up against Disney corporate security and explosive Michael Eisner clones. The combat in Los Disneys is actually pretty difficult; security guards can shoot highly damaging homing rockets, and most of the other enemies are quite dangerous as well. I played on Normal difficulty and died quite a few times. However, some difficult fights were made easy because bad guys often killed themselves or their allies with their own explosive attacks. Also, sometimes the enemies did not trigger correctly or got stuck on the terrain, allowing the player to mow them down with impunity. Overall, I thought the combat was fun, and there was a large variety of enemies to fight.

The tougher combat is somewhat mitigated by the fact that some of your weapons have been improved. For example, your SMG now carries a lot more ammo per magazine, and your fusion pistol also gets a lot more shots per battery. But be warned that the alternate fire for the fusion pistol is broken, and it will break your game if you try to use it, requiring you to restart from your last save!

The western “ear” of the park was the most frustrating part of the entire scenario for me. Basically, you need to find a switch to move forward, but it’s hidden behind a secret door that’s really hard to find. Yes, there is a hint in the initial terminal that you should keep an eye out for secret doors, and yes I did look for secret doors (but found nothing). Eventually I had to quit out of the game and open the level editor to look at the map to see what I was missing.

Level 2: Los Apocalypse This level is basically the first level, except it’s now in a state of ruin because of your actions. The ground will be shaking, lava flows will suddenly emerge to engulf the unwary, and the ambient sounds are simply superb, as you hear the panicked cries of tourists and as well as loudspeaker announcements depicting Disney trying to restore order as an apocalypse unfolds. I loved it!

However, the difficult firefights and constant lava baths necessitated many visits to the level’s only shield recharger, which became a bit tedious since it was in an out of the way location.

Level 3: Epilogue This was a very short level designed to wrap up the story. I won’t spoil anything here, except to say that the ending was both zany and unexpected. I loved the terminal art. Overall, Los Disneys was a fun scenario worth playing for the novelty factor alone. It does have some rough edges, but the humor, ambient sounds, and cool graphics make it stand out.

This is an amazing single player campaign that includes a number of fun innovations that are really groundbreaking. Istoria almost feels like a whole new game, and I mean that in the best possible way, since the innovations are not only really neat ideas, but their execution is nearly flawless.

Before playing the campaign I downloaded the 8k landscapes off the Istoria website, and I also in-game enabled “HD Monsters” under Preferences->Plugins. If you have a modern computer I strongly suggest you do the same to get the best visual experience.

Upon starting a new game you’ll be prompted to choose one of seven classes. Each class has a unique active and passive ability that lends itself to a different playstyle; I’m sure every sort of Marathon player will find at least one class that they like. This class system is really great because it increases replayability. Initially, I chose to play as the Timekeeper class, because it had an active ability that actually freezes time for a few seconds, and that sounded really cool to me. Later, after beating the game as a Timekeeper, I went back and replayed Istoria, this time using the Pyrotechnic class, which is focused on fire-based attacks. There was a significant difference between my two playthroughs, because the classes play so differently.

Also, there is a “Hard” and “Extreme” mode that can be activated in addition to the normal difficulty settings. These modes make your health replenishment less efficient if you’re looking for a bigger challenge. For my first Istoria playthrough I was on Normal difficulty, but for my second playthrough I played on Normal difficulty with Hard mode enabled. Because of the large amount of customization possible, I would say that Istoria has more replayability than any other Marathon scenario.

In Istoria the player gains magic spells! Now, you might be wondering how magic can exist in the Marathon sci-fi universe. Without being too spoilerish, I’ll just say that there is a good explanation given that syncs with existing Marathon lore. Magic isn’t just a huge part of Istoria’s plot, it also is very useful in combat. For example, one spell is called “Reflect” and it causes enemy projectiles to be pushed back onto the bad guy that fired them. This is very useful when fighting enemies like enforcers that tend to have a large number of projectiles in the air at any given time. There are many spells, each of which is useful in a different kind of combat situation.

There are also non-combat utility spells. One spell lets you speak with the dead. This hearkens back to the days of Bungie’s game “Pathways Into Darkness” and it allows for some really interactive storytelling. By interrogating the deceased and asking the right questions, the player can discover useful information. That is so cool!

There is also a weapon expertise system. The more you use a weapon, the higher your skill level will get with that weapon, which gives damage bonuses. Now here I messed up the metagame without really realizing it until the late game. My initial feeling was that I should be trying to level up my weapons as much as possible, because if I didn’t it would come back to haunt me in the late game. As a result, I wasn’t making use of spells in combat very often because I was focused on dealing damage with weapons to buff up my expertise level. Well, it turns out that it’s very easy to level up weapons in the late game because tougher enemy types give more expertise credit. But not having a good appreciation of how to utilize spells effectively actually can be a liability in the late game, so really I was hurting myself by not making more use of magic in the early game. Perhaps it could be better telegraphed to the player in terminal text that using magic early and often is encouraged? Or perhaps the player could get some kind of tangible reward for using magic similar to how using weapons awards expertise?

I was also a little bit concerned about gameplay balance and the “Ammo Selector” utility spell. Using this spell awards the player ammo for the weapon of their choice. My fear was that some classes, such as the Pyrotechnic, are just focused on only one or two weapons. I thought that the combination of weapon-focused class abilities+weapon expertise+Ammo Selector spells would mean that the player would spend the whole game using just one or two super-buffed up weapons with a huge ammo stockpile, and that would be boring and imbalanced. However, my fears were misplaced. The addition of magic spells vastly increases the choice of offensive options open to the player, and the enemies of Istoria are varied enough that there is no one weapon or spell that can dominate everything; the player must adapt their arsenal and tactics to a variety of different situations.

The campaign also features some impressive RPG elements. The player gains experience points for defeating enemies. Once enough points are gained, the player levels up, which increases the potency of class abilities and the maximum health pool. This level-up system leads to one of Istoria’s greatest strengths, which is that combat is dynamic, and gradually but persistently escalates in intensity. Basically, in the early game you are weak but so are your enemies. By the mid game you’ve got more health, more spells, and probably some good weapon skill levels — but your opponents are much tougher to compensate. By the endgame the player is in a truly unique situation; you’ll have godlike spells and abilities allowing you to decimate entire armies, but there will be times that even this isn’t enough because the bad guys are throwing everything they have at you. What an adrenaline rush!!!

There are no shield rechargers in this campaign, which is a good thing because constant backtracking to rechargers is boring and can be abused to make difficult fights easy. Instead, Istoria features health canisters that you carry with you, and which can be used on demand. In this way, combat has consequences, because you only have a finite supply of canisters and can’t afford to waste them. I suppose it might be possible for a player to completely run out of canisters and then have a hard time completing the game, but for my two playthroughs on Normal difficulty I felt that combat was well-balanced and health canister acquisition was reasonable.

There is a custom HUD which shows all of the new class and experience information in an unobtrusive and organized way. The auto-map has a useful elevation filter which can help rationalize the display of levels which have large numbers of overlapping polygons. Corpses show up on the auto-map, and can be searched for loot.

In Istoria the player can go back to previously visited levels, and their state will be saved. At first I felt that this would be a bad thing, because the biggest, most common problem in all Marathon campaigns is getting lost with no idea of where to go or what to do. I knew that Istoria’s maps were complex, and I figured that the only thing worse than a complex map is several complex maps linked together, creating some sort of super complex mega-map that would be a recipe for getting totally lost. And…thankfully that just didn’t happen. Istoria was actually really good with telegraphing to the player where they need to go and what they need to do. Terminals provide maps, pictures, and useful information. Levels may be complex, but they feature routine use of prominent landmarks so the player doesn’t get lost. Hitting switches or wires will usually have a visual cue as to what just got triggered. Furthermore, many levels feature non-linear gameplay so it doesn’t matter in what direction the player goes, they will eventually end up at their objective. The only improvement that could be made here is that maybe some of the locked doors could show up on the auto-map? For example, maybe a door that requires a red keycard could be labelled “red door” on the auto-map? But, in any case, Istoria’s levels were easily navigable; there were no hellmazes or obnoxious puzzles to mess with the player.

It should also be noted that traveling between levels isn’t just a neat gimmick that the devs added for the novelty factor. There is a point in the campaign when, for both plot and gameplay reasons, the ability to travel to previous levels becomes incredibly important. I’m hesitant to say more due to the spoilers involved, but basically the ability to travel between levels allows for some amazingly intense gameplay/firefights that would not have otherwise been possible. Even better, the devs essentially “coach” the player on how level transit will become important later, by assigning a few minor missions that require getting a keycard from another map to open a door on the current map. This is really solid level design.

A common mistake in many Marathon scenarios is to have monsters that don’t activate correctly for some reason or other. However, despite the massive number of enemies in Istoria, incorrect monster triggers were never an issue. This appears to be due to a new innovation that the player will never see unless they open up the Weland mapmaking tool. Basically, the devs have figured out a new way to have monster triggers using goal objects. This makes sure that firefights trigger correctly no matter what direction the player is coming from, and allows for some pretty impressive set-piece battles. Furthermore, enemy AI has been improved; for example, Pfhor drones are now capable of taking evasive action to avoid the player’s attacks.

Istoria features a new soundtrack which can change based on what is happening in-game. For example, when the player enters a new area, or a major ambush triggers, that can be reflected in the soundtrack.

There is also a Survival mode that is completely separate from the main campaign. There are a large number of maps to choose from and your goal is to survive as long as possible while getting the highest score possible. It’s pretty hard to survive longer than ten minutes!

Istoria features lots of new graphics. There is some great terminal art, new in-game textures, a new main menu screen, and some beautiful landscapes that change according to the time of day. For example, if you spend a lot of time on one map that has a daytime landscape, if you return to that same map later it might have a sunset texture instead. This is the first campaign that I have ever seen do something like this, and it’s really cool.

Level notes:

Escape From the Sky: I had to spend a few minutes to familiarize myself with the new controls and magic system. I did appreciate that the player got some magic spells right off the bat. The dichotomy between the player’s human dropship and the surface of the alien planet was a nice touch, and the massive battle that breaks out after leaving the dropship was great fun. I also appreciate that the player will get weapons in the initial armory that are appropriate for their chosen class. For example, when I played as the fire-based Pyrotechnic I got a TOZT flamethrower in the starting armory, rather than having to wait to find it in the mid-game.

Upstream: These levels have great architecture that’s aesthetically pleasing and includes good use of lighting. I like that Istoria’s elevators are fast and usually have an option to drop off them; this may seem like a small thing but you’d be surprised how many scenarios have long, tedious elevator wait times.

Lockdown: The architecture looks like it serves a purpose. There are roads, a canal, and other identifiable features. Even better, the devs were able to show how the recent fighting has changed Istoria; for example, one part of the road is shattered.

Trimmed and Burning: The part in which the player must hug the cliff face was scary but I never fell off. Some of the secrets on this level were quite difficult to find. The combat also ramps up; I suffered my first deaths on the northern cliff area. At least I got to die with a spectacular sunset view on the horizon.

Central Command: This was my favorite level. It featured my favorite Istoria soundtrack, “Map All Arrivals,” which I thought synced well with the story of the level. That is because on this level the player is trying to salvage an increasingly desperate situation by breaking into what was once a major human strongpoint on Istoria; the music features some distorted radio broadcasts that sort of lend themselves to the narrative of a chaotic battlefield and a faltering human resistance.

No pun intended, but this level is the pinnacle of Marathon mapmaking. The tower the player must climb is the most impressive I’ve ever seen in the Marathon engine; it is a work of art. It even has an elevator in it! But then, after climbing really high to the top, you eventually get a key to the basement, and discover huge underground lava caverns beneath. Aesthetically, it was incredibly impressive.

Snake River: Architecture looks good and demonstrates functionality; there is a river bed, a warehouse, and a circular water sieve that looks very cool.

The Hot Gates: This is Istoria’s version of the Bungie level “What about Bob?” The lava escape is difficult but satisfying. The pitched battles against hordes of blue troopers in the streets really drive home the utility of certain magic spells.

Born Under Punches: As the player descends under the Central Command a theme starts to show, which is that you need to keep going lower to make progress. This becomes incredibly important both for traversing the current map, and for the campaign’s conclusion, as the theme of “go down” suddenly gets turned on its head. The Flame IADD mini-boss was hard, but the challenge was appreciated.

Don’t Sweat It: The player has now got some really powerful magic, but the opposition is so fierce it’s needed. The transition to the Jjaro structure, complete with music cue, was very nice.

Armageddon Games: So there is a branching endgame to reward players that paid attention to the plot; I approve! As far as the climactic ending sequence, it was exhilarating! It is definitely the most intense combat I’ve seen in any Marathon scenario. The final battles were one crowning moment of awesome after another.

In conclusion, this campaign is very professional and very fun. It does a lot of new things that have never been attempted before, and the execution is superb. All Marathon players owe it to themselves to give Istoria a try.

first things first, the maps just work. and not like how Todd Howard means it but it just works in general. i never seen through the map or fell through it or seen a missing texture or something overlapping. it was a great experience.

there has been much said about the maps but i'll just focus on the secret level.

the way you get there is by a chip in one of the levels. something about a temporal anomaly. if you played it then you know what i'm talking about. if you haven't i'm not spoiling anything.

i was certain by the way the room is set up where you can find the chip that it was supposed to be a switch puzzle. a certain order to flip the switches and the way becomes clear. its not, in the end you just flip one hidden switch. the others don't matter. it was... unexpected. but serviceable. kinda a letdown in my mind.

the second part is to find a slot to put the chip in of course. i figured out that it wasn't on the level that you get the chip from as i looked everywhere for the hidden switch. (which turned out to not be all that hidden) i was surprised that this 'temporal signature' stuff doesnt get mentioned ever again. i dont know what that was about. and really the only way i found out that i could even get to where i needed to go was that i got blown up one time and flew out the window. normally when you jump out a window you die when you hit the bottom (suffocation) not here though. i cant imagine how i would have found the chip slot.... i cant say that i agree with how hidden it is. again, why didn't the creator put in another hint like with the chip?

anyways, the secret level itself. a nice, very nice, doom 2016 like level. looks like an 8 on its side from the top. some elevation and plenty of spaces to hide. you get loaded with ammo for all your guns. plenty of fodder enemies to use the rocket launcher on. it was very enjoyable to blow my way through everything.

TLDR to get to the secret level is hard and inconsistent (introducing a temporal signature gimmick for a hint but then not following through with it) but the secret level itself was awesome.