3 Responses

1. dugfromthearth Says:

   Storyline
   Design
   Gameplay
   Detail

   A solid low level arc. I happen to like Orabenga - and the maps there were well chosen. Confusing tunnels, but not a lot of portals or big rooms with hidden places, so you you could get through it fairly easily.

   Great story with the Hellions. It covered them well - the arson, the search for magic artifacts.

   I played it as a lvl 2 blaster (got to level 4) and it was well suited to that level range. I certainly recommend it over the standard dev missions for those levels.

   I would have liked to see more clues. I never understood what the Hellion runner was for instance (maybe I missed something).

   Posted on May 25th, 2009 at 9:06 am

2. Glazius Says:

   Storyline
   Design
   Gameplay
   Detail

   @GlaziusF

   Running on a low-40s DB/Fire brute, diff 2 so bosses is bosses, in search of Mission Engineer.

   —

   Ah, low-level gangbustin’. Good stuff.

   Mr. Runner lives up to his name. Good thing I still have my Nemesis staff.

   The police ally goes down to what are effectively dual ambushes - Runner’s guards and the actual ambushes. Thank goodness for inspirations. But I don’t think the second ambush is needed here.

   Ah, time to pull up a chair for storytime. Cops have secrets and all that.

   —

   ….wait wait wait wait wait. Dude cold murdered 20 people and he’s already out on parole? I mean, okay, maybe the Zig’s full up with people who tear down city blocks for jollies, but still.

   Bzuh? The Button Men are on my side? Not that I’m complaining about help as lowbie as I am now.

   Ah, okay. Looks like there IS a secret about them 20 murders. Thanks, enemy description!

   The HUD seems to think this is a defeat all but there are still Hellions running around when the mission completes.

   Ah, a dumbfire burnination machine from an ancient civilization, or whatever.

   —

   Man. Somehow running Circle on diff 2 gives me spawns with twin spectral demon lords.

   Not surprised I got beaten to the punch there, really. Wouldn’t be much of an arc if I just came back safe and sound.

   —

   Hmm. Final map’s nice but really a bit too small. The detective shows up within spitting distance of the end boss. Ah well, chug insps and charge has worked before, it’ll work again.

   Heh, this guy’s made of ally keep-away. Hot Feet AND Rain of Fire. Not that I’m complaining about them not being in range to get shredded.

   Also the description of what happens to Kindle would fit perfectly well as an end-of-mission clue, especially since there may still be some mopup to do so the system text gets scrolled off.

   But… if the idol was this easy to break why didn’t they just do it in the first place?

   —

   Storyline - ****. The story overall is great, but there are a couple of things right at the end that bug me - the last area is set up to be some kind of leyline focus, but exactly how the Hellions tie into it is never explained. And why not just destroy a statue that turns its possessor into a dumbfire magical inferno, if it was easy enough for a little dude like myself to do it?

   Design - ****. Great work on the small number of custom “guest stars”, and on using a map (the speakeasy) that I hadn’t seen used before to very good effect. But I am just a little bit weirded out by the last map with the ally so close to the boss spawn. He had Targeting Drone up too, so I was almost certain he’d start attacking as soon as he was free.

   Gameplay - *****. Circle Spectrals are a giant pain, but they’re not YOUR giant pain, so it all works out.

   Detail - *****. Very nice detailing job on pretty much everything. Just a couple tiny things I’d correct that I already noted in the main review.

   Overall - *****. Solid lowbie arc with a decent storyline and some nice guest stars. Needs a little more polish but brother, don’t we all?

   Posted on June 6th, 2009 at 11:39 pm

3. Adoniel Says:

   Thanks for the feedback, guys. Just made a last editing pass and slapped the “final” tag on it, and your comments helped me iron out the last few details that were bugging me.

   *Added another Leyline clue to tie in missions 3-4. Also added a few flavor clues to mission 3, it felt a bit dry.

   *Changed Detective’s dialog on the last mission. This fight was acting wonky for awhile, but the original intent was for the player to stumble onto Briggs and the boss just as they open fire. Seems to be working as intended again. /shrug

   *It’s meant to seem odd that the Idol shattered; Greenfield was stuck with the thing for years and never could break it.

   Thanks again. Ya’ll wound up giving me the most detailed (ergo useful) feedback of the bunch.

   Posted on August 18th, 2009 at 9:05 pm