The Echo
May
14
Story Description: A hero thought long dead, returns. Can you unveil what drove him to madness and foil his terrible plan?
Story Arc ID: 1688
Author’s Global Chat Handle: @Mrcaptainman
Length: Very Long (5 missions)
Alignment: Heroic
Designer Notes: Designed for solo, heroic play. Not very challenging, very story-heavy. Last mission is very long and should be played with the clue window open. Contains strong tonal shift.
You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll not regret it.
Similar Missions:
- Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
- Time’s Maelstrom
- The Hero Who Loved Me
- The Tragic Tale of the Clockwork Queen
- The Audition
Filed under: Reviews, Crey, Custom Critters, Freakshow, Heroic, Length: Very Long
Glazius
Says:
@GlaziusF
Playin’ on a low 40s DB/Fire brute, diff 2 so bosses is bosses. Mission Engineer is so close, so close.
Per the author’s request I will not openly comment on the ending.
—
So the Freakshow want a party girl, living in a party world. I get them.
Oh. Hired muscle. Well, they have the muscle and they’re easy to hire.
Unconventional intervention strategy, if that’s what the guy was gunning for.
—
You know, if this is for level 50 heroes, Crey is a discredited front for Julianne Thompson’s global domination ambitions.
But I can forgive this for HAHA SWEATER VESTS AND LITTLE BOWTIES.
Also someone else has noticed the magic pack’s wonderful inclusion of TWEED JACKETS.
(though you should probably put that guy back at the entrance as it was he and his squad surrounded me after I finished the last mission)
So… the guy I’m looking at got earthquaked and then earthquaked again.
—
Time to go sort through his old photos!
…hmm. A sonic device.
And there was a sonic tank, noted for dressing up like a Freakshow.
And a lot of the Freakshow are former Crey.
Are these things related? Time will tell.
Also I can forgive the whole Crey ‘accidentally’ opening fire thing because the setup is so funny.
—
Hmm. You know, I’m beginning to suspect how this is all going to end. Not going to say anything, though, but the current state of affairs seems far too obvious to be the whole story.
Very considerate. It’s not often that you find a doomsday weapon actually labeled “Doomsday Weapon”.
But where’s the module that makes shoes for orphan children?
Hmm. Though the Freak chatter here is a little worrying. It’s like this stuff is here just for the mysterious boss to establish himself as a threat.
—
I can see what you’re going for with the final mission here, but there are just so many places for the freaks and their entourage to hide, and I don’t really have a good sense for where the “areas” are. So the upshot is that I spend a whole lot of time jumping around over dead space and pounding tab, and half the time hitting on Freak minions who’ve rezzed behind me.
(the defeat boss messages are getting to HEY WISSEN levels of repetitively annoying here)
And it ends about like I thought it would, though not exactly for the reason I thought it would.
—
Storyline - ***. I don’t buy it. That’s all I’ll say here. The story sets up for something to happen in the last mission but the thing that shows up is the wrong shape.
Design - *****. Second mission has hilarious customs. Everything else is well-fitting for what it’s supposed to be.
Gameplay - ***. The end map is a lot of jumping over empty space. I realize to some extent this can’t be helped but that doesn’t mean it’s any less boring. And the end boss just saps and saps and saps. It’s not even very damaging, it’s just an empty blue bar.
Detail - *****. But everything’s fleshed out to the last bit, and it’s always worth it to check a description or bug the contact.
Overall - ****. Mostly this is because the last mission is such a comparatively boring letdown, which is not the shift in tone that was advertised.
Posted on June 6th, 2009 at 9:59 pm