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Author |
File Description |
bez |
Posted on 10/03/04 @ 11:54 AM (updated 10/20/04)
File Details |
Version: |
AoM: The Titans |
Cleopatra is under siege by Garagarensis' evil army. Can you survive long enough to defeat Gargarensis.
This level consists of a short cinematic leading into the siege.
Any comments welcome.
Thanks
Bez |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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Dax105 |
Posted on 10/29/04 @ 10:46 PM
"the evil army" doesn't strike a "wow this is going to be GREAT!" in my mind. The title is kinda generic and lacking. And the rest of the scenario looks slightly under playtested in some areas.
Playability: 2
The scenario opens with an OKAY cinematic and gives a the low down on what's happening. Although things start going downhill from there. You start out with a well built city in the start apparently defending from some evil army for no real explained reason other than their evil. The author did a good job of setting up situation I'll admit.
Sadly, their are many ways to abuse the scenario triggers and see things that the author didn't intend to see. For one thing the evil army is standing right outside the city in the side of the map. The same thing applies to the Oasis nomads. This really seems to cheapen the effect of an attacking army if they all stand out there and not attack all together. Then there seems a bug with destroying the market in the village on the other side of the river. The reinforcements never actually came to fight. A browse through the few triggers revealed they were set to spawn at the bottom edge of the map. Then there is the simple factor of sending the free roc you get at the start and seeing the large enemy units standing blindly in one corner and the statue seen in the cinematic. Somehow I don't think we were meant to see that.
There's also the thing were some of the army units weren't even used. A large number of Automatons just stood there with the army and never attacked.
Even after all that, I found that I could even beat the scenario in under 3:30 minutes easily. Since just killing the Cyclops Vanguards caused Gargarensis to come out and stand on the other side of the river with 3 slingers like an idiot, I just put 15 priests in the free roc, flew them down to the cyclops standing there doing nothing, killed some, moved my army via transport to Gargarensis and won.
Really, cheap ways like that kill playability.
Balance: 2
If you don't follow the way I mentioned above, the scenario is still very easy to win. Since the entire army is made up of myth units and about 9 chariot archers, pure priest and WE armies owned. I found I could even kill the Oasis nomads with my starting army and defend the base easily. Given Citadel walls and starting in the Heroic age made the game easy for an eggy.
Given also that you have a safe bundle of villagers farming on the other side, I found food no problem gathering. The only real problem is gold, but even then you can more than last with the gold mine given inside the base.
But by far the easiest thing that made the scenario a pushover is getting about free 80 pop. Just liberating the fishing village that strangly has 2 migdols and barracks also gives tons of free houses. Since you don't get attacked by anything because of the enemies spawning in the corner, it's a free ticket.
Creativity: 2
The idea of an evil army led by Gargarensis isn't the most original concept I'll admit. The idea of deleting your temple to stop nomad attacks seems like a good idea on paper, but there is no negative consequence to this. I'd think something like "Isis is enraged by the destruction of her temple, she extends her wrath!"
The shrinking of some of the enemy units and animals was different I'll admit. And the flowers around the citadel and the evil priest home was well done. But most of the map just seems... empty. Sure this is okay for a desert, but there isn't anything around that makes the map seem more interesting.
The only other thing worth mentioning is the sunken village, although it's never explained WHY the village sunk beneath the river. It didn't look all that interesting either, just some houses, towers, and military barracks you moved under water. There was a bunch of fish in the water too, but again they are all clumped in the same place by the dock.
The last thing to mention is the side farm thing right next the walls. That was interesting. Sorta. There's effort but some parts need improving.
Map Design: 2
Like I mentioned above, there are interesting things in the map. But the rest of the map (Which is about 62% of it) is bland, desert terrain with no mixing or evelvation. Some scattered trees and cliffs with 2 settlements.
I'm sure the author is about to retort "But there IS elevation! didn't you see it?" The answer my friend is yes, but this is all the random generated elevation you get when you make a new map. The mark where the map is changed from small to large is still easily visible.
Story/Instructions: 3
The idea as I stated before isn't the most original. But there were clear instructions and hints on what to do. But the one part of the story that didn't make sense was the sunken village, there was a mention of it the begining cinematic, but no were else was it specified why it sunk.
There is still the matter of why the army invaded. Sure they're evil, but more detail would be good. You know something like "The legions of the cyclops Gargarensis are planning to steal the sacred treasures of Isis!"
Additional Comments:
This scenario needs improving. Signs are obvious of laziness in some parts and playtesting. And it appears the author didn't put a great deal of time developing this scenario. |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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2.2 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 2.0 | Balance | 2.0 | Creativity | 2.0 | Map Design | 2.0 | Story/Instructions | 3.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 733 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 331.58 KB |
Added: | 10/03/04 |
Updated: | 10/20/04 |
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