13/02/2012 - "The Massacre of Outpost One" by Sinistral

[Jigoku]

Map Title: Forgotten: Level 5 - The Massacre of Outpost One
Author: Andrew "Sinistral" Allison
From: Unreal: The Forgotten
Filename: Sinistral_Level5.unr
Music Files: Newmca16.umx Moroset.umx




Video Playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDeBxEgV2FA

Alternative Playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wavCivRu3Rg

Synopsis: The player sees a massacre at an outpost filled with Skaarj...

Discuss!

[Tarydax]

I really liked the outdoor area, but the indoor sections bored me. That isn't to say they were badly made, I just didn't think they were as interesting as the outside section. The gate at the end was pretty cool, though.

[TheIronKnuckle]

STILL haven't played this

[AlCapowned]

I really liked all of the snowy outdoor areas in this pack. I didn't think the gameplay in this map was too exciting, but I still had fun with it.

[redeye]

Dang, never seen this before, geez..............

[Mister_Prophet]

The layout and the gameplay get more interesting inside, though precipitation is always a treat to behold in Unreal. I like the interconnection of the inner base, using console interaction and destruction to bypass areas, and also secrets like busting open a sealed locker to get items and the appearance of enemy ambushes. The touch of previous battle is also something I like to see, even if the decal use is odd sometimes (botpack's blood can be hard to use in variation). These are the kinds of things I would put in my own SP maps.

I do think the juxtaposition of textures for the facility make it too nonspecific to linger in the player's mind, though passable as a location. Some doors looked off visually.

[Doublez-Down]

Not sure if this is the map that was so damn long and big I could never figure out how to finish. It might have been the one before this though. I enjoyed this pack overall and also enjoy Sinistral's scale and broad brush style of mapping. It brings back a definitive Unreal flair not seen in a lot of maps.

[salsaSkaarj]

Not sure if this is the map that was so damn long and big I could never figure out how to finish. It might have been the one before this though. I enjoyed this pack overall and also enjoy Sinistral's scale and broad brush style of mapping. It brings back a definitive Unreal flair not seen in a lot of maps.

It is a long map but not one I would call damn long. It's one of the few maps where there's a medium long outdoor section, followed by an outdoor section with lots of going into an back out of hangars (with the roof entry been a tricky one to find) and then followed by a lengthy well scripted and sometimes ingenious inside section. I found this a difficult section, both in terms of enemy resistance and the exit puzzle.
Although the whole of Forgotten has easy parts followed by really tricky parts (or vice versa), the gameplay balance is quite good but for the last level where the spawning Skaarj pissed me off.
This map had just about everything right I thought and was downright perfect up to entering the main building after which I sometimes became disoriented (which I probably something to do with me, it ain't the first time I get lost in a map). I used to think that it should have been split into 2 maps but after playing through it a couple of times I started to understand the buildup and realised that making it two seperate maps would break the flow of the story and the tension. It's not the best map of the pack but (as Doublez-Down said) it's probably the most Unreal reminiscent map in the pack.

[Semfry]

I didn't realise there was already a playthrough until I had already recorded mine, so I posted it as an alternative.

I think I said the last time a Forgotten level was posted that I found the later Human parts weaker than the earlier ones, but this one is mostly fine. There's a nice progression here, with the movement from the combat based exterior environment to the slower paced interior ones. The visuals aren't too great, but there are some good details, especially on the outside (like the antenna), and there's something about the way the initial outdoor waterway transitions into a sort of cove that I like. Even with the patch the gameplay seems a bit unbalanced though; there's very little health and a lot of potentially near-unavoidable damage such as Snipers. On normal it's not too bad, but on Unreal lots of saving (or extreme memorisation) would be near-necessary. The indoors could also do with a bit more ambient light as trying to shoot stuff hidden in darkness gets irritating; maybe it was for creepy effect, but I think saving that for just a few parts would work better.

[UB_]

Forgotten was pretty easy as a whole. Also I don't recall seeing footprints on the snow.

[Maxer 64]

Forgotten was pretty easy as a whole. Also I don't recall seeing footprints on the snow.

It's a new thing for patch 227 for unreal. The footprint can dissapear I think. Footprints kinda happen in certein places like on WoW. Ex: Snowy places like Gala's Peak, some grassy places like Noork's Elboe and Nyleve Falls, every once and a while on wood, ect.

[StalwartUK]

Windows 95 PC BSOD = Best moment ever.

Seriously though, not a bad level. The author made good use of several texture sets and they went together quite well. The falling snow was a nice touch. Having never seen any gameplay or having played this pack before I am now intrigued and may check it out sometime.