10/02/2014 - "Nuk'Ratha Pass" by Willis

[Semfry]

Map Title: Nuk'Ratha Pass
Author: Willis "Nihm" Perry
From: Déjà Vu - Gryphon Revisited v2.01
Filename: USP-13-Willis
Music Files: Digsh.umx




Video Playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAri2rffehI

Synopsis: You come to a valley and mining complex where the Skaarj and Mercenaries are tangled in a conflict.

Discuss!

[Mister_Prophet]

Good map by Willis full of strong scripted combat between the Mercs and Skaarj. The look and layout is right at home with RTNP and ONP in some ways, with the player cutting through various locales at once to bypass the stretch of terrain, the last of it ending in a Tarydium Mine that I quite like. I don't think it's a very long excursion but it was good that we had some Merc action in Deja Vu.

[Hellscrag]

I do quite like this map and the scripted scenes are excellent, but when I play Deja Vu this is where I usually stall. Maybe it's the strenuous nature of the following couple of maps or maybe it's the return to broad daylight and very well-worn themes that I don't care for; I'm not sure. Also, the Merc leader Noork somehow emerged from Deja Vu v2.01 as the most disproportionately difficult boss fight in the pack. I'm not quite sure how that happened, as I don't really remember it being a problem the first time round... but perhaps the memory cheats!

[Mister_Prophet]

I remember when we were testing Deja Vu prior to release, I had been asked by Willis during testing of this level what to do about a possible "boss enemy" or strong enemy appearance. I actually made the original Noork Mercenary (the name and his stats were a joke) as kind of a placeholder example of what boosted enemies could look like for big fight sequences. I don't quite know how the pawn made it to any released version or how similar it was to the exaggerated enemy I presented Willis.

[Semfry]

A solid standard terrain and mine map. The Mercenary battles are the only real stand out parts but it has no major issues either (unless you have issues with the boss difficulty anyway, but I find it alright now) and implements some classic Unreal elements well.

Bonus points for Hellscrag "pissing blood" .

[Tarydax]

The terrain sections are what makes the map memorable to me (especially the waterfall at the start).