22/04/2008 - "Titanian Temple" by EZkeel

[Semfry]

Some of the shitting on EZkeels works is out of control; they might have aged badly because of the poor visuals (with the possible exception of Legacy), but the scripting and attempt at a storyline (even if it's pretty disjointed) made them landmarks in Unreal mapping and the stepping stones to the more sophisticated packs we have today (though I'm curious whether they came before or after Hexephet and Tower of Shra'kitha), and they deserve their place in Unreal history for that.

How are you forced to use "useless" weapons here? Unless you were slow on the last level you have every weapon and enough ammo and health to destroy a few small countries (which could be considered a balance issue in itself). This is probably the most memorable level in Invasion for me; I remember being wowed by the courtyard sequence the first time I played it, and the sky darkening is still a pretty cool effect (I'd be interested in seeing it in a more modern map, although I guess the Strangeworld version sort of counts). Blowing things up to progress was also something that hadn't been done much in levels before this one (although the bookcases seem a bit obscure).

It gets kind of weak towards the end though, as the end areas are mostly just cube corridors (the earlier sections at least try a few other brushes) and the Merc section at the end feels pretty detached from the rest.

[Darkon]

Yes.. EZkeel is well known.. but the maps are aged.

As for a little more details in my opinion...
1. I didn't know I could blow up the bookshelves.. it's nice, but I didn't know. I was just pushing them, to find a button or something...
2. First area shows a little cuby thing.. an entrance that's closed.. and two Nali. How did they get there?.... there's no other way to get there...(or do they grow out of Nali fruit?)
2b. Krall blowing up the wall is nice.. but for me that didn't work.. Would've been nice to at least find another way to blow up that wall. My attempts didn't work unfortunately...
3. Rest is pretty blocky and stuff I've said before. The darkening/lightening sky was a nice touch. The shooting pyramid was nice as well.. but it would've been nicer, if the pyramid would shoot at YOU first.. instead of those Krall. With the same bolts it uses to shoot the wall at the gong, it would've been a nice touch I would think... Might as well take out those entrances to the underwater part...
4. Nice attempt to a different Titan. Skin isn't looking THAT bad, but it's easily recognized that it's coming from another creature...
Since you can hide everywhere, the fight isn't that 'entertaining'.
5. Next area... place where there is some ammo is n00bishly done... Pitty! Two little area's for enemies.. nice, but poorly executed. It's easy to kill those mercenaries... little room + grenades = game over for the mercenaries.

The movers, darkening/lightening sky take this level out of the gutter and make it memorable...

[Mister_Prophet]

I generally have to agree with MMAN with all the negativity that seems to be thrown around about EZkeel's maps.

But having said that, I do mirror most of the comments said here. The Titan fight was pretty one sided and the squid skin was just so odd I'm sure it had to have been a mistake. I think that fact got a special mention in my review, if I'm not mistaken.

[zbreaker]

Agree w/Mr. P.....I've always liked Ezkeel's work. Remember now folks...he was doing his thing at the very beginnings of UED and actually wrote tutorials which I'm sure some here have profited from, Actually...Legacy was a pretty ambitious undertaking for a single mapper given his admittedly limited mapping prowess, and while settings were somewhat *primitive* at times, he did spice it up with some interesting scriptings given the state of mapping at the time.........end of rant

[Jethro]

I never said I don't like technical aspects of Invasion (like scripted sequence) or storyline (sometimes twisted, but still there's a purpose in killing all those creatures, that's nice).
But, as said befeore architecture is strange and at least unbalanced - Massagula looked nice while the piramid on the second shot is simply primitive. Same goes for Legacy - White Palace looks great for me (although terrain around could have been better) while Tower of Eliah looks strange.
So, I'm not saying Invasion isn't something remarkable, I only say it's not something I'm really willing to play again.

[UB_]

EzKeel's works are good. They are worth to be played due to their unique contents. Also the storylines of his packs have never been bad.

Anyway, do we remember the old votes for both Invasion and Legacy?

2. First area shows a little cuby thing.. an entrance that's closed.. and two Nali. How did they get there?.... there's no other way to get there...(or do they grow out of Nali fruit?)

There is a door in the first area. I think the Nali can open it.

2b. Krall blowing up the wall is nice.. but for me that didn't work.. Would've been nice to at least find another way to blow up that wall. My attempts didn't work unfortunately...

Assuming you mean the Krall bolts!
Anyway, it would have made much more sense if something bigger was used to destroy the wall, like a ray. Krall bolts look way too weak for this kind of work.


And yes, Prophet, you mentioned the Squid skin in the review. Although I can't see it as a negative point since it worked well on the Titan.

[Hellscrag]

Anyway, do we remember the old votes for both Invasion and Legacy?

Yes. They seemed wrong from the start, and annoyed me increasingly over time!

[UB_]

Anyway, do we remember the old votes for both Invasion and Legacy?

Yes. They seemed wrong from the start, and annoyed me increasingly over time!

Good to know! :p

Just want to point out that this MOTW got the highest number of responses by far, in this forum.