==================================================== Introductory ramble ====================================================
[spoiler]When I remember an entire pack or map as being awesome, I remember
- One day
- Tower of shrakitha
- The last fortress
- Seven Bullets
- attacked
- ONP
- The landing
- etc
- The ISV dragonfly nightmare sequence.
- Various parts from The Chronicles of Weedrow (pokemon battle, final sequence, credits)
- The original unreal first skaarj encounter.
- Pretty much anything from the ONP credits
- The ruins of nali pente (This had a massive impact on me)
- The whole kira subplot. The ascent of the bell tower and finally finding kira in bluff eversmoking
- The controller boss fight in Xidia:The escape.
- The fight and lead up to the fight with the bishop (skytown reduxx)
- The whole intro of The Calling
- The tunnel run from my usp speedmap
- The first gameplay sequence of Legacy (Evading the Behemoth)
- Clearing out the fortress in One Day, followed by the flying sequence
- Many little things from the Tower of shrakitha (Nali and tray of drinks, ending sequence, boss fight, the smoke)
- Opening sequence of the vigil 99
- Most of Revelations Part 1
- Zora episode 1 (The maze, the island)
- Walking out and seeing that massive cliff early on in ONP (Can't remember the map name). Equivalently, the view at the end of the map, where you get to turn around and survey what you just acomplished
- Exploring the ruins in Shamuquest. My mind was blown.
- The attack on the village in the first map of nali chronicles
- The illhaven boatride, and other moments from this pack
Notice that, for example, the landing appears in the first list as conceptually grand, but I didn't list any particular moment in the second list that corresponds. Similarly, while I found the vigil 99 opening sequence to be fucking amazing, I didn't find the vigil as a whole to be anywhere near as conceptually grand.
When I remember the vigil, i remember the opening, not the rest of the pack.
When I remember the landing, I remember it being good, but with no concrete amazing moments that I can really name (Sure, i can remember the individual levels being cool, but there's nothing that really jumped out as an absolutely awesome, in your face, never been done before set piece)
Both are obviously memorable for the very reason that I can remember them, but to me it seems like two different reasons. One of them is memorable as a whole, one of them is memorable for a specific reason.
Of course the best packs will mix this up. For example the last fortress is solid as a whole, but also contains awesome segments such as the skybox anihilation, climbing the tower, crossing the bridge etc.
Similarly The tower of shrakitha is solid as a whole, whilst it also contains epic set pieces such as the tray of drinks, the deadly smoke, the boss fight, the ending map and extro, etc.[/spoiler]
==================================================== Back to actual topic ====================================================
Think back to your most memorable moments from USP single player maps and packs, and write a mini-review about that moment and that moment alone, making reference to the USP schema. Ideally it should be no more than a few sentences, although if you want to have an emotional rant with an extremly detailed analysis feel free Whilst I encourage close reference to the schema, which I have found of great aid in analysing levels, the final score is not important.
The scope and definition of a "moment" is left up to you, it could be a split second, a whole sequence, gameplay based or story based.
I'll start:
1. The ISV dragon nightmare sequence scores 100 hands down for me. The slowing down of time, blowing up of valves, foggy atmosphere, bloodshot screen overlay, scream, skaarj; The fact that you have total control over your player character but no matter what you do you're going to get fucked. It's bloody conceptually grand. The architecture, texturing and sound works flawlessly, the idea itself is great. There are no bugs. The story is implicit in the situation. It's just a great moment.
2. The attack on the village at the begining of nali chronicles is golden. The locals get charactarisation, and serve distinct purposes in the village. The architecture is a mix of old and new (the houses, the temple). The story drives everything. You end up at the top of the tower to do some training/see the priest. All of a sudden the skaarj attack. And this isn't just some skaarj pawns being made visable and plonked in the middle of the village; this is a full on attack with shit flying everywhere, nalis being slaughtered, a general atmosphere of "oh shit time to bail", a rush to the escape hatch. Everything about it is worth 100.