Author: Depro777 (Denis Nevajno)
# of levels: 12
Rating: 9.2/10
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
Flying Saucers is one of the longest releases for Rtcw SP. Although 2 of the 12 levels are only cutscenes, leaving the number of playable levels to be 10, that doesn't stop this addon from being great.
Flying Saucers has been in development for a few years, and it was finally finished and released a few weeks ago. The author, Depro777, doesn't seem to have much confidence that this addon will be anything special, according to a conversation that I had with him. I don't agree with this, because Flying Saucers is great. When the addon was in the testing stages of development, it wasn't as great. But many errors were corrected to make this addon memorable.
I say that this addon is memorable for quite a few reasons. Keep on reading to discover those reasons.
To begin with, you are given the choice of playing the standalone version (having the original Rtcw game is not required) or the addon version (having the original Rtcw game is required). I played the standalone version until the addon version was released. Once the addon version was released, I removed the standalone version, because I prefer the addon version of releases.
The difficulty of Flying Saucers starts off rather easy, but it becomes more challenging as you complete each level. The toughest levels, in my opinion, are the maps darkles and karyer, due to tough enemies and scattered health. These 2 levels are especially tough, but you shouldn't have to resort to cheating in order to finish them. Just remember to save often, and conserve your ammo/health.
Some of the levels remind me of the original Rtcw SP maps (the default maps). The atmosphere also is similar to the original maps. The crypt levels have great ambiance as well as traps, zombies, and secret areas. The traps in the crypt levels are quite creative, such as a large boulder rolling down a narrow hallway towards the player. There are other traps too, but I won't mention them.
There are some moments of Flying Saucers that are quite exciting, like a truck ride in the map darkles, with enemies shooting at you as the truck drives by them. It can be difficult to survive at times, but you must keep trying. If I was able to finish Flying Saucers (without cheating), then anyone can finish it.
There are quite a few secret areas that are difficult to find. Even after playing Flying Saucers over and over, I still don't know how to access certain secret areas. The author was quite creative with the placement of the secrets, as well as the level design and special effects. You will have to take your time if you want to find all secrets.
Most of the content (or about over half) is default, but there is some custom content used. For example, there are 3 new and 3 (not quite new) weapons:
- MP44
- K43 Rifle
- Mosin Nagant
- TT33
- RGD-33 Grenades (only available in the standalone version)
- PPSH
The MP44 is a modified version of the MP44 from the Additional Weapons Mod by Alexandre. It uses it's own ammo instead of 9mm ammo (which Alexandre's MP44 used).
The K43 Rifle is a modified version of the K43 from Alexandre's Mod. But unlike Alexandre's K43, this one has a slightly slower firing rate. It still uses 792mm ammo like Alexandre's K43 does.
The Mosin Nagant is a brand new weapon that has never been used in Rtcw before. Some other World War 2 games that I know use this weapon are Call of Duty, Call of Duty: United Offensive, and Call of Duty 2. It only has 5 bullets per round, and you won't get any ammo for it obviously (since you will be behind enemy lines), so use it wisely!
The TT33 is the other new weapon, which has never been used in Rtcw before. This pistol was only available in other games like Call of Duty: United Offensive and Call of Duty 2. Like the Mosin, you won't get any ammo for it, so use it wisely!
The RGD-33 Grenades are another new weapon, which haven't been used in Rtcw before. All of the early Call of Duty games have these grenades available, and now they can be used in Flying Saucers! They can't seem to be thrown far, and they have a high damage radius compared to the German "potato-masher" grenades, so be careful when throwing them, and use them wisely. You have only once chance to get ammo for these grenades, and that's in a secret area on the map dep_lab.
The PPSH is the last custom weapon. The main differences between this modified version and Alexandre's version are: The default key to access it on your keyboard is 8 (it was 5 with Alexandre's version), and it will overheat if you fire it for too long (Alexandre's version didn't overheat).
As you can see, the additional weapons that are included with Flying Saucers help make the addon even better. There are currently no addons that have the TT33, Mosin Nagant, and RGD-33 Grenades included, so having them included with Flying Saucers was a great idea. It really makes the addon special when compared to other addons.
Some of the default content has been modified, such as the "potato-masher" grenades (they have a custom texture, but this feature is only available in the standalone version). Some of the default doors, walls, and logos have replaced what ever they had originally with a UFO (flying saucer) logo. You will see what I mean when you look at the textures yourself.
There are some custom sounds, models, and textures included with Flying Saucers. Some custom skins (for Russian soldiers and officers) can be found in a few of the cutscenes. There are also some custom skins for some of the enemies. Depro777 really put a lot of effort into making Flying Saucers unique.
Among the custom sounds are some new dialogue, which are thankfully in English. The English is not broken either, but the accent may be a bit difficult to understand for some players. There is a little bit of custom music (in the opening cutscene), but the rest is default.
The AI are surprisingly clever at times, and you will have to think things through before you make a decision. Like I said earlier, remember to save often, and conserve health/ammo.
Flying Saucers has a custom main menu, even if you didn't download the standalone version. The player's notebook (N key) works, and there are some custom clipboards and letters in some of the maps.
The theme for Flying Saucers is obviously the Nazi involvement with UFO's (UFO= Unidentified Flying Object). The space theme was tried before in a past release (Operation Redmoon by PolygonValley), but it was never finished unfortunately. That's okay though, because we now have Flying Saucers, which is much better!
The environments for each level will change, like from a snowy village to a factory complex to crypts. The whole idea and aspect of Flying Saucers is truly creative, especially since there are currently no (finished) Rtcw releases out there that use the space/UFO/alien theme.
The enemies that you will face in Flying Saucers include:
- Doctors/Scientists
- Soldiers/Guards
- Paratroopers/Blackguards
- Zombies
- Warrior Zombies
- Flame Zombies
- Lopers
- 1 Supersoldier
- Protosoldiers
- 1 Olaric
- 1 Priestess Zombie
- Officers
- Elite Guards
- Venom Soldiers
As you can see, there are a variety of enemies to fight, almost every enemy from the original Rtcw SP campaign.
The weapons of the enemy include:
- Luger
- MP40
- MP44
- K43 Rifle
- FG42
- Mauser Rifle
- Sniper Scope (Mauser with a scope)
- Flamethrower
- Venom
- Panzerfaust
- Sten
- MG42
- Tesla
- "Potato-masher" Grenades
If you read the credits, you will notice that I was one of the testers for Flying Saucers. I was happy to help Depro777 make this addon as error-free as possible. Despite this, there are some (rather small) errors that still exist (which is why I didn't give this addon a rating of 10/10), but they shouldn't affect your enjoyment.
Overall, it's great to see that another large project was successfully finished and released to the Rtcw community. I enjoyed Flying Saucers, and I hope that you enjoyed/will enjoy it as well.
That's all for this review. Thanks for reading!
Walkthrough by Vicpas: http://mikebwolf.wix.com/ronboyproductions#!New-Rtcw-SP-Videos-Uploaded/c12im/558f52dc0cf298ff2bcced8b
General Red's playthrough: http://goo.gl/eQuILj
Tatiana's playthrough for levels 1-5: https://goo.gl/0fPtua
Tatiana's playthrough for levels 6-10: https://goo.gl/bFyNvs
Yo$hik's playthrough in "extreme quality": https://goo.gl/vTRs66
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