Saturday, October 25, 2014

Project Uran

Author: Ronboy (Mike Smith and Ron Smith)
# of levels: 2
Rating: 8.5/10
Difficulty: Easy to Medium (1st level), Medium to Hard (2nd level)


****************NOTE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS. DO NOT READ ANY MORE IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED PROJECT URAN YET.***********************

Project Uran is a 2 level addon, and the sequel to Greenbrier on the Rhine. Ron and I were the authors of this addon.

Like Greenbrier, there are 2 maps in this mission. Although the Greenbrier and Uran levels aren't connected (your ammo, stats, etc. aren't carried over), the story and setting are indeed connected. The difficulty is easy to medium for the first level (because the zombies are easy), and medium to hard for the second level (because some of the Nazis are tough).

Continuing where Greenbrier finished, you and your escort must navigate the underground tunnels, looking for any intel as well as the escape route. Expect the unexpected, because some surprises await you...

The lighting in both maps, especially the first map, is mostly dark. It's recommended to turn up your monitor brightness, turn off any light sources in the room, or anything else that might make viewing your screen difficult.

The story involves an idea that has never been used in a Rtcw map before: uranium! That's why the addon's name is Project Uran (Uran means uranium in the German language). To get a full understanding of the story, you should read the clipboards and letters that are available in both maps.

The enemies are:
~ Zombies
~ Warrior Zombies
~ Femzombie (Zombie Marianna)
~ Flame Zombie
~ Nazi Soldiers
~ Nazi Officers
~ Scientists
~ Mechanics


The enemy weapons include:
~ MP44
~ Luger
~ Sten
~ K43 Rifle
~ Silenced Luger
~ MG42
~ Mauser Sniper Rifle

Like Greenbrier, the enemies and their weapons aren't full of variety. Despite that, Project Uran is still a fun addon to play, and is a good sequel to Greenbrier. The notebook (N key) is not empty like it was in Greenbrier. The 2 new custom weapons (MP44 and K43 Rifle) are available in Project Uran, but not Greenbrier.

The installation of Project Uran is very different than the installation of Greenbrier. I won't list the instructions here, since this is a review. You can find the instructions and other information on the readme file provided with the Project Uran download. The maps will not work correctly if you don't follow the instructions. Don't let that discourage you from downloading the addon, because you should only have to install it once.

With Project Uran, there is a good amount of custom music, textures, and more that make the addon more unique. You will be fighting zombies in the first map, and Nazis in the second map. One thing that got my attention was the issue of lag (low fps) in the second map. This is partly due to the map not being "fully" optimized, but it also could be caused by using an old computer. I didn't have any problems on both my mapping and gaming computers (both are running Windows 7), and most of the players haven't reported any lag problems, so I'm not going to fix it. To those of you who are receiving lag, I will try to optimize any future maps to the best of my ability, which will hopefully reduce the lag issues.

About treasure/secret areas, there aren't any secrets, but the first level has some treasure that you should be able to find easily. I know that the lack of secrets is disappointing, but that doesn't make Project Uran bad.

That's all I really have to say about this addon. Thanks for reading!

General Red's playthrough of Project Uran (Part 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ATSbPYi-mI
General Red's playthrough of Project Uran (Part 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcf4QDX_jXc

Walkthrough by Vicpas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1uCj2BUVU

My playthrough of Project Uran (Level 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPmXtQ3_0d4&list=PLYWhrG56_-7pUvaR1ykuZIN4zz8n8xeOR&index=28
My playthrough of Project Uran (Level 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyMubVWVWaA&index=29&list=PLYWhrG56_-7pUvaR1ykuZIN4zz8n8xeOR


Yo$hik's playthrough in "extreme quality": https://goo.gl/w6191B






Monday, July 28, 2014

The Fortress 2 (Version 1.1)

Author: Vicente Pasquino (Vicpas)
# of levels: 6
Rating: 8.8/10
Difficulty: Easy to Medium

The Fortress 2 is an addon for Rtcw sp developed by Vicpas. Development for this project took a few years, but finally Vicpas finished the project as an "almost perfect" addon.

There are a total of 6 maps. One of them is just a cutscene. The difficulty is easy, but tough in some areas, giving it a "easy to medium" difficulty. You are dropped near a German occupied fortress via parachute, and there are a variety of enemies to fight.

The enemies are:
~ Lopers
~ Proto soldiers
~ Super soldiers
~ Normal infantry soldiers
~ Officers
~ A scientist
~ Mechanics
~ Marianna Blavatsky
~ Venom/Flamethrower soldiers
~ Eva (Half dressed woman)
~ Zombies
~ Flame Zombies
~ Warrior Zombies
~ Olaric
~ Femzombie (green zombie)
~ A elite guard
~ Black Guards

The enemy weapons include:
~ MP40
~ Mauser Rifle
~ Luger
~ MG42
~ Silenced Luger
~ Sten
~ FG42
~ MP44
~ Flamethrower
~ Venom
~ Panzerfaust
~ Tesla
~ Grenades

As you can see, most of the enemies from the original Rtcw maps are present in The Fortress 2.

There are also some civilians and Allies:
~ A Inge (Female Civilian)
~ (Russian?) Partisans

The partisan weapons include:
~ PPSH
~ MP40
~ Scoped Mauser
~ Mauser Rifle

I'm not sure if these partisans are Russian or not, because they have red colored uniforms, similar to those of a Russian partisan/soldier.

The partisans make their appearance in the map "level3", as they are attacking a German facility and need your help. The Inge also appears in this map. Don't kill her! :)

I like the variety that The Fortress 2 has to offer. The setting varies from military complexes to crypts. Each level in The Fortress 2 gives you a few objectives, or many objectives. The notebook (N key) works, and can be very helpful with keeping track of your objectives.

Each level contains a secret area or two, as well as treasure.

Each level also has a briefing screen, similar to the original Rtcw maps. There is a custom main menu as well as a new loading screen instead of the default black screen with the Wolf logo in the bottom right corner. Another treat from Vicpas is a wallpaper, which can be found inside the folder for this addon.

There are a few custom sounds, textures, models, and more. The Fortress 2 used to have many bugs and errors, but thanks to my private testings, The Fortress 2 was "almost perfect", as stated by Vicpas in an email to me. I was happy to help in any way I could.

You are given the choice to play with or without the new weapons from the "Additional Weapons Mod" by Alexandre, as well as new weapon sounds.

The opening cutscene to The Fortress 2 is really interesting. We see an American plane being attacked by anti-aircraft fire. BJ is then seen jumping out of the plane in a parachute. From there, he begins his mission!

I don't want to spoil too much, so that's all I will mention regarding what happens next. You may wonder why The Fortress 2 has a rating of 8.8/10, despite being free of many bugs and errors. This is simply because most of the maps are "too easy", at least in my opinion. At least there are some challenging segments to make up for the easiness.

While I enjoyed the use of the default music, it would have been nice to have at least one custom music used in The Fortress 2. Other than that and the "too easy" difficulty, I think The Fortress 2 is worth playing.

My playthrough of The Fortress 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeJcWier8ew&list=PLYWhrG56_-7pUvaR1ykuZIN4zz8n8xeOR&index=30

General Red's playthrough:  http://goo.gl/HJvHF3

Yo$hik's playthrough in "extreme quality": https://goo.gl/716u4j




Sunday, April 6, 2014

Generator

Author: Ken "Kat" Beyer
# of levels: 3
Rating: 8.5/10
Difficulty: Easy to Medium

For about 10 years or so, Kat, who is the author of Mages Skulls, Relic Hunt, and Castlekeep, had supposedly abandoned the development of his Generator project. But a few years ago, Me, Vicpas, and some other Rtcw fans were able to convince Kat to continue development with the project.

A few months ago, Kat sent Generator to me and Vicpas for testing. We helped Kat find bugs and also gave him some suggestions for the gameplay. And in April of 2014, Generator was finally released to the public as a final version, after about 10 years of development.

The story of Generator is simple: the player (I'm not sure if it's BJ or someone else) is sent on a mission to destroy some Generators that control water processing. Unlike the other maps by Kat, there are no zombies or anything related to the occult. You will be encountering the following:
  • Guards
  • Mechanics
  • Scientists
  • One officer
  • Two Supersoldiers
  • One Protosoldier
The weapons that the enemies have include:
  • Mp40
  • Luger
  • Mauser Rifle
  • Panzerfaust
  • Venom
The first level was great. I was expecting at least one zombie in the graveyard area, but I was disappointed when none appeared. There are 2 gold bars hidden in the graveyard. You will need a grenade to gain access to the treasure.

On the second level, the player must rescue a British spy who is being held prisoner. When he is rescued, he somehow runs out of his cell armed with a mp40, then stands guard by the gate. He will leave when the player enters his cell, which triggers a cutscene showing the spy leaving.

All 3 levels have custom notebook entries and clipboards, which is very creative. There is a secret area on level 2, which contains a gold bar. It's under a flag, near the area where the prisoner is being held.

Another secret area on level 2 is behind some barrels and crates. You will need a grenade to destroy them. This secret area contains some ammo and a flak jacket.

Level 3 is the final level. You must not kill the unarmed scientists, otherwise the mission will fail. The "don't shoot" icon for the crosshair does not appear on these unarmed scientists, so be careful who you shoot. The proto and supersoldiers mentioned above appear in this level, so watch out. The protosoldier has a panzerfaust, and the 2 supersoldiers have venom guns, so I would be more concerned about facing the protosoldier.

There is a secret area somewhere on level 3, but I have no idea where it is. All I know is that it doesn't have any treasure, since the mission stats at the end of level 3 say "Treasure 0/0".

You need dynamite to destroy the first 2 generators, but the other 2 can be destroyed with grenades. Throughout all 3 levels, you will need grenades to destroy structures and access secret areas, so make sure to conserve your grenade supply.

The enemies of Generator are fairly easy to kill. If you have any difficulty, it will probably be on the last level. Health and ammo are plentiful, so you should be fine.

I will admit that Generator isn't as great as Mages Skulls and Relic Hunt, but it's still a great addon. Generator lacks a custom menu, when compared to Mages Skulls and Relic Hunt. Despite this, I think Generator is worth playing.

If Kat starts on another project for Rtcw, I suggest it to have the occult theme, since Kat makes great maps with a great atmosphere when doing the occult theme.

My playthrough of Generator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVS6BUmwPzM&list=PLYWhrG56_-7pUvaR1ykuZIN4zz8n8xeOR&index=23

Walkthrough by Vicpas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN9-vgy5QM0

General Red's playthrough: https://goo.gl/csXSJv

Yo$hik's playthrough in "extreme quality": https://goo.gl/BuK4jl

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Industrial Espionage: Engineer Assassination

Author: W0lfman
# of levels: 1
Rating: 9.5/10
Difficulty: Easy to Medium

W0lfman has released yet another map in the Industrial Espionage series. This time, BJ must assassinate a high ranking engineer that is paying a visit to an industrial facility. The main objective, which is to kill the engineer, can be achieved at the very beginning of the map.

I saw a few design errors, and the engineer was basically unprotected from the wrath of BJ, which is why I gave this map a 9.5/10. The other objective is simply to escape the facility. While this map is more interesting and slightly more challenging than Industrial Espionage: Threat Assessment (W0lfman's last map release), I think that the few design errors that remained in the map could have been eliminated, and the difficulty level could have been harder than it was.

While W0lfman's last map release didn't have any cutscenes, this map has 1 at the beginning, showing the engineer getting stuck in an elevator, which once again showed some humor that W0lfman has. =)

There are 2 secret areas in this map. I found both of them, and also completed the map on my first try, without dying and cheating. The enemies in this map include:

  • Guards (Soldiers)
  • Scientists
  • Mechanics
  • Paratroopers
  • One officer
The enemies weapons include:

  • Luger
  • Mp40
  • Fg42
As you can see, this map doesn't have much variety as far as enemies are concerned. But that's understandable, given the setting of this map.

Back to the secret areas. Both of the secrets can be accessed from the same room. The 1st secret has a mauser rifle, fg42, ammo, and health. The 2nd secret has an armored helmet, 792mm ammo, and health. There are also a sniper scope and small health pack hidden in one of the big rooms.

One thing I found strange was a vent system that can't be accessed, but was fully textured (I investigated the map using the noclip cheat after I had completed the map without cheating.) Maybe W0lfman was thinking of making this vent system into a secret area, but the idea was scrapped?

Just like W0lfman's last map release, there is no working notebook, and the map uses only default content. Despite this, the map is an interesting piece of work from W0lfman, and I hope to see more in the future.

One more thing. Although the map ends with the credits screen like any map should, I don't see how this is connected to the last map (Threat Assessment). The player starts this map outside a vent system, and in Threat Assessment, the map ended at a door. I just think that there should be a connection with these maps. After all, they are in the same series (Industrial Espionage).

My playthrough of Industrial Espionage: Engineer Assassination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUMc-k3o4tE&index=21&list=PLYWhrG56_-7pUvaR1ykuZIN4zz8n8xeOR


General Red's playthrough of Industrial Espionage: Engineer Assassination: http://tinyurl.com/nq7ad4u


Walkthrough by Vicpas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAQGIBXTAhs

Yo$hik's playthrough in "extreme quality": https://goo.gl/eB6Q1m

Monday, January 20, 2014

Wolfram (Wolf 3D Episode 1: Escape From Castle Wolfenstein)

Author: Chain Studios
# of levels: 10
Rating: 8.5/10
Difficulty: Easy, Medium, or Hard, depending on what difficulty level you choose

I am reviewing something a bit different today. It's not an Rtcw mod, but rather a complete remake of Wolfenstein 3D. This game, titled Wolfram, uses an engine that allows modern fps features (ironsight, jumping, crouching, etc...). Wolfenstein 3D didn't have these features, and the graphics were terrible by today's standards.

Wolfram has modern graphics, light flickering effects, sparks, fire flames, and nice shadow effects. It's basically like Wolfenstein 2009, but a much better game, in my opinion. This game is basically exactly like Wolfenstein 3D, using many sounds and music from the original game.

This game had a chance of getting a perfect score of 10/10, but there were a few issues and things I didn't like. First of all, the sound effects for the enemies were too low. It was hard to hear them, especially over the loud gunfire sounds. Second of all, the maps were lacking detail. I realize that the Wolfenstein 3D levels also lacked detail, but it wouldn't have been a bad idea to add more detail to the rooms, in my opinion.

The music, which is ported from Wolfenstein 3D, is great, but it does sound a bit unclear. But that's understandable, since the music is ported from a 1992 game. The models and textures are all in HD, and are very welcoming.

However, I didn't like the idea of items and weapons floating in mid-air. Also, the achievements feature made this game seem a bit like a console game, which I didn't like. (I'm a PC gamer only, I dislike the consoles.)

Wolfram is a standalone game, and does not require anything else to run. It's a good idea to have a somewhat strong PC, because this game can be very demanding of a computer's resources.

The enemies in Wolfram are pretty stupid. They often shoot at a door after it has closed, and seem to have hearing problems most of the time. When I kill an enemy, the other enemies ignore the death of their friend. Sometimes, an enemy will be looking away in another direction, even after he has seen the player.

There are some positive comments I have on the enemies as well. After injuring an enemy, sometimes he runs away to another room for protection. Sometimes the enemies follow me wherever I go.

The enemies in Wolfram aren't horrible, but they do need some improvement. Actually, the Wolfenstein 3D enemies were smarter in some aspects than Wolfram's enemies.

Wolfram includes all 10 levels from the first mission of Wolfenstein 3D (Escape from Castle Wolfenstein). This game would have been more interesting if it would have had all 6 missions from Wolfenstein 3D.

The weapons in this game include:
  • Knife
  • Luger
  • Mp40
  • Mg42

Just like in Wolfenstein 3D, the enemies in this game include:
  • Guards with lugers
  • SS Soldiers with mp40's
  • Dogs (not German Shepard for some reason)
  • Hans Grosse with 2 chain guns.
The goal of each level is exactly the same as in Wolfenstein 3D: Find the key to the locked door. If you're a fan of Wolfenstein 3D, and want to play the first mission, then I recommend Wolfram, as long as your PC can handle it.

Teaser video: http://www.moddb.com/games/wolfram/videos

I do not own the video above. All credit goes to Chain Studios.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Operation Deathshead

Author: Ronboy
# of levels: 2
Rating: 7/10
Difficulty: Easy to Medium

I recently released Operation Deathshead to the public as a final finished version. The addon was originally supposed to be 3 levels, and have a beach area, but due to Rtcw's engine limitations, the beach had to be removed. As a result, the addon is now only 2 levels, with the first level taking place in a bunker, and the second level in a lab.

The addon isn't that hard, but the protosoldier fight and the enemies in the first level are somewhat tough. I used 2 new weapons from Alexandre's Additional Weapons Mod: the MP44 and K43 Rifle.
I also used a few custom textures, sounds, music, and models. The first level has no secret areas or treasure. The second level, however, has 15 treasure items (Gold Bars), as well as 1 secret area, which shouldn't be too hard to find.

You will have the help of a few Allied soldiers in both levels. The Allied soldiers have the following weapons:
  • Mauser Rifle
  • Thompson
  • Sten
  • Colt
  • Snooper Rifle
The enemies, which consist of mechanics, scientists, regular soldiers, paratroopers, officers, venom soldiers, and protosoldiers, have the following weapons:
  • MP40
  • MP44 ( a new weapon)
  • K43 Rifle (a new weapon)
  • Mauser Rifle
  • Luger
  • Panzerfaust
  • FG42
  • Flamethrower
  • Venom
  • Grenades
  • MG42
  • Silenced Luger
Health and armor are plentiful, as well as ammo. The story is good, in my opinion. This addon has a briefing using the style that the original maps used. The notebook also works (N key), and the second level has an intro cutscene, as well as a moving elevator, and a locked door that requires a key.

Operation Deathshead is a huge improvement for me, but I still have more improving to do. If you plan on downloading this addon, please read the readme file provided. Otherwise, the addon will not work correctly.

A playthrough of Operation Deathshead recorded by me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ8TLgYyks4

The level 2 playthrough is also available in the link above.

General Red's playthrough of Operation Deathshead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMSu36C1emw

Vicpas's walkthrough of Operation Deathshead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_PsfuEO4lk


Yo$hik's playthrough in "extreme quality": https://goo.gl/WkE0rH

Juho's playthrough: https://goo.gl/rf64K1

Vendetta (2013)

Author: Yo$hik
# of levels: 10
Rating: 7.5/10
Difficulty: Medium to Hard

Yo$hik has given his original Vendetta addon a complete remake. The addon is only available in a standalone version, which means the original game isn't required to run the addon. Unfortunately, because the addon uses a heavy amount of custom content, as well as the addon being a standalone game, the download is around 825 MB. Those who have a low amount of hard disk space and a weak PC may not want to play this addon, because it's very intense and demanding of a PC.

This addon is 10 levels long. Yes, you read that correctly. But remember that a few of these levels are just cutscenes with no gameplay. These levels are pretty good, with some great effects, but there are plenty of faults and errors I found.

For example, some of the objects (vehicles, trees, etc...) are not solid with the blocking of bullets. There are also plenty of design errors as well. This is a HUGE improvement compared to the original Vendetta, but I think Yo$hik should have had this addon tested for errors and other problems. In one of the levels, I was able to crawl through the window of a building, and when I turned around, a group of Nazi soldiers appeared out of nowhere. In the airport level, I was able to walk along the hill tops and see the edges of the map. In this same level, the sliding doors for the hangers trapped me and killed me if I stood inside the doorway for too long. Most of the doors in all of the levels kept shutting in my face while I was fighting the enemies. Some clip textures were blocking my bullets, causing them to miss their targets. Some bushes and shrubbery were solid, even though they shouldn't be realistically. Some of these errors I found caused me to die many times.

The enemies are VERY FIERCE. Many of them have perfect or almost perfect accuracy, making them very deadly foes. The enemies weapons include:
  • MP40
  • MP44 (a new weapon)
  • Luger
  • FG42
  • Mauser Rifle
  • Flamethrower
  • Sten
The FG42 and MP40 enemies are the toughest, since their accuracy is perfect or almost perfect. You will face mostly normal soldiers, a few officers, a scientist, a venom soldier, and a few paratroopers.

This is by far the toughest addon I have played (Timegate and Project 51 are the second and third toughest). Health and armor are not plentiful, so don't waste them. Every drop of blood will matter for the player. I played and completed this addon in a few hours, without using any cheats.

You will most likely die a lot in the last few levels, because they are extremely difficult. I liked the idea of the player being a female resistance fighter. When the player gets hurt, you hear a female sound instead of a male. It's obvious that BJ isn't the protagonist in this addon.

There are very few secret areas, and a total of 2 treasure items in just one of the levels. This addon is very time consuming to play, considering it's just a SP addon. You should have plenty of ammo, but health and armor are difficult to find.

After reading the above paragraphs, they will give you the reason why I gave this addon a 7.5/10. I'm hoping a non-standalone version will be released soon, so I can free up some hard disk space.

A few of the cutscenes show the OSA Headquarters, which is very nice. You will see Jack, Higgs, the Director, and Murphy. Murphy seems to be the one in charge, instead of the Director. I also like how none of the OSA guys knew that the agent was a woman. You will discover this in the final level, which is a cutscene. The story was nice, and most of the dialogue in the cutscenes is roughly translated into English. You may have to press the console key (~) to read the dialogues, because they aren't on the screen for long.

If you like trains, this addon will please you. The first level has the Flying Scotsman sitting at a station area. The 9th level has the player on a moving train, which is very cool, and something that hasn't been seen in Rtcw before. The moving helicopter in the 8th level, as well as the airplane bombing and the paratrooper attack were also nice additions.

This addon uses plenty of custom content. There are custom musics, sounds, textures, models, and more. Vendetta comes with an installer, which has real WW2 pictures in the background, another nice addition.

The main menu is the same from the original Vendetta, but the loading screens for each level are well done. But, there are no notebook entries when you press the notebook (N key), which is a bit unfortunate.

Overall, I think the new Vendetta is worth downloading, unless you have low disk space and a weak PC. I still believe it wouldn't have hurt to have Vendetta go though some testings to fix some design and gameplay errors that I found annoying.

Walkthrough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2B644RFdOw


I did not record the video in the link above. All credit goes to Yo$hik.


My playthrough of Vendetta: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWDd9QaE3Jw

Yo$hik's playthrough in "extreme quality": https://goo.gl/aiK32p

General Red's playthrough: https://goo.gl/cQB47z