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Projects » Masked Evil Chapter I; [Teaser]
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Masked Evil Chapter I; [Teaser]
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Author |
File Description |
defect (id: Devil Ranger) |
Posted on 12/08/03 @ 12:00 AM
File Details |
Version: |
The Conquerors 1.0c |
Number of scenarios: |
1 |
You are a slave, about to be sent off and sold on the Slave Market, that's if Lord Dante has nothing to say about it. He is sick of his enemies taking his citizens and selling them for their own profit. Things have to change.
NOTE: Not all player names are made... be patient for full version, coming soon ;) |
Author | Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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four hundred babies (id: Lord_Fadawah) |
Posted on 12/27/03 @ 12:00 AM
PLAYABILITY
Masked Evil is not a full campaign, but one of the teasers that is flooding the blacksmith at the moment. An epic fantasy from a Woad Studio designer, the full version should promise hours of exciting gameplay. However, this demo version leaves a lot to be desired.
For starters, it is very brief and (to use that Victorian word) skimpy. It depicts a somewhat cliche'd storyline, where a peasant named Adrian is captured by slavers, and then rescued by rebels. It would have been nice if there had been a bit of background information -- such as who he is or why, out of a village of people, it is HIM that the slavers have gone for. You are provided with no information whatsoever about the world that he inhabits, and the player is left guessing.
I couldn't help getting the image that the designer had put a minimum of effort into it, and you are simply raced through the various dialogue sequences. I found that it all moved far too fast, you are hurtled from one scene to the next with hardly enough time to gather your thoughts. The text messages seemed to be timed to run for less then ten seconds, and I frequently had to pause the game to catch up.
For this: I dispense a 3.
BALANCE
Since Masked Evil is basically a cutscene, it is difficult to tell what the balance of the full version will be like. In that (extremely short) playable bit, you command an army, and therefore it can be assumed that the campaign will be an FF. FFs are notoriously easy to balance, so I will give this campaign a fair score, even through it is literally impossible to lose, for the sake of the full version.
For this: I dispense a 5.
CREATIVITY
Masked Evil uses rather shopworn concepts, but it is put together in an entertaining fashion. The triggers were well done (even though they moved far too quickly). Slavers get ambushed on the road by archers, and longbowmen walk in line back to base. Also, this campaign makes use of "movie-style comments", where text rolls down the centre of the screen. Although its been done before, it still looks cool.
For this: I dispense a 4.
MAP DESIGN
In a word: great. When I used marco/polo (don't upbraid me, I like to have a peek!) the map was exquisitely designed and eye-candy abounds. Since this is just really a cutscene, you'd expect that most of the map would be blank. Evidently this is not the case with Masked Evil. The designer has taken the liberty of giving the player a full map, and for this I commend him.
For this: I dispense a 5.
STORY/INSTURCTIONS
As I've said: mediocre. The whole thing moves so d@mn fast its impossible to get a feel for the characters or the plot. By playing on slow, I was able to conclude that the storyline is a "rags-to-riches" one, dealing with Adrian's rise to prominance. Still, a little more attention to detail wouldn't have gone amiss. In all fiction -- particularly campaigns -- characterisation is very important. In Masked Evil, there is ZERO characterisation, and the player couldn't care less about the character.
Also, the lack of pre-game instructions hurts. I always like to have a nice chunky block of hints to read whilst playing a campaign, it feels sort of comforting knowing that you have some help to back you up if you get stuck. Masked Evil is a cutscene, however, and hints are not really necessary. But it would have been nice if there had been some background information.
For this: I dispense a 3.
ENDING NOTES
Masked Evil is very simplistic, but it promises a good campaign to come. Hopefully its faults will be corrected in the full version. Overall, its good to kill some time with, but attention to detail would make it so much better.
GOOD POINTS
-Sound triggerwork
-Engrossing map
BAD POINTS
-Text goes by too fast
-No background information |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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4.0 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 3.0 | Balance | 5.0 | Creativity | 4.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 3.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 762 |
Favorites: [] | 0 |
Size: | 78.06 KB |
Added: | 12/08/03 |
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