Rather than delving into the scenario, I though that it might be a good idea to post some general comments about Marathon Evil to place it in context for those who may not have been around for its release. Although Evil may not have been the first Marathon total conversion, it was almost certainly the first TC for Infinity. There is a good reason for this - call it insider information, burt Randall Shaw (Frigidman) participated to a small extend in the development of Infinity and he was one of the beta testers. He had access to all of the new textures and, most importantly of all, to beta versions of Forge and Anvil. In short, he had a jump on everyone else. The Evil group was formed shortly after Infinity was anounced, making Evil's bebut on the heels of Infinity, possible. There is actually a fair bit of background on this in the Readme, so read it, even if Frigidman tends to ramble.
Compared to other, more recent TC's, Evil introduces little that is actually new. There are a few doctored textures, but the texture set is essentially Infinity all the way. All of the original sprites from Infinity have also been retained with at most minor alterations (the major cyborg shoots bullest instead of napalm, for example). The one major addition, however, is perhaps the best monster that has every been developed - the devlin. I would love to see someone try to make a devlin using a true 3D engine! The devlin has a very complex architecture, yet it moes effortlessly and it's motions of clawing at the player seem all too real. Now that I've had a chance to start playing Evil again, I have to admit that devlins aren't nearly as difficult to fight as I had remembered. They can even be fisted and are no more difficult to fist than a cyborg, but they certainly are more intimidating. And that is the key to Evil. The changes in terms of texturs and sprites may be relatively minor, but the entire feel of the game is, well, evil. The key to this is Frigidman's exceptional use of lighting, and the addition of a new set of sounds that match the mood. Frigidman is a superb mapmaker and he does a better job than almost anyone else in making maps that feel real. His storytelling is another matter, as we'll discuss in the coming posts, but Evil has a professional polish that was not seen again in another scenario until Rubicon's release years later. The Nardo group did a much better job of telling a story, which is why we discussed it first - this is a story forum after all, but the TI maps can't compare with the complexity and consistency of those in Evil. This is a difficult scenario in spots, but it is playable and there are few places where the player is left wondering where to go or what to do next without good reason. So play along with the volunteers and enjoy.
