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Volunteers -- arrival
Posted By: GrasshopperDate: 7/26/01 6:56 a.m.

Just completed Arrival, once again. :)

I never cease to be amazed by how beautifully constructed this level is. The assymetry, the expansive overlook over the hangar area, where our shuttle suposedly crashed (?), versus the claustrophobic mazelike area in the northwest. Then the compilers -- hacking away at Leela, and generally only attacking when provoked -- luckily, we only have to deal with one a time, and, luckily, fists are fast enough to prevent them from releasing their energy bolts. Arrival reminds me a lot of Ne Cede Malis in its general construction.

One nice thing about Arrival is that, provided you're conservative with your pistol, you can really stock up on Magnum ammo provided you do enough exploring. Hey, speaking of pistol, I was curious about one thing. The magnum, which reminds me a lot of Deckard's gun in Blade Runner, seems, from its construction, to be a revolver. And yet it loads like an automatic. Has this been discussed before? I remember someone bringing that up at some point...

And of course, Marathon opens with a trap. You take four steps to look at that enticing terminal, and you'll be rudely interupted in a matter of seconds. Especially on higher difficulty settings. That "main" dark room, with the two large windows casting light on the floor, is one of my all time favorites. It really gives the sense of being in the middle of nowhere, fighting alone on a ship overun by aliens. Scary.

Couple more things -- the pillar, to the right of the save term. What is it used for? There's a great section on the story page (can't remember where), that discusses how the pillar "traps" aliens on the demo versions of M1. You can hear them "call out" from within the pillar, which is pretty scary. I believe Hamish has some films of this -- worth checking out, but you'll have to either own or DL the correct demo version.

Also -- on the demo version, there's a single BOB that's hiding in a closet in the maze area -- anybody know why it was removed in the final version? He doesn't seem to detract from the story and, according to the level notes from arrival.bungie.org, he was supposed to be there all along.

Thoughts?

-gh

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Replies:

Volunteers -- arrivalGrasshopper 7/26/01 6:56 a.m.
     Re: Volunteers -- arrivalMark Levin 7/26/01 7:35 a.m.
           Re: Volunteers -- arrivalHamish Sinclair 7/26/01 12:10 p.m.
     Re: Volunteers -- arrivalAndrew Nagy 7/26/01 9:17 a.m.
           Re: Volunteers -- arrivalHamish Sinclair 7/26/01 11:54 a.m.
                 Re: Volunteers -- arrivalAndrew Nagy 7/27/01 5:07 a.m.
                       Re: Volunteers -- arrivalHamish Sinclair 7/27/01 10:25 a.m.
                             Re: Volunteers -- arrivalAndrew Nagy 7/27/01 4:44 p.m.
                                   Re: Volunteers -- arrivalHamish Sinclair 7/28/01 12:45 a.m.
                                         Re: Volunteers -- arrivalAndrew Nagy 7/29/01 9:15 a.m.
                                               Re: Volunteers -- arrivalHamish Sinclair 7/29/01 1:17 p.m.
     Re: Volunteers -- arrivalREB 7/26/01 9:49 a.m.
           Re: Volunteers -- arrivalMark Levin 7/26/01 10:28 a.m.
                 Re: Volunteers -- arrivalHamish Sinclair 7/26/01 11:49 a.m.
           Re: Volunteers -- arrivalHamish Sinclair 7/26/01 12:21 p.m.
                 Re: Volunteers -- arrivalREB 7/26/01 1:35 p.m.
                       Re: Volunteers -- arrivalMark Levin 7/27/01 8:12 a.m.
     Re: Volunteers -- arrivalLocucious 7/26/01 12:21 p.m.
           Re: Volunteers -- arrival7revor Smith 7/26/01 12:58 p.m.
                 Re: Volunteers -- arrivalHamish Sinclair 7/26/01 1:22 p.m.
     Re: Volunteers -- arrivalHamish Sinclair 7/26/01 12:29 p.m.
     Re: Volunteers -- arrival7revor Smith 7/26/01 12:49 p.m.
           Re: Volunteers -- arrivalGeebs 7/26/01 3:38 p.m.
                 Re: Volunteers -- arrivalMark Levin 7/27/01 8:17 a.m.
           mysterious start-locationSoapstone 7/26/01 8:53 p.m.
                 Re: mysterious start-locationREB 7/26/01 10:28 p.m.
                       Re: mysterious start-locationHamish Sinclair 7/27/01 1:18 a.m.
                             Re: mysterious start-locationREB 7/27/01 2:10 a.m.
                                   Re: mysterious start-locationHamish Sinclair 7/27/01 11:13 a.m.
                                         Re: mysterious start-locationSoapstone 7/27/01 12:04 p.m.
                                               whoopsSoapstone 7/27/01 12:11 p.m.
                                               Re: mysterious start-locationREB 7/27/01 1:50 p.m.
                                                     Re: mysterious start-locationWilliam Spencer 7/27/01 3:44 p.m.
                                                           Re: mysterious start-locationDatax 8/13/01 6:52 p.m.
                                                                 plot-hole-covering attempt #77Soapstone 8/13/01 9:27 p.m.
                                               Crabby Airlocks? What of it?Aaron Gaponoff 7/31/01 12:59 a.m.
                                                     Re: Crabby Airlocks? What of it?Son of Grd'nl 7/31/01 4:38 p.m.
                                                           Re: Crabby Airlocks? What of it?Soapstone 7/31/01 8:57 p.m.



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