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	Re: Volunteers:The Slings & Arrows of Outrageous F
	Posted By: Mark Levin	Date: 10/8/01 12:43 p.m.
	In Response To: Volunteers:The Slings & Arrows of Outrageous Fo... ([Tycho?]) A few things to add... Unfortunately this was written before I spotted your post, so there may be some duplication. This level is BIG. It is far larger than any Marathon 1 level, it is much more detailed, and it will take much longer to fully explore. It is filled with little crevices and side areas, although the path to the end is fairly straightforward. It uses the new liquids as a major gameplay element, rather than scenery as in the first level. It mixes indoor and outdoor areas, something Marathon 1 was simply incapable of (unless you count G4 Sunbathing). The first thing that meets your eye upon teleporting in is the Flick'ta, the second of the all-new monsters in Marathon 2. It's not really that powerful, after the fighters have banged on it for a while a few running punches will take it out. The next new feature is the liquid that covers the floor, nudging you along. Be very careful when using the M-75 on this level, it's quite easy to shoot yourself in the face by launching a grenade when the liquid is too high. One flaw in this level that was fixed in the PC version is that it is easy to complete the level without ever finding the first terminal. There's no reason to go down that hallway once you see the charger and pattern buffer, and if you go up the stairs it will just slip your mind. Too bad; this terminal is quite important as it mentions more of what is going on in the world and shadows of things to come (one word, rhymes with psycho). As mentioned before, the level has tons of optional areas and secrets. The first of these is a door off the first flooded room you encounter, taking you to a small pile of ammo and a drone ambush. This place also has an oxygen charger, and a place to jump into a nearby slime river. The river itself has an island in it, which contains some ammo that's only reachable by approaching the river from later in the level. There's a semi-secret pattern buffer, reachable only by some columns and well-guarded. At the northernmost end of the level is the famous secret featuring the Fusion Pistol and some tiny Fighters and Lava Flick'ta battling it out under glass. Nearby is a ledge leading to a small ammo-filled island and a Flick'ta ambush. This ambush is tricky in that the Flick'ta can't get up the stairs to reach you, so they file out into the rest of the level if you let them, forcing you to hunt them down. Finally, when you're all done, don't leave through the last terminal; go all the way back to the start and read the secret message on the first terminal, in which Durandal confesses his greatest crime and outlines his long-term plans. "You and the humans", huh? ;P The new textures are... odd. Marathon 2 has my least favorite art of all the games, it just doesn't seem to fit the sci-fi theme of the game and it's especially jarring when compared to Marathon 1. Playing these levels with the Infinity textures is a significant improvement, but for the sake of accuracy I'm used a hacked Shapes file that allows me to run M2 on the Infinity engine with original textures.

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Replies:

	Volunteers:The Slings & Arrows of Outrageous Fo...	[Tycho?]	10/8/01 6:09 a.m.
	Re: Volunteers:The Slings & Arrows of Outrageous F	Mark Levin	10/8/01 12:43 p.m.
	Re: Volunteers:The Slings & Arrows of Outrageous F	Sidoh	10/8/01 1:02 p.m.
	Re: Volunteers:The Slings & Arrows of Outrageous F	ekul	10/9/01 9:20 p.m.
	Re: Volunteers:The Slings & Arrows of Outrageous F	Hamish Sinclair	10/8/01 1:54 p.m.
	Re: Volunteers:The Slings & Arrows of Outrageous F	David Curry	10/9/01 4:27 p.m.

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