The Battle of Endor is long passed, and the Empire is struggling to
keep what is left of it's former glory. Admirals are seizing territories
and trying to reestablish trade routes. One of their key routes runs
through the Anoat System, in particular through Bespin and Cloud City.
While en route to a New Republic Detention center, General Crix Madine and
his captive, Moff Rebus are pulled out of hyperspace by Imperial
Interdictors. Two escort B-Wings arrive at Coruscant with the news that
Madine and Rebus are headed to Cloud City where Madine is to be sealed in
carbonite. The New Republic sends Katarn and Jan to rescue Madine,
recapture Moff Rebus, and find any information concerning Imperial trade
routes in the area. Little does Kyle know that as he speeds to Cloud City,
so does Slave I and Boba Fett, dispatched by the Empire to finish off
Katarn once and for all.
Review by: Geoffrey Elliott |
To the best of their ability, the authors have made the players stay in Bespin every bit as satifying as if he/she were watching The Empire Strikes Back. The colors are accurate, the architecture reasonably close, and some of the scenes are incredibly reminiscient of the movie. If you look out a window you can scan the Bespin skyline; I was half expecting a cloudcar to fly by. The carbon freezing chamber is nicely done, with low lighting and that wonderful orange glow coming through the floor. And there's also a view from a window from which you can look out over the catwalk where Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker battled and Skywalker lost his hand. It sends a tingle down your spine to be transported into the movies.
The largest problem in the level, no matter what system you run it on, is the plotline. Not only would Moff Rebus have been transferred to a detention center for permenant housing long ago, but Boba Fett is dead as well, no matter whether you go by the Dark Forces timeline or try to make it fit with the Trilogy. And the prescence of the Dark Trooper can't be explained away for 8 meg systems. Lots of pieces feel like they've been added as an excuse, as I already mentioned, for the player to visit Cloud City. And if you only want to take it that far, then it's great; I have to admit that when I heard the voice of Boba Fett talking with the control tower over the intercom, I liked the nice touch. But if you want a really great experience, a level requires a good plot, and Bespin doesn't provide that. |
With
regards to the amount of effort put into this level by the authors, and
the dramatic touches that keep the level interesting, there's really no
way that Bespin can provide less than a positive experience for the user.
It could use some work, but it's fun just the same.
Review by: Jeff Walters |
From the moment you walk through the landing pad door at the start of
this level you can tell that a lot of work has gone into making this level
accurately resemble the Bespin from The Empire Strikes Back. The
architecture for this level is simply breath-taking, out of all levels
made, no other level captures the SW universe this well....you'd swear
you're in the movie, expecting to see Lando, Han & Leia strolling down
the corridors at any time.
There are dozens of locations in this level that are straight from the movie, the machine room where C3PO was almost burnt to ashes.....the walkway where Luke and Darth Vader fought......the room with the long table where Darth was seated waiting for Han & Leia....the list goes on. Every single location has a feel of it's own with virtually no repetition of design. It is hard to find faults in this level, but if you wanted to nit-pick you could say that for the most part it wasn't very hard at all, the only dangerous foe being a Phase One DT on Boba Fett's landing pad who is easily killed by shooting out the window without having to confront. The story behind the level has weak points, but is adequate enough. The level contains numerous new waxes which are mostly very good, particularly Lobot, though the Ugnaught does look kinda awkward. The few puzzles in the level aren't too frustrating or distracting and are well thought out. The level lacks a mission briefing LFD, but this was made in the early days when that wasn't possible, so don't make the mistake of thinking that it is a fault. |
Overall, this level is just simply special, and few levels can
approach it's architectual design and atmosphere. What makes it more
special yet is that it was one of the first made, and the level-making
tools available weren't as good as they are today.
|
Level(s) replaced: | SECBASE |
Difficulty Settings: | Yes |
New BMs: | No |
New FMEs: | No |
New WAXs: | Yes |
New 3DOs: | Yes |
New VOCs: | Yes |
New GMDs: | No |
New LFDs: | Yes |
New VUEs: | Yes |
Base: | New level from scratch |
Editor(s) used: | DFUSE100, CYRA, FRAMED64, FMECAD, XLS2EXE, THEDRAW |
Known Bugs: | Some clipping out on the platforms and in the carbon freeze chamber. |
Download Return to Bespin (bespin12.zip, 436k) |