Reviewing the first missions of a campaign is as stupid as reviewing the first chapters of a book. Without all the pieces, how can you hope to complete the puzzles? And yet, here I am, writing another review of Odyssey, this time of missions 5 through 9. Sometime in the future, this review might be as obsolete as the first one, but because this campaign only grows in quality, I felt it would be wrong to wait too long to write another one, especially when considering it might be a long time until this thing's finished.
One of the reasons I believe we see so few campaigns (apart from the sheer amount of work they demand), is that they require skills in so many areas: story-telling, terrain, gameplay, etc. Fortunately, Odyssey's creator has all those capabilities, and more. He continually surprise us, not just with his twisty plot, but also with his many cool gameplay variants. One of the missions begins with a beach raid that is part Saving Private Ryan and part Apocalypse Now (minus the Wagner), and just when you thought the fun was over and you have to take the rest of the enemy out with ground units, it is revealed that you can deploy air squadrons at any target you desire on the map. Is it OP? Yes, but it's also extremely cool!
Like an onion, you can peel away at the plot and reveal layer upon layer. Betrayals rarely come alone, and there are scenes with both great action and well-written dialogue, performed by characters that are both sympathetic and unlikeable, and always engaging. Meeks, the telepath ghost, emerges as one of the story's trump cards. He is a person you like even though you're never really sure how much of your trust he deserves. He's the kinda who can never truly prove his loyalty, no matter how hard he tries.
I do have some criticism, though. Considering how great the writing is, it is a bit sad to see it portrayed by so much lazy camera work. Very rarely does the camera break away from the isometric perspective, and its distance to the characters is a bit too large for my taste. It also moves far too rarely. In addition, many of the maps use the horizontal/vertical cliff structure too much (as opposed to diagonal cliffs), giving it an arcadeish look that's not up to par with the rest of the campaign's qualities.
It might be a long time until we see the end of Odyssey. The 9 missions that have been released so far are only part of the first act (which I believe run at 14 missions total), and the completion rate is not going to be setting a world record any time soon. Still, the last of the released missions is one of the campaign's best, not only because of its cool set-up and fresh gameplay, but also because it culminates in a cinematic that runs at a whopping 16 minutes in length (which has to be unrivaled, as far as I can remember).
What the campaign will bring in the future, I do not know, but I do know I'll be playing it, and you should too!
I don't usually do direct reviews like this, but I thought I'd make an exception seeing as I didn't see a thread by the mapmaker.
Odyssey
One of the reasons I started making campaigns instead of any other kind of map, was the severe lack of competition. If my intention was to stand out, I knew that I didn't have to do more than to create one that was just above decent (though I obviously didn't want to settle on just "decent"). Now, some 3-4 years later, the campaign scene is slowly starting to take off, and I can honestly say that it's going to take more to stand out in the crowd. One of the fiercest competitiors is Odyssey, which seems to have flown under my radar. Until now.
It's not a perfect campaign, but there is so much to commend. I don't think it needs to do as much exposition as it does (the background info presented in the tips is preferable to the wall of texts that open each map), but I'm happy to ignore that because the story has an identity. The mapmaker has truly put his stamp on his work, creating engaging and believable characters to populate his many memorable moments (there is a trial scene at the end of the third mission that is among the best scenes I've ever seen in a custom campaign).
The level of detail is amazing. You'll be dropped onto a world undergoing evacuation, and ships will brush your head as they pass you by. You'll try to cross a bridge, and when a large auto-gun blocks your path, you'll be forced to venture underground to disable its power generators. At one point, you'll be rounding up farmers who have yet to vacant their homes (one of the easiest objectives ever seen in a custom campaign, and one of the most realistic).
What quibbles I have are all mostly minor. There are some grammar issues, and because the campaign can only be found on the arcade, there are no saving opportunities apart from taking control from replays. There is also the fact that every time a character speaks, the transmission sound is played (which gets somewhat annoying in the end, though I may have gotten used to it). The use of portraits is also missed.
So far, I've played four missions, with the loading screen of the fifth waiting for my just as I type these words. I'll write more when I've got more to write. In the meantime, play Odyssey and keep on campaignin'!
Is that english?
Odyssey (cont'd)
Reviewing the first missions of a campaign is as stupid as reviewing the first chapters of a book. Without all the pieces, how can you hope to complete the puzzles? And yet, here I am, writing another review of Odyssey, this time of missions 5 through 9. Sometime in the future, this review might be as obsolete as the first one, but because this campaign only grows in quality, I felt it would be wrong to wait too long to write another one, especially when considering it might be a long time until this thing's finished.
One of the reasons I believe we see so few campaigns (apart from the sheer amount of work they demand), is that they require skills in so many areas: story-telling, terrain, gameplay, etc. Fortunately, Odyssey's creator has all those capabilities, and more. He continually surprise us, not just with his twisty plot, but also with his many cool gameplay variants. One of the missions begins with a beach raid that is part Saving Private Ryan and part Apocalypse Now (minus the Wagner), and just when you thought the fun was over and you have to take the rest of the enemy out with ground units, it is revealed that you can deploy air squadrons at any target you desire on the map. Is it OP? Yes, but it's also extremely cool!
Like an onion, you can peel away at the plot and reveal layer upon layer. Betrayals rarely come alone, and there are scenes with both great action and well-written dialogue, performed by characters that are both sympathetic and unlikeable, and always engaging. Meeks, the telepath ghost, emerges as one of the story's trump cards. He is a person you like even though you're never really sure how much of your trust he deserves. He's the kinda who can never truly prove his loyalty, no matter how hard he tries.
I do have some criticism, though. Considering how great the writing is, it is a bit sad to see it portrayed by so much lazy camera work. Very rarely does the camera break away from the isometric perspective, and its distance to the characters is a bit too large for my taste. It also moves far too rarely. In addition, many of the maps use the horizontal/vertical cliff structure too much (as opposed to diagonal cliffs), giving it an arcadeish look that's not up to par with the rest of the campaign's qualities.
It might be a long time until we see the end of Odyssey. The 9 missions that have been released so far are only part of the first act (which I believe run at 14 missions total), and the completion rate is not going to be setting a world record any time soon. Still, the last of the released missions is one of the campaign's best, not only because of its cool set-up and fresh gameplay, but also because it culminates in a cinematic that runs at a whopping 16 minutes in length (which has to be unrivaled, as far as I can remember).
What the campaign will bring in the future, I do not know, but I do know I'll be playing it, and you should too!
Didn't know there were custom campaign hipsters. :p
I don't usually do direct reviews like this, but I thought I'd make an exception seeing as I didn't see a thread by the mapmaker.
Odyssey
One of the reasons I started making campaigns instead of any other kind of map, was the severe lack of competition. If my intention was to stand out, I knew that I didn't have to do more than to create one that was just above decent (though I obviously didn't want to settle on just "decent"). Now, some 3-4 years later, the campaign scene is slowly starting to take off, and I can honestly say that it's going to take more to stand out in the crowd. One of the fiercest competitiors is Odyssey, which seems to have flown under my radar. Until now.
It's not a perfect campaign, but there is so much to commend. I don't think it needs to do as much exposition as it does (the background info presented in the tips is preferable to the wall of texts that open each map), but I'm happy to ignore that because the story has an identity. The mapmaker has truly put his stamp on his work, creating engaging and believable characters to populate his many memorable moments (there is a trial scene at the end of the third mission that is among the best scenes I've ever seen in a custom campaign).
The level of detail is amazing. You'll be dropped onto a world undergoing evacuation, and ships will brush your head as they pass you by. You'll try to cross a bridge, and when a large auto-gun blocks your path, you'll be forced to venture underground to disable its power generators. At one point, you'll be rounding up farmers who have yet to vacant their homes (one of the easiest objectives ever seen in a custom campaign, and one of the most realistic).
What quibbles I have are all mostly minor. There are some grammar issues, and because the campaign can only be found on the arcade, there are no saving opportunities apart from taking control from replays. There is also the fact that every time a character speaks, the transmission sound is played (which gets somewhat annoying in the end, though I may have gotten used to it). The use of portraits is also missed.
So far, I've played four missions, with the loading screen of the fifth waiting for my just as I type these words. I'll write more when I've got more to write. In the meantime, play Odyssey and keep on campaignin'!