Apocalypse Weapons, Beta 9
This mod has been officially called the most improved mod ever, and this latest build keeps up the tradition. This version includes a good number of features over version 9, and is hard to believe that it is truly a descendant of the first beta, released a while back.
The first thing that stuck me of this mod is the way its presented; along with the game files is a clean, professional looking html ReadMe, and an equally professional looking manual up on the mod’s webpage. Both are well thought out, and answer most questions retaining to the installation or contents. As for the rest of the installation process, it’s comparatively painless, and especially, seems to work. Though you can dive right in to a wonderfully unreal battle, you also have the option to check out an extensive mod menu, allowing you to tweak or customize practically anything pertaining to AW.
For the mod menu, the options it contained made sense, and tied well to the game. Such options include the ability to tweak bonuses, load outs, characteristics of particular items, and thus allow you to create your very own AW gaming experience, though the default is not half bad either. Only thing I can think the menu might need, besides tweaking the application of the triple instance thing (the application was a kludge compared to the clean presentation of the rest), would be the ability to start off with three different prefab configurations; user customization is all fine and well, but the default game plus the mod Author’s two favorite picks would not go amiss.
In-game there is a world of creative, ‘unreal’, weapons, all of which have some nifty dynamic and or effect. The media itself appears based mostly the UT stock artwork, but there is enough change that I really don’t mind. Skins and positions have been adjusted, and unreal 1 models and media have been added; thus breaking the standard ‘simple weapon mod’ appearance. To further distance itself form the basic look and feel of other weapon mods, or UT vanilla, there are included a number of really wicked ambient features; these can be tweaked and adjusted in the mod menu, and the include (but are not limited to) fun things such as adrenalin (not related to ut2k3, but more a bonus system for players with low life), item drop, and a complete revamp of the item spawn process. Though the included Burning Player mutator is a blast, the spawn tweaks (randomizing the appearance of pickups and such) are a really wicked addition, and offer a refreshing break from the known-spawn-location strategy of playing.
Of the weapons, they were all fairly balanced, if a little overpowered, and seemed to play well together. In terms of intuitive playability, most weapons seemed to work smoothly; this is both for the player and for bots. I like the reload on the Silver falcon (the animation and effect is really well done) and as I didn’t see any stuck bots with this gun, this feature appears to work for more than just players. The only odd dynamic was the adjustment of the duel ammo on the EMP carbine, which though a nice feature, could be handled a bit more carefully I think; or at least with a bit more visual data for the user to know what exactly is happening. Other slight anomalies included things like the ‘Reloading’ message lasting far longer than the actual event, but though this probably should be fixed, it really does not hurt gameplay any.
Though the weapons are pretty good, play well and are stable, the items really make the in-game experience of this mod shine, especially when coupled with the ambient gameplay features. Though I like the way health is handled, the difference between AW amour and UT is amazing. The Thermal Suit is a nifty item allowing you imunity to certain elemental damage, and as well changes the appearance of the player wearing it. The Enhanced shield belt is what the original shield belt should have been, and my favorite, the Apocalypse Amour, actually changes gameplay in that it slows you down for its weight, and changes the sound of your player moving. This feature does not seem to unbalance the item; it just enhances the experience over the single, lonely, number of UT. All UT items have been replaced, included the damage amp, and all the equivalents and other items all work quite well. My only qualm being with the visual effect for the infravision helm, which tints the screen green and shows a little player icon overtop of pawns behind walls. Though I like the concept behind this particular item, I feel that the effect could probably use an overhaul, perhaps changing the look of players when not obscured, and removing that static image of a guy standing.
All things considered this is a solid little mod which has come a long way. The weapons are nifty, stable, and play fairly well; the items and game tweaks are a more than welcome change. The mod menu is a perfect addition to the AW series, and allows you to customize just the right things. There were relatively few bugs, and all of those minor, and thus the only thing I would really like to see in future builds would be that jetpack I saw mention of, and a little more attention to the in-game effects; they are all above average, but I think that the unreal engine, even without full particles, offers a lot more potential; especially in terms of basic explosions and the like. If these were fixed up, I think that the mod would have a level of surface polish rarely seen; and for a beta release, indeed it already has a level of surface polish rarely seen. And behind these visuals, I have to admit that the shear volume of wicked features included here is quite impressive, dwarfing the weapon-mod classification I think one would be calling this. Regardless, AW has been a good choice of download since the last couple of versions, and if you liked the previous builds, or see potential in this latest, I definitely suggest you try it out.
(I haven’t been able to test this over the network, so I can’t really comment on any improvements or issues for the client. However, as the author includes support for online play, I trust his judgment in releasing stable net-code, and even if this is not the case, the game is more than solid in an offline botmatch)
Overall, I give it a 9.8 out of 10.
A 'Vlosk' Czarnietzki
