Shattered Oasis
I _really_ wanted to like this mod. I’ve followed through with the screenshots and the renders, and when I saw it was released I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it. After the whopping download, and quick installation, I was quite happy to see a very professional little into movie, a nice clean modification of the GUI (if to a lack of new menu music) and only two gameplay choices: host and join multiplayer. Not that this is a _bad_ thing per say, but unless you can maintain a player and server base (and program very competent netcode), bots are an absolute must. Still though, multiplayer has its merits, so I quietly went and customized my controls, joined a buddy in a friendly little LAN match. Once inside, I picked a class, took a quick look around the base, and quickly got attacked by a swarm of bugs…
The art behind this mod is stunning. Though the level design looks like it could use a few more custom meshes, the actual gameplay items and effects are first rate: most professional games don’t even get close to that level. The skins and animations are really really well-done, and the player models are very slick and fitting to the theme. I threw a grenade, watched it fly and bounce (didn’t look to use karma, but it looked damn sweet none-the less) and explode in a really well made explosion, that puts to shame even the stock one so commonly seen throughout the UT community. (Though the number / size / rotation of the chunks at the end bothered me a bit). Thus I tried to throw another grenade, so as to experience this eye candy delight once more: my weapon was locked. Not good. I disconnected, reconnected, and found I was Gorge… so I went into the settings and found a good model in which to inspire fear into the hearts of my enemies: though this worked, we were quite surprised to see the SpinyDude hovering 3 feet in front of me _in-game_, and equally surprised in that I had suddenly lost the ability to do anything on the server; such as shoot. Again, I disconnected and reconnected, but started with no gun; I switched around, found I HAD a gun, but I couldn’t shoot with it. Again, not good. I later (upon another disconnect / reconnect) found the load-out button and somehow managed to start with some weapons, but a nice default would be really appreciated: especially if it followed the different instances of your new avatars.
Neways, so finally I was in-game, and seemed to be working: bugs aside, I figured I’d get to see some 1337 action in glorious artistic quality. Though the art was definitely there, the gameplay has crippled by a whack of netcode issues that involved missing shots to bursts of lag; all which though acceptable online should not happen on a LAN. Still though, the game was roughly playable and I really tried to get into it (I am self confessed eye-candy junkie, and will go odd lengths for 1337 art) but there were so many bugs and issues that it just didn’t work out. Perhaps I have some odd settings, perhaps I didn’t install it right, but stability should be #1 on the list: especially with no offline match to escape the netcode issues. One such bug, perhaps not netcode related, involved those 2 legged (4 limbed) cow like critters (great model!): there was a herd of them, all facing the same way, with a little bit of sound but absolutely no animation whatsoever: when shot, they took damage, spurted blood, but didn’t flinch, move, or go into a viscous rampage. When killed, they just vanished. If they were said to be magic, so be it, but this just plain looked odd!!!
Besides the bugs, there were two things that bothered me: #1, the maps could use the same care as the weapons and players. Not that the maps were bad, far from the truth, just that the other artistic elements were better; and the juxtaposition hurts the overall impression. Also, things to consider in the maps might be the ability to enter the nice empty tents, or a good reason not too; just that sort of little lack-of-polish. Still though, the maps weren’t too bad, and I’d expect them to be updated for the next release, so no real worries. The other problem was with the flame weapon. The screenshots looked amazing, and even my own screenshots of it looked amazing, but there is no excuse for the performance. The particle count didn’t look overly high, but when you can run UT2k3 maxed out (with AA and AF) and hold a 60 fps minimum, you should be able to use a flamer without the game dropping to something in and around 5 – 15 fps. The effect is good, but it needs to be slimmed: especially with the tendency for lag to split the burn into a couple odd looking chunks. (I have unreal 2: I know it’s possible to make a flamer that roxors all, _and_ runs decently).
As for all the other features this looks to have: I can’t really comment as I couldn’t really play the game. Perhaps this is just me, but I really can’t enjoy a new game type if I have a gun that doesn’t fire, no gun at, or a set of weapons that once deselected never wish to show their faces again. (In the case that it _is_ just me, note that we made a server on one machine (through the Host Multiplayer option, that appears to create a dedicated server without question [though that was the intent]), and joined in with 2 others; all with the same versions of UT2k3, and additions such as the bonus pack. (1 running win XP pro, the others XP Home). Also, the same sort of issues were experience on the other comp, but I’d rather talk about those I’d seen firsthand)
In the end, this _looks_ to be one of the best mods ever: however, it doesn’t even come close to it in gameplay. Not that the gameplay itself is flawed (I loved the descriptions of the game types) but we couldn’t experience any of em for the extra-ordinarily harsh stability issues. Long story short: if you want some wicked visuals and have a blindingly fast network connection: get this and stare in wonder. Otherwise, wait for release of version 2.0, at which point you can stare in wonder, AND enjoy the game behind the pretty pictures.
I give this a 5.0: The gameplay on its own would have suffered a 1.0 or less, but the visuals make up for a lot (if not enough).
To Remnant: Wicked visuals, fix up the game and release a patch ASAP!!!!
