ALL REVIEWS

Mission Name Blowing out the Candle File botc.fsm
Author Fusion Release Date 10/04/98
Players 1 Campaign No
Mission Type dogfight, turkeyshoot Addons none
Reviewer Ouroboros Review Date 10/04/98
User Rating 34% Staff Rating 1.0 Stars

Description
Terran Intelligence has discovered the location of the Hammer of Light command ship. They send you to destroy it.

Storyline: 1.0 Stars
The storyline is one we've all seen before: Kill the last HOL capital ship, so they'll be disorganized. The briefing is skimpy at best, and includes no animations whatsoever. The storyline, however, is the least of the problems in BOTF.

Balance: 1.0 Stars
Even with a wing of your own fighters functioning as enemies (more on that later), there's no chance of losing in BOTF. The player is supplied with 4 Medusas and 8 Ulysses to destroy 8 Anubises, whatever ships the player tries to set as Delta Wing (they're Anubi by default, and are hostile no matter what!), and a single Aten cruiser. If the last HOL capital ship is an Aten, why do we even need to try to kill it? Almost no weapons are available at all, but they're not even needed; the one Avenger each fighter or bomber is allowed to carry will suffice to slaughter many foes.

Design: 2.0 Stars
To be perfectly honest, aside from the complete lack of notable opposition, there are no major problems. Okay, there are plenty. First, whatever ships are assigned to Delta Wing will be hostile. Why? A major bug. If this is the last HOL ship, why in the hell doesn't it have any fighters other than Anubi and the 4 Terran ships I mistakenly thought were my own. Also, while the main objective is to eliminate ALL HOL craft, only the Aten needs to be killed in order to satisfy the objective.

Gameplay: 1.0 Stars
With no opposition to threaten the success of the battle, and a few of one's own fighters being hostile for no apparent reason, and those fighters that are still friendly outnumbering the enemy by one hell of a lot, there's no fun to be had here.

Other Thoughts:
The debrief is really bad. Only one sentance, and there's a minor. Grammar error, like that one right there.

Bottom Line: Obviously, there was no testing of this mission, and almost - <i>almost</i> five minutes were put into Blowing Out the Flame.
Highs: An excellent example to newbie FRED users of what NOT to do.
Lows: Hopelessly easy, Delta wing is enemy-controlled, but customizable.
Rating: 1.0 Stars
User Rating: 34%


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