Description
The GTVA is taken by surprise by a newly reborn Hammer of Light, and must stop their genocidal plan to destroy an entire system.

Storyline:
This mission’s storyline is epic through and through. You, Alpha 1, are (partly) responsible for the safety of 400 million people living in the Beta Aquilae system as the reborn Hammer of Light (rogue Vasudans for anyone who hasn’t read the Intel screen) tries to destroy it with a massive supernova-inducing bomb. The command briefing is written well, with appropriate animations accompanying it, and the briefing also tells the story well – all the icons match up too. During the mission loads of messages add to the feeling, including some chatter (okay, so I recommended it when the author asked me for constructive criticism, but hey ). Spelling is good and the debriefing is as good as the briefing, though it contains several spelling errors.

Balance:
From the very start, the balance of this mission is excellent, with the numbers of bombers starting out low, luring you into a false sense of complacency before ramping up the numbers considerably so that you’re left battling. The author has used different AI levels for various vessels – particularly the HoL fighters and bombers to great effect, making them seem a difficult foe. Most of the mission is composed of bomb interception, as you might expect, but you’ll also be intercepting fighters and disarming capital ships. Although you can’t choose your loadout, it’s perfectly suited to the situation. The player also doesn’t get the Kayser, which is a nice change. Finally, the author was good enough to include a little help for those stuggling, showing excellent attention to detail.

Design:
Design is up to the high standard set by the authorÂ’s last mission, Surprise Guests. Send-message-list s-exps deal with long strings of messages and directives work well, coming onto the screen at the correct time as is to be expected. The author has used waypoints to good effect with one of the cruisers, but most capital ships seem to be okay on their own for a change. Another thing worth mentioning is the excellent use of all three dimensions in the design of the mission and the good background. I liked this, but it wasnÂ’t as moody as that of Surprise Guests. I did encounter one bizarre error – at the end of the mission one of the Sobek corvettes started reversing at 30m/s! Not a major problem though – quite amusing actuallyÂ

Gameplay:
If you donÂ’t like defending capital ships, intercepting bombs and generally being involved in heroic deeds, then this mission wonÂ’t be for you. That said, if thatÂ’s the case FreeSpace 2 isnÂ’t really your thing, is it? Anyway, the above sentences just about sum up the mission. The messages add a great deal to the mission, the pilots behaving as IÂ’d expect and heroic deeds being done very heroically. ItÂ’s tremendous fun and also quite tense, with plenty to see and do, but I do have slight reservations about the sheer number of capital ships in the mission. Still, the authorÂ’s trademark, a massive display of eye-candy at the end of the mission is here, even if you donÂ’t do anything to influence it.

Other Thoughts:
IÂ’m informed that this was originally designed as a single mission, but a campaign may form around it. Oh, and note that IÂ’ll offer constructive criticism to anybody who asks.