Mission: FreebirdMission: Freebird
Author(s): David VitterDescription
It is ten days before the destruction of the second Death Star. The Rebellion has called upon you to steal the code that will drop the shields to the Death Star and also to steal an Imperial shuttle for use by a Rebel team to sneak down to the shield generator. A previous Rebel saboteur has found a drop point for you (in the sewer outside the complex) and has made the area a weapons cache. Sadly, nothing has been heard from this source lately...
Review
The plot sounded good as soon as I read it. Unfortunately, the level had few tie-ins to the plot in it. You start in a sewer filled with tons of dianogas. Even on easy there are enough to drive you nuts. It's not hard to find a way into the complex and the rest of the level is simple. There are no real puzzles, except for one door that takes a key to open it. It's worth mentioning that you don't even need this door to complete the level.
The author mentions that this level is very difficult on the medium and hard levels. This is kind of true as there tons of enemies in some rooms. On medium and hard there is a Phase I Dark Trooper. This doesn't really make it difficult, though. It would have been nice if on the higher difficulty levels the author would have put enemies in hallways or other areas that didn't already have them instead of just cramming more into the same rooms.
The architecture is very simple, but it does what is needed for this level. There are no areas that are very impressive, but there also aren't any areas that are poorly done. There are no new textures (which isn't surprising since this is one of the first DF levels made), but the textures that are used blend together well and are very unobtrusive. It isn't hard to believe you are in an Imperial base.
Overall
This was a good level. It isn't very impressive, but there also isn't very much you can complain about. If you're looking for a short, fairly simple level this one might be worth your time.