The Moldy Crow

TheCrow’s Nest

Operation Stealth

Author(s): David Lovejoy

Description

This level is meant to replace the Tak Base level, and has the same plot. Imperials have destroyed the Rebel base in the city of Talay with their new weapon, the Dark Trooper. You are needed to find some evidence of this weapon. The power is still off, so you will need to turn it on. The Imperials have had a week to prepare themselves, so beware.

  • Those Imperials work fast! They've converted Tak Base to their own uses.
  • There are lots of VERY tight squeezes throughout the mission.
  • It feels more like your normal Imperial base than it does the shattered remains of a Dark Trooper attack.

Review

Reviewed by: Geoff Elliott | March 07, 1997

There have been lots of reworks on the idea of stealing the Death Star plans, so it's somewhat refreshing to see that somebody has tried to retool Tak Base. It's always been one of my favorite levels, largely due to its dark mood, and that it's one level where you don't have to blast your way through it. So when I saw the name "stealth", I was excited.

The level failed to live up to my expectations. I was hoping to find another level with lots of small buildings and corridors to duck in and out of and pick off the Imps one at a time. But this level doesn't work by the name. It's not a bad level; on the contrary, I really enjoyed it. The puzzles are difficult, almost too tough, and there are lots of bad guys to deal with, thanks to several generators. There's also a lot of new things and ideas incorporated here. But it doesn't have the same feel to it.

I was also a little disappointed with the author's interpretation of the level. By which I mean the way he constructed it. In the original version, there were buildings blown apart, dead corpses lying everywhere, and the base had the feel that it had just been subjected to an Imperial attack. This level has a few corpses, but everything works and there are no gaping holes, or craters. There aren't any blast marks around. It makes the level feel a little sterile. A few new or revitalized old textures in the right places would have added a lot. It's possible that because the Imperials have been around a week that they've managed to repair it all, but in the abscence of the Constructor Droids of Coruscant and considering the amount of damage that taking a Rebel base would require(note Hoth), it seems a little far-fetched.

Overall

Don't misunderstand me: I really enjoyed this level. It made me think a lot, and stumped me in several places. Even if you were to resort to cheating I don't think the level would prove easy. But it lacks any distinguishing qualities, and I think it fails to take advantage of several opportunites the story has provided it. But it's still fun, and that's what really matters.


Download Operation Stealth(dml-df10.zip, 151 kB)