corinthian
07-23-2005, 09:39 PM
Just finished it on Trauma today. I bought it awhile back when it dropped below $20, and have just recently gotten around to playing it.
Loved the original PK, loved BOOH. That being said, here are some observations about BOOH.
Orphanage - when the ball first rolled down the stairs, I just about fell out of my chair. "Oh crap, another Asylum!". Asylum, to me, is flat out the scariest level of any FPS/TPS game ever. Um, but then it was over. The kids weren't as scary to deal with as the ceiling crawling zombies.
Looney Park - the roller coaster was awesome, and the level looked like it had the potential for a lot of blood-soaked fun. I was thinking of that level in Blood where you're at the carnival and there are games, going behind the scenes of the rides and attractions, etc. This level needs a lot more on the ground before you hit the coaster.
The Lab - the thing about the Town that made getting the car so tough was the use of the stake gun at a distance. The Boltgun with its uberzoom and seemingly unlimited range makes this level pretty easy. Even if you're not going for the card, you can still easily complete it with just the Boltgun.
The Pentagon as a secret level. Did anyone else think that this should have been the normal level (it would follow the progression of the Lab) and Dead City should have been the bonus level? A one room, boss-level makes more sense as a natural level and a deserted giant city as a bonus/secret.
Dead City - love the idea...any fans of mindless zombie movies should too. I would have liked to have seen more of the mall and less of the parking garage.
My heart was racing as I went through it on Nightmare, trying to get the car. Bunny-hopped to a 19:53 finish.
Leningrad - Featured the toughest enemies, I felt. The german soldiers could pack some decent damage (especially since they came in packs) and the tanks could be dangerous at a distance (found that circle-strafing with the shotgun as close as possible finished them off in no time flat). What's up with the empty secret? Seemed like this level was saying "Take that, Call of Duty!" (or any other WWII game).
Colloseum - Great level. Cool little obstacle course and some good secrets. Tons O' enemies, but they're dumb or very easy to kill. I would usually just bunnyhop around until they all spawned, then turn and lob some grenades or heaters. I loved the proliferation of barrels - on the 2nd time through, you know where the guys are going to be coming from, so you can position barrels before you trigger them. Gib-fest!
Underworld - Rollercoaster part two. Loved the mine cart. This was a cool level, but really just a preview of what I felt was the best level: Stone Pit
Stone Pit - The scope of this level is just awesome. A wrong jump or missed rope/ladder can send you falling forever. But what was cool was that if you could somehow cushion your fall or bounce of objects, it wasn't an instant death and you could walk back up. Loved finding the big secret with all of the holy items - here's where you really need the zoom on the boltgun: scoping out the items! You will believe a boy can fly! I mean, jump along a rope!
Shadowland - tried to follow the same formula of **** in Painkiller: seemingly impossible monster with a convulted way for an easy kill. I can't believe they went through the trouble of creating that scenery, just to leave it empty.
The scenes and sounds of **** in the original were mind-blowing.
Bonus Level - not sure of the point. Guess it got the developers' pictures out there.
Final thoughts
None of the new monsters are particularly tough or difficult to deal with. The new weapons of the Boltgun let you snipe from an insane distance. The short bursts of the machine gun chew up the gladiators and the skeletons from the Underworld/Stone Pit. The flamethrower is just plain mean - if a short burst doesn't kill them, it stuns them so you can finish the job. This weapon made the groups of Voodoo Priests a breeze - while on fire, they don't damage you.
The new cards make this too easy. Once you get the health-stealer card...well..in the words of Private Jackson from Saving Private Ryan "Pack your bags, boys. War's over". You'll easily rack up insane amounts of health, especially when fighting things that don't shoot at you, but instead need to get close and hit you. There's also a bug with health-stealing - you can steal from things that are immune to your damage (Panzer in Pentagon, Alastor, etc).
Demon Morph. Whoa. Not having the ability to go into demon form made Trauma in the original PK that much harder. Now, being able to do it three times per level, it's a snap. You'll clear out the monsters in the circular room of the Underworld before you get halfway around the first circuit.
After getting through Dead City in less than 20 minutes on Nightmare, I started using Demon Morph, Time Bonus, and Iron Will for my gold cards, and Forgiveness/Health Stealer as my silver. Demon Morph basically gives you one-shot kills, slows everything down, and makes you invulnerable. When that wears off, you still have another 15 seconds or so of invulnerability from Iron Will.
The health you steal while hitting things in Demon Mode is craaaaaaaaaazy. You shoot so quickly and do so much damage, you'll get about 500-1000 health.
Overall - loved the game. A few nitpicks here and there, but definitely worth the $19.99.
Loved the original PK, loved BOOH. That being said, here are some observations about BOOH.
Orphanage - when the ball first rolled down the stairs, I just about fell out of my chair. "Oh crap, another Asylum!". Asylum, to me, is flat out the scariest level of any FPS/TPS game ever. Um, but then it was over. The kids weren't as scary to deal with as the ceiling crawling zombies.
Looney Park - the roller coaster was awesome, and the level looked like it had the potential for a lot of blood-soaked fun. I was thinking of that level in Blood where you're at the carnival and there are games, going behind the scenes of the rides and attractions, etc. This level needs a lot more on the ground before you hit the coaster.
The Lab - the thing about the Town that made getting the car so tough was the use of the stake gun at a distance. The Boltgun with its uberzoom and seemingly unlimited range makes this level pretty easy. Even if you're not going for the card, you can still easily complete it with just the Boltgun.
The Pentagon as a secret level. Did anyone else think that this should have been the normal level (it would follow the progression of the Lab) and Dead City should have been the bonus level? A one room, boss-level makes more sense as a natural level and a deserted giant city as a bonus/secret.
Dead City - love the idea...any fans of mindless zombie movies should too. I would have liked to have seen more of the mall and less of the parking garage.
My heart was racing as I went through it on Nightmare, trying to get the car. Bunny-hopped to a 19:53 finish.
Leningrad - Featured the toughest enemies, I felt. The german soldiers could pack some decent damage (especially since they came in packs) and the tanks could be dangerous at a distance (found that circle-strafing with the shotgun as close as possible finished them off in no time flat). What's up with the empty secret? Seemed like this level was saying "Take that, Call of Duty!" (or any other WWII game).
Colloseum - Great level. Cool little obstacle course and some good secrets. Tons O' enemies, but they're dumb or very easy to kill. I would usually just bunnyhop around until they all spawned, then turn and lob some grenades or heaters. I loved the proliferation of barrels - on the 2nd time through, you know where the guys are going to be coming from, so you can position barrels before you trigger them. Gib-fest!
Underworld - Rollercoaster part two. Loved the mine cart. This was a cool level, but really just a preview of what I felt was the best level: Stone Pit
Stone Pit - The scope of this level is just awesome. A wrong jump or missed rope/ladder can send you falling forever. But what was cool was that if you could somehow cushion your fall or bounce of objects, it wasn't an instant death and you could walk back up. Loved finding the big secret with all of the holy items - here's where you really need the zoom on the boltgun: scoping out the items! You will believe a boy can fly! I mean, jump along a rope!
Shadowland - tried to follow the same formula of **** in Painkiller: seemingly impossible monster with a convulted way for an easy kill. I can't believe they went through the trouble of creating that scenery, just to leave it empty.
The scenes and sounds of **** in the original were mind-blowing.
Bonus Level - not sure of the point. Guess it got the developers' pictures out there.
Final thoughts
None of the new monsters are particularly tough or difficult to deal with. The new weapons of the Boltgun let you snipe from an insane distance. The short bursts of the machine gun chew up the gladiators and the skeletons from the Underworld/Stone Pit. The flamethrower is just plain mean - if a short burst doesn't kill them, it stuns them so you can finish the job. This weapon made the groups of Voodoo Priests a breeze - while on fire, they don't damage you.
The new cards make this too easy. Once you get the health-stealer card...well..in the words of Private Jackson from Saving Private Ryan "Pack your bags, boys. War's over". You'll easily rack up insane amounts of health, especially when fighting things that don't shoot at you, but instead need to get close and hit you. There's also a bug with health-stealing - you can steal from things that are immune to your damage (Panzer in Pentagon, Alastor, etc).
Demon Morph. Whoa. Not having the ability to go into demon form made Trauma in the original PK that much harder. Now, being able to do it three times per level, it's a snap. You'll clear out the monsters in the circular room of the Underworld before you get halfway around the first circuit.
After getting through Dead City in less than 20 minutes on Nightmare, I started using Demon Morph, Time Bonus, and Iron Will for my gold cards, and Forgiveness/Health Stealer as my silver. Demon Morph basically gives you one-shot kills, slows everything down, and makes you invulnerable. When that wears off, you still have another 15 seconds or so of invulnerability from Iron Will.
The health you steal while hitting things in Demon Mode is craaaaaaaaaazy. You shoot so quickly and do so much damage, you'll get about 500-1000 health.
Overall - loved the game. A few nitpicks here and there, but definitely worth the $19.99.