I made my views on AoA partially known in another thread, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to almost fawn on this campaign in this thread. Full review now (SPOILERS FOLLOW):
I only played the campaign yesterday. However, once I started playing it, I didn't stop. I seriously didn't leave the computer till I had the damn thing finished. That's how hooked I was. I will divide this review into short paragraphs as aspects of it come into my head.
The core of FS gameplay was preserved (hah, I'm never going to be able to say that word the same way again), and much remained the same. The addition of new ships was of course quite awesome, and I loved playing as a Vishnan. However, I find that whilst the change in gameplay wasn't at all dramatic (and nor should it have been), other aspects injected freshness into it and rejuvenated it.
The new ships were quite well done. Personally, I would've liked the Dante to be bigger (hahaha, just kidding
). When it was said that it exceeded Juggernaut classification by at least five-fold, I was like :O, but then compared the Dante to the Sathanas in FRED and noted that the Dante wasn't even twice as big. Lol. But getting back on topic, the Terran ships in particular were awesome. I really liked the blue beam cannons (even though that's not strictly related). I'd always thought that there weren't enough blue beams in FS2.
The story. Now, here is a gem. This is what got me so hooked, and this is what made it so incredibly awesome. The interweaving of the storylines, one with Sam and his father, and the other the whole Shivan thing, gave players two... perspectives, if you like. One story was personal, the other was
galactic universal TRANS-UNIVERSAL!!!!. The contrast, and better yet, the connection between the two, really served to immerse.
The characters. Bam. Another gem. Maybe even better than the story. Personally, I had tired of the whole nameless protagonist thing seen in most FS campaigns. The fact that Sam had a character, had a voice, had a background, had a story, and related with other characters really made the whole thing more immersive and more believable. The characters of Corey and Taylor were also really well done. I really enjoyed the fact that the storyline was not only event-driven, but also character-driven, and the characters used to drive it were superb. The Vishnans... whoa. They were just so... different. So awesome. As I said before, I really enjoyed fighting alongside them.
The voice acting. This just about caused me to orgasm.
In all seriousness though, and in all honesty, I probably would have liked the campaign only half as much if it wasn't for the voice acting. Not that the campaign was bad, not in the slightest, it was amazing, but the voice acting took it to a whole new ****ing level. Both the story and the characters were transmogrified into something much more epic by the voice acting. The Vishnans wouldn't have been half as cool without the musical echoing voices. Sam's voice was very solid, although the emotion did sound forced at times. Corey and Taylor were so damn good. Especially Taylor, that voice actress has got some ass-kicking talent. If anyone who reads this has the means to thank her personally, do so from me. I don't know why the voice acting affected me so, but I'm really really glad this was my first impression of BP.
Last but not least: the emotional effect. For me, this is the be-all and end-all of a campaign. What distinguishes the good campaigns from the great ones is whether they can generate emotion in me. This one did, and a lot of it. This was all because of the three aspects I mentioned before (story, characters, and voice acting) all merging together to create a monument and a tribute to everything FreeSpace stands for and everything the community stands for. I was genuinely looking forward to working with Corey and Taylor after they introduced themselves. Sam and I said "what the hell?" in unison when we saw what the Lucifer had done to Earth. My mind was blown when I realized we had travelled to an alternate universe. I was like, "take that, you mother****er!" when the Sathanas went down. My mind was once again blown when I saw the Preserver and the Dante. I felt rage (and quite frankly, a bit of awe and respect) when Shiva still wished to obliterate us. (As an aside, I've looked into the whole Hindu thing with Shiva and Vishnu, and I understand the exchange between them a little bit more now). I felt an urge (which I fortunately controlled) to cheat and switch my weapons to Shivan Super Lasers and blast the Orestes to hell when it opened fire on the Renjian. And lastly, when Sam, Corey and Taylor declared their intentions to set things right, I damn near cheered out loud (it would have been bad if I did, as it was 2.30am).
All in all, magnificent. This would have been worth paying for. Every single one of the people who made AoA what it is should be given infinite girlfriends (or boyfriends, as the case may be) and over 9000 internet cookies. I was skeptical when I'd seen murmurs on the forums that this could possibly be better than FS2, but now that I have witnessed it, I find myself agreeing. As I said in another thread, this campaign exemplifies the apex of this amazing community. My sincerest gratitude goes out to you all. Keep at it, and I will play WiH in due time. I am certain it will live up to my now quite colossal expectations.
CommanderDJ
