BP: WiH. It was not until recently that I had a machine that could even
to the bitter end and now that I have it, I still have to deal with huge fps downtimes in Delenda Est, even if I downgrade graphics.... which is something of a crime given the aesthetic beauty of that whole battle.
Now my review.
I started the campaign with little patience to read the personnal logs, although I began to regret it halfway the campaign. These texts really put the missions in context, and so I might have missed some key elements to the plot in the start.
In the first missions I was already hating my own avatar. It's somewhat irritating to see "yourself" uttering silliness from this ubuntu cocky fighter who seemed to come out directly from some self-centering education program bubble. If FreeSpace 2 was about how "you" didn't matter *at all* in the grand scheme of things, in BP:WiH you start off as not mattering *at all* while acting as if you really are the center of the universe. The peak of facepalming is the moment when Laporte sings victory, minutes after seeing admiral Steele beamraping a whole station to smithereens. Even if one doesn't know anything more about the war, clearly it was out of place, Laporte still had a lot to learn.
Fortunately, she did. Her attitude gets tolerable further down the campaign and it is actually downgraded a bit, at the same time the player starts to make an observable dent, and so some cockyness starts being justified.
I ended the campaign liking her.
The whole campaign breathes astonished polish detail in every level. First, it made me feel for the characters for the first time in FS2. This was something that not even BP:AoA managed to do, nor any other campaign (like Derelict). Characters had depth and, more importantly, had an arc. The romance between Simms and Laporte was more than decorational, and the last declaration was both beautiful and terrifying, giving Simms death. I can only wonder how much will Laporte go full insane, or if she passes through some kind of shock reset, helped by the Fedayeen (and the Elders?) and becomes some sort of Justicar that will blow GTVA to ashes all by herself.
Secondly, the ships are beautiful and used to their full strategic potential. The contrast between the "beamrapers" and the "missileoverwhelmers" strategy made good chess moves in the screen, as if a side had two knights trying to beat two bishops.
Third, the whole campaign has an arc to it, and hits the right spots in each moment. For instance, in the beggining, UEF is still trying to not lose too much. Gets a beating in Earth, and then Laporte is transfered to a different unit who will do things rogueish. And they start to kick ass. And right at the end where we would really close the arc with a joyous bang.... we get a real punch in the stomach. And it feels
right.
Fourth, it is diverse. I never got bored. I even thought I was going to be very bored in the moon's mission, but alas I wasn't. Very detailed and complex missions that are always surprising you with novelties.
To the answers polled. (At last you boring dolt!)
I identify with Federation. But I do respect GTVA, and I'm not as shocked by its amorality as I felt the campaign was pushing me to be.
I used multiple checkpoints. I'm a bad player. Checkpoints are a big help
.
Called the bluff. Way more intense
.
Darkest Hour was right, I guess. I didn't repeat the mission, but then again I don't ever play on hard (I play for fun on my laptop over my lap).
What do you mean "let Xinny and Zero shoot me down"? Is that a choice or a failure? Hehe.
I failed first Simms conversation, since I couldn't ever have her say what I actually wanted. The problem: I didn't read the briefing words carefully enough. Once I said "what the hell, let's try full blown escalation", it all went well. Ah.
Nyx? What Nyx?
I don't remember Aristeia's pointbuy.
I was both shocked, appalled and thinking "what a great move, you asshole Steele". And when Vasudans arrived, it quickly escalated to "what a ****ing bastardly genious, now I want to kill you". So, there, great great script. At first I was unconvinced that the Vasudans were that "stupid" to believe in such a strange suggestion by Steele. Consider: why wouldn't Steele try to boycott this reunion? That would be only logical. Why would the Vasudan take his advice seriously? Why wouldn't he consider the evidence that UEF tried to put on the table? A little stretched, but it passed on my BS detector.
Delenda Est isn't hard. It isn't hard when its frame rates are above 15. It's a ****ing great mission, and reminded me of the last mission of Inferno, in its basic structure (objective: kill the background battleship, but before you have to kill the cruiser screens and the bomber waves, with warping-in cruisers to go for the kill). There are obvious differences. Delenda Est isn't exactly a BoE, and it was full of incredible tactics. The last appearance of the Imperieuse really surprised me.
Can't wait for BP:WiH2.
