File:Altar of Pain (Aftershock)

Description
Somehow, we managed to find our way to an amazing level while scurrying through a mess of terrible levels that is known as the Aftershock Standalone Levels. Buried among test levels and multiplayer levels, most people would have been impatient and probably missed this great treasure!

The level is presented to us in a way that has not been seen since the days of Gregory A MacMartin, a story in the Readme file. While all Quake tends to boil down to "shoot anything that moves", I definitely appreciate when someone tries to explain the rationale for your character being in the place they are at. Similar to Gregory A MacMartin, grammar tends to fall apart in places such as with the sentence "The Elder Rune has been accessible". Being designed for simplicity and quick messages, I am more likely to overlook these grammar mistakes more than a game designed for more involved reading such as Thief.

Probably one of my biggest gripes with this level is the lack of Secrets or anything encouraging exploration, it is rather linear in design and there is no real sense of a side path. For all the frustration that hello caused, it did offer some secrets and gear that could be overlooked.

This level is designed in an odd fashion for a Quake level, in fact it might be a design choice most people are not familiar with. I recognize it from some Thief Fan Missions I used to play, it is a chapter based design whereby the level is sectioned off into different ideas, each being its own chapter.

Chapter 0 or the Prelude is basically a hunt for a Silver Key while fighting idBase enemies with a couple Ogres. We get a nice sign of what is to come with lighting on the sides and skies above. We get Shootable Walls, a rare thing in these levels, and plenty of messages telling us our goals. Probably my biggest gripe beyond the lack of secrets is the texture bugs on some Movable Walls, the one in the first section in particular is quite visible. As it is a Prelude, it isn't exactly that difficult. Even if you take damage, there are a few Health around, including 15 Health, something I haven't seen in a Quake level in a long time.

Chapter 1 is subtitled the Relay. I am assuming they are referring to the idea of triggers, you need to pick up certain objects for the next part of the sequence to occur. You must take the Yellow Armor to unlock an alcove with a Grenade Launcher to get to the Gold Key. As seen in the video, this place can get pretty painful as you have to get pretty close to a swarm of Zombies to get the Armor. I wish to say this is the most visually impressive section due to the usage of the bridge and the crucified Zombies. It may sound simplistic, but remember Quake is rather streamlined and simplistic, it doesn't take much to make a quality level beyond certain expectations. Texture variety is very good in this level, as is minor details. I could imagine Gregory A MacMaritin creating something like this. The last Grunt is seen here, we get a bunch of our standard Monsters replacing those from the Prelude.

Chapter 2 is subtitled The Elder Cave and is pretty quick. You are basically travelling through a small cave and killing a Vore to get a Rune (The Rune of Elder Magic in particular). We haven't seen the Runes since the original game, so this is pretty exciting. I would say this was done as a way to continue the search for objects after the first two chapters with the Keys. It works well. This chapter introduces stronger opponents such as the Vore and Death Knight.

Chapter 3 is the Inner Sanctuary and is a little bit longer than the other portions. We get a Rocket Launcher, Quad Damage, Pentagram of Protection, and Red Armor here. With such powerful devices, it shouldn't be too difficult to handle the mob of Enemies at the bottom of a staircase. There is one point where a Shootable Wall is pretty hidden, though due to the linear nature and small size of the room it isn't too cruel to search for. We get another Rune, the Rune of Hell Magic, which opens up the Elevator to the final area. We have a threatening area where we must fight 3 Shamblers, though it is pretty quick business if you use the conveniently placed Quad Damage. The crosses and shrine itself is pretty cool looking, definitely the final section of the level looks like a final area. Why we take the Rune of Black Magic I don't really know, I guess to stop the rituals caused by Shamblers.

Overall, this level is probably not going to compete with the original levels. It is too linear and chapter based (the latter forcing linearity) for that. I am not sure it could beat the best of Aftershock, such as House of Desolution. However, the quality and attention to detail makes it better than any other Standalone or level outside Aftershock. The level isn't broken and more fun than Episode 2. Personally, I prefer it to Gregory Macmartin's levels, which also have a similar level of detail, due to being more exploration based. A lack of severe glitches also helps.