File:The Cult (Aftershock)

Description
We enter a level featuring a cult! Of course, the enemies are exactly the same and nothing in the actual level suggests a cult presence.

What is up with the lack of in-game names? Every level since Chaag that wasn't redone in Dark Hour hasn't had a name in-game, making me resort to readmes and filenames to get names. Even Q2, for all it did wrong, managed to always have a name on all its levels.

The architecture for this level is pretty nice. Every room has minor details, usually in the form of beams, that makes it from appearing to be a bunch of square based rooms. Overall, the architecture of this level shines in comparison to what we have seen, and I would say this is one of the better levels of Aftershock (and best level of the Standalone so far).

The biggest flaw with this level is the lack of sound. Ambient sound effects are very lacking, meaning it feels pretty silent (made even more noticeable due to the lack of music). While these sound effects are a minor detail that are often missed by people rushing through, it is noticeable when they are nonexistent as it is extremely quiet and almost devoid of sound. If you can stand somewhere and then have to question if your speakers are working, there is possibly a lack of ambiance in the level.

The messages are written rather oddly, using multiple lines to state sentences without any commas. To prevent looking worse than it actually does, I separated each message into two portions in the walkthrough. There is an odd bit of humor in here, the game asks about your reaction to hearing the news of a wooden door being opened.

Speaking of the wooden door, it can be a little annoying as it is timed and has an Ogre in the corridor beyond. I am not exactly sure why the Door is timed, possibly it could be to close behind you and give you the sense of being trapped (though you aren't as it opens again as soon as you walk towards it).

The end of the level also has an interesting ambush with a Shambler, where a wall suddenly slides open to reveal the end tunnel in a gotcha moment. The one flaw with the design is that there really isn't anywhere else to go, plus every other room had a doorway at the end of the staircase. I guess it could catch some people off guard, but it seems too obvious if you were paying attention to your surroundings.