Review: GELF Prison Camp

This small curiosity from October 1998 is by the author's own admission not the only level he made but it remains the only one released. As such, despite GELF Space being an intended several-level project, only the first outing is there to play. Interestingly enough, despite using little to none custom content, it isn't a level set in the Unreal universe. Instead, it is set in the British science-fiction sitcom of yore, Red Dwarf. How exactly does it fare today?

Since there's likely many that don't know what the Red Dwarf series is all about, I'll attempt to explain it shortly. Three million years in the future, technician Dave Lister is the last living human and the only surviving crewman of the mining ship Red Dwarf. His only companions are droids and holograms… and the ship's main computer Holly. Well… plus an evolution of a cat. Part of the threats he's facing are Genetically Engineered Life Forms, or GELFs (since the series has no aliens, a decision of the showrunners). Therefore, this level shows a prison camp run by malevolent GELFs that captured Dave (and a couple non-hostile GELFs) for whatever malevolent purposes.

Throughout the level, Dave meets and fights several types of GELF brutes (firing dispersion pistol projectiles) and squares off against a GELF titan. Armed only with a DP himself, he needs to break out of there and board the Starbug shuttle craft to escape. Occasionally he receives corrupted messages from the computer Holly - but they really aren't necessary to progress as the level is small and takes minutes to complete, as long as the player doesn't bother with the Titan, or the brutes protecting the Starbug itself. Dashing through to bypass the titan and onto the lift that takes the player inside the Starbug is honestly enough for the map's final two rooms. Other GELFs can be dispatched safely without much annoyance and there's even a secret power-up for the pistol.

While the geometry of the level is simple, there are places that clearly had received a more caring hand, such as the prison cells and the Starbug. The outdoor areas feel like they've been carved out with a knife, with the terrain being as flat as it can be and the rock walls being perfectly vertical. The NyLeve track really doesn't fit here, something more tense such as Crater would fit much more during the exploration of the area. That changes in the Starbug room where Warlord.umx kicks in for some adrenaline-pumping action. However, should players dash to the exit bypassing the ammo-spongey Behemoths, it will be left unappreciated there. There's little to no ambience on the level so it does feel a bit bare. On the other hand, there are no BSP issues present either so that's a plus.