Review: Jeges Base

Nikola, the prolific Czech mapper hailing from the -(DOG)- Clan strikes yet again! Jeges Base, a hi-tech set composed of three maps is her second outing in 2015 and fourth SP/Coop map overall. After the unfortunate Traveling in Time: Medieval, Nikola is back with a vengeance - and boy, does it show.

Jeges Base is a simple but effective story of infiltration of an Inuit Corporation facility overrun by a ragtag bunch of Skaarj, their Brute minions and a host of Mercenaries. In other words, Unreal at its best. The player proceeds through various sections of the scientific-purposed building, unlocking doors, activating lifts and killing whatever alien lunatic that wants to try their luck with an armed to the teeth Terran killing machine. No real purpose of the player is given but seeing Inuit brand all over the place, it may be anything: government inside job, industrial espionage, hell, even Zofia Mozelle's original reason for incarceration as identified in the Hard Crash novel. All of these options fit and it's perfectly open for interpretation as to what the player chooses to believe. Occasional translator messages will notify of an obstacle being present or having just been removed and nothing else is offered beside that. It's as if the provided translator does not come with Inuit encryption codes and is therefore useless.

As stated therefore, the gameplay consists of searching for means to open locked doors (on the third map it becomes a bit tricky), eliminating any opposition present and proceeding further. Players are offered plenty of guns, ammo and other equipment to eliminate everything that moves but that doesn't make the task easy - merely doable and that's good, because after the lackluster Medieval, a proper challenge is welcome. Particularly the third map's opening (a decent boss fight against two behemoths right from the start) and the showdown in the library area are the pack's strongest points and it's sheer joy to come out on top. It's worth noting that on the third map points of interest are oft marked with icons such as an exclamation mark or an e-mail icon to help players navigate the area. A nice touch.

As mentioned before, Nikola is in excellent form here and it shows in the concept of the area, which is a hi-tech science facility complete with an employee breakroom, library and showers all present in the third map, science equipment and sanitary items all making an appearance prior (some borrowed from Deus Ex, that further serve to solidify the futuristic Terran feel of the location), hell, the third map's opening area looks inspired by the Resident Evil mansions, with awesome statues on full display. That, and a fresh coat of paint in the form of plenty custom textures, lends further to the feeling of a realistic and unique location that offers some insight into Inuit corporate mentality. The lighting is also much better, gone is the near-pitch-black darkness from the previous outing, even places that are supposed to be darker are not TOO dark, which is a huge plus.

On the audio front, the ambient sounds fully support the concept of the location, with computers making their beep-booping sounds, the toxic liquid in the bowels of the facility making bubbling sounds and all that. What is unique from Nikola's earlier ventures is a complete good-bye to Unreal's original tracks with a set of three custom tracks selected to help build the feeling of tension that comes with infiltrating a hostile area. One of these tracks comes from Resident Evil 4 (2005) and the other two from Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. Credit must be given where due.

In terms of technical execution, it is near perfect. No texture misalignments, no blurry textures, no BSP holes, no killzones, nothing. The only major problem I encountered was trying to hit the exit teleporter in the second map. If a teleporter is in a bit wider area, it could use a larger collision hull. I had to look it up in the editor to find a way to the third map. Other than that, I found no issues with anything related to the technical aspect of the pack.