Xidia on Unreal difficulty playthrough

jackrabbit · Post by **jackrabbit** » 18 Mar 2010, 05:20

I decided to skip a few packs and re-play Xidia Gold next on my growing list of campaigns. After beating Xenome on Unreal difficulty made me really want to do a side by side comparison to Xidia Gold to see if it really matches in gameplay/quality. So far, I'm going to have to say that Xidia still does things that Xenome didn't quite do for me. I still think Xidia is the more creeper and innovative pack. As of now, jackrabbits score for Xidia would have to be a 87% and no lower. I do think that an 81% would be the right score for Xenome, I just feel that Xidia might have been left in the dust and really deserves more due to its solid structure that has not been fractured with age.

Mister_Prophet · Post by **Mister_Prophet** » 18 Mar 2010, 08:23

I'm just jazzed that people still like it after all these years

It's that kinda thing that really motivates me to get Residual Decay and Dead Cell out the door.

salsaSkaarj · Post by **salsaSkaarj** » 18 Mar 2010, 15:58

Mister_Prophet wrote:I'm just jazzed that people still like it after all these years It's that kinda thing that really motivates me to get Residual Decay and Dead Cell out the door.

nice pun

Bah, there's no doubt that Xidia remains a very likable pack. And the good thing is that difficulty settings are sufficently different so that just about any skilllevel can find challenges in the pack.

As to comparing mappacks. It's all very subjective. I had lots and lots of fun with Xenome, more than I had with Xidia, but I am replaying Xidia now also and seem to be better equiped (skill-wise) to counter the enemy.
Basically whether Xidia is considered better than Xenome (or other packs) won't change the fun I have had and will have with both (and other) packs.

Most packs have something which really stands out.
Xenome has some incredible layouts and pathways and a gameplay which I found very satisfying, perhaps more than Xidia, but Xidia had more innovations and greater variety in enemies.

Xidia was made by a team, Xenome by one person practiccaly, Xidia is older and thus techniques used then are known now; ON the other hand there are more possibilities now with driver and engine updates (talking about Unreal) so how the hell does one compare that objectively.

Take it from me, Xidia has made its mark (and so have ONP, 7B and others, even Xenome is special) and I have no doubt that Dead Cell and Residual Decay will have that extra something which will guarantee hours and hours of fun (and that's what it is all about - fun).

Post by **UB_** » 18 Mar 2010, 16:46

You know my stance on Xenome, so whatever.
While Shrakith'a is always at the top for some reasons (because it was overall unique and fun till the end and the ending basically owned), Xidia is my favourite mappack.

Top-Tier Build.
Perfect use of sounds.
Maps such as Genome Warriors, Outpost Pheonix and the Derelict are mindblowingly awesome.
Perfectly balanced gameplay.
Great variety, great selection of weapons and intelligent placement of enemies.
Story is overall good and... uhm that's how you build a villain that you want to be hated (Cray).
Shockingly enjoyable fights against bots.
Unique in terms of theme. And various bosses too.
Spencer.
The Darklord is cooler than the Scarred One.
Best Queen fight ever since The Source.

And maybe more. Hell, I even did a walkthrough for it since I like Xidia so much.

Buff Skeleton · Post by **Buff Skeleton** » 18 Mar 2010, 16:51

Yeah Xidia pretty much owns to this day and is extraordinarily memorable. You shouldn't be surprised people still play it.

Jet v4.3.5 · Post by **Jet v4.3.5** » 18 Mar 2010, 21:14

The epic music elevator near the end of The Incident sticks in my mind every time; it's such an awkward moment because it plays through most of the elevator that lets you see a whole bunch of Outpost Pheonix's surroundings and then the music stops abruptly, leaving you in near-silence. "WTF was that all about? Did I miss something important?"

-Visc- · Post by **-Visc-** » 18 Mar 2010, 21:20

UBerserker wrote: [*]Maps such as Genome Warriors, Outpost Pheonix and the Derelict are mindblowingly awesome.

Couldn't agree more, Genome Warriors is still my favorite map of all the time in the whole U1+UT universe.

Xidia was also the most enjoyable single player pack for UT, heck I think I'll give Xidia another shot today. I think the design variety in the maps is what made Xidia standing out.

gp · Post by gp » 18 Mar 2010, 23:00

I actually started another play-through of Xidia late last week and have been having a blast. Though I would say that I agree with some of the criticisms mentioned in the review, it really is great. Of course I plan to continue to Na Pali Haven: Redux and 7 Bullets afterwards.

salsaSkaarj wrote:...I have no doubt that Dead Cell and Residual Decay will have that extra something which will guarantee hours and hours of fun (and that's what it is all about - fun).

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Mister_Prophet · Post by **Mister_Prophet** » 19 Mar 2010, 00:18

jetv435 wrote:The epic music elevator near the end of The Incident sticks in my mind every time; it's such an awkward moment because it plays through most of the elevator that lets you see a whole bunch of Outpost Pheonix's surroundings and then the music stops abruptly, leaving you in near-silence. "WTF was that all about? Did I miss something important?"

Oh yeah. Was one of those things that just seemed like a good idea at the time.

Buff Skeleton · Post by **Buff Skeleton** » 19 Mar 2010, 00:26

NEMESIS.UMX

Mister_Prophet · Post by **Mister_Prophet** » 19 Mar 2010, 00:32

Waffnuffly wrote:NEMESIS.UMX

If anyone is interested, I think the song was a segment (badly converted) from a Sean Connery movie. It cracks me up because there is no reason for it to be there, but then again I did that in other spots in Xidia Gold (the out-of-nowhere 8 seconds of heavy metal in Return to Outpost Phoenix, when Spencer opens a door to the dock and sees some Skaarj rushing towards him).

Post by **UB_** » 19 Mar 2010, 00:36

I remember that one.

So in all of the Jones adventures, UneternalSleep was the only Silent Hill track used? And who did BlackDawn, BlackSun and the one (Butterfly) which plays in the first SkAssassin ambush in Landing (which sounds like SH2's final battle track).

Buff Skeleton · Post by **Buff Skeleton** » 19 Mar 2010, 00:52

Mister_Prophet wrote:Outpost Phoenix

I thought it was PHEONIX >:E

Jet v4.3.5 · Post by **Jet v4.3.5** » 19 Mar 2010, 00:55

It's a typo, then, I assume. You meant it to be Pheonix, but you spelled it wrong, in this context.

-Visc- · Post by **-Visc-** » 19 Mar 2010, 01:10

Waffnuffly wrote:NEMESIS.UMX

Wasn't it butterfly.umx or something? Or am I just confused once again?