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Blood for the Serpent God
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| Author |
File Description |
Filthydelphia
(id: Al_Kharn the Great) |
Posted on 01/01/20 @ 01:42 PM
| File Details |
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| Version: |
Age of Empires II: DE |
| Style: |
Build and Destroy |
Screenshot:
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The gods demand sacrifice!
As the Maya Hero Twins, capture enemy warriors to satisfy the ravenous hunger of the gods in the early days of the Mayan civilization.
Features:
Unique capture and sacrifice gameplay: wound enemy warriors and offer them as sacrifices
Race against the Mayan calendar to avoid the wrath of the gods
A diverse Yucatan landscape including underground rivers, alligator-infested swamps, and sprawling cities
About the Author:
Filthydelphia (xbox: PhillySouljah) is the award-winning designer of historical custom campaigns and official content for the Age of Empires franchise. Part of the Forgotten Empires campaign team, his works include the Portuguese, Burmese, Bulgarian, Italian, and Indian campaigns featured in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition as well as several campaigns in Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. |
| Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
|---|
| kud13 |
Posted on 11/28/20 @ 03:14 PM
Playability: 5
I have had no issues playing this scenario. The gameplay is fairly aggressive. The player is stuck in Feudal age and cannot build anything except resource camps, farms and docks, though nearly the entire Meso unit roster (including most unique units) as well as Monks are available through rom the get-go. There's minimal economy, in other words, and all you're doing is constantly raiding to collect more sacrifices. I did have a bit of an issue with the game sometimes counting 2 sacrifices as one if they were being garrisoned in the temple too close together; Overall, the scenario is an interesting challenge in balancing minimal economy with the need to continuously feed the sacrifice meter to avoid wrath of angry gods, such as plagues killing your units, or wiping out your farms.
Balance: 4
The game is perfectly beatable on Moderate. The timers are pretty generous once you get going, and I ended up fulfilling my sacrifice quota with quite some time to go. However, the caveat is, I did turn the game speed to Slow. On Normal speed, the biggest challenge is microing your slaves to make them arrange for sacrifice in an orderly fashion. There are a lot of enemy units appropriately scattered who make for goor sacrifice fodder, and there's hardly ever risk of having your superior units wiped; but the timing can be a bit finicky, and personally I found the extra micro necessary a bit too much. This may vary from player to player, though.
Creativity: 5
The scenario is a really interesting twist on a traditional economy, since you're less worried about food to sustain unit production (really, your biggest food expenditures are some eco techs, Blacksmith and then the 2 Eagles upgrades), and more about constantly moving further out to find new enemies to kill, because the gods are always hungry. There have been several scenarios where obtaining villagers is only possible through in-game actions, rather than simply training them at a building; but this goes a step further, since this time the same villagers are crucial- but not for the traditional reasons of building up an economy.
Map Design: 4
Map is fairly varied, but at the same time, it fits the game's goals well. Most areas are clearly delineated, as you transition from jungle, into crocodile-infested swamps, or plateaus or mangrove shallows that hide additional villages. There weren't really any surprises here to make the map stand out, but the open design did a good job guiding the player ever forward in the continuous cycle of expansion. Everything here is about maintaining momentum, because the clock is always ticking; this kind of made it difficult to really stop and take a better look at the scenery.
Story/Instructions: 5
No issues with grammar or spelling; instructions were clear and to the point. I'm not too familiar with Mesoamerican pantheons, but the designer included honoring several deities as goals and these were thematically connected to additional in-game boons (or penalties) in a neat and well-described way.
Additional Comments: A fun scenario with a very different take on the traditional villager economy. Essentially a minigame, since you are on the clock all the way through, it's nonetheless an enjoyable experience allowing the player to try out the full spectrum of Mesoamerican tech tree in a small, well-crafted experience.
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HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
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| 4.6 | | Breakdown |
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| Playability | 5.0 | | Balance | 4.0 | | Creativity | 5.0 | | Map Design | 4.0 | | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 724 |
| Favorites: [] | 2 |
| Size: | 3.75 MB |
| Added: | 01/01/20 |
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