Hey everyone!
It seems we’re on a streak of old-but-gold maps, and today in the spotlight is “Hall of Mirrors” from kilozombie’s “Cassettes” collection – a story-heavy campaign that focuses on unique level design and psychological topics delving deep into Ibzan’s consciousness. Oh, and there's Timur as well.
Fittingly enough for the level’s name, the first section is perfectly symmetrical, aside from the enemies being warped to different heights, which will make hitting the heads more difficult. The stage itself is pretty huge, with lots of small rooms, stairwells and interconnected vents that allow for quick navigation. The guns on the shelves are a neat touch, specifically because they’re pretty tricky to get.
After clearing the warped bar, you can explore a bit to find a familiar face, or acquire an Auto Grenade Launcher if you’re agile enough. When you’re done, just jump down the basement pit as prompted.
Once you land you’ll find that the fall has stretched you out this time, which will make aiming rather confusing. Tip: trust nothing but the reticle. At least everything else is back to normal now. This is where kilozombie gets the chance to flex his environment creation skills – floating cubes and snow are all well and good for otherworldly areas, but this area goes above and beyond with its scattered rooms, tears in the background, and distorted atmosphere.
Once you rid the place of enemies undead, you’ll move to the story segment of the level by picking a safe and obtaining a cassette, a fragment of Ibzan’s shattered and distorted memory. We’re not gonna delve deep into the story here, though, so instead I’d like to bring your attention to this ridiculously large God of Life. Maybe this whole situation is just an obscure Evangelion reference.
All in all, it’s a memorable level, with added difficulty in figuring out just where to shoot the warped enemies, although it's somewhat short compared to some of the other stages in the collection. However, they’re designed just right to make the entire playthrough enjoyable.