Introduction
During his journey, Duke accidentally discovers the remains of an ancient advanced civilisation. When he enters into the depths of the temple in hopes for treature, he soon finds out that the aliens have gotten here first. Duke isn’t going to sit around while they get their hands on the gold!
Review
Elements is a relatively short and simple map, but a decent first release going in the right direction. The map tackles a classic style of design using a mix of temple and canyon theme where you’ll find yourself given the choice between two portals that lead into different linear parts of the map, both of which need to be completed to unlock the next set of doors here, but otherwise the progression is linear while having an adventurous feel to gameplay. Both sections are divided into their own themes, a water temple and fire temple. The water area involves a lot of diving for buttons and fighting enemies there, while lava is more about jumping over hazards and avoiding crushers. The early provision of boots and scuba gear take away any risk imposed for these romps however.
Most of the time you’ll be pushing switches to gain access and then progressing into the next area, though an underwater valve needing multiple presses to unseal the door was cute. Enemies being revealed one by one during the end gaunlets was a nice touch too. Action is on the easy side with more than enough ammo and health around to get by with very little issues. Some tougher fights would have been welcome in later spots for both segments. Construction is average while portraying the locations quite well with a decent use of textures and some strong shadows. The temple has some deterioration taking place with several broken parts of the scenery from pillars and the ceilings scattered about. There are some texture alignment issues and additional polish could have been taken, but the simplicity of design here remains appealing for what it set out to do.
Conclusion
For a first release the level is decent, the gameplay is simplistic and easy to get through while playing on the two temple themes. The design remains average throughout and presents the locations well enough, even with a limited choice of temple suitable textures.