Line #15 YMMV/MarathonExpandedUniverse


1	YMMV Items for {{Game Mod}}s of Creator/{{Bungie}}'s ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' series, which we've collectively dubbed the ''VideoGame/MarathonExpandedUniverse''.
2	----
3	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: That Lysander (of ''Rubicon'') is malicious is not in question. However, [[spoiler: despite appearing calm in the face of imminent death, he repeatedly emphasizes to the Security Officer that it won't matter if they kill him or not, and attempts to undermine their trust in Durandal--which, incidentally, would disincline them from finishing the job and smashing Lysander's core. Was he taking things as well as he appeared to?]] For that matter, [[spoiler: how much of said malice stems from him just being kind of unpleasant to begin with, and how much of it stems from what's implied to be a heavily-prolonged mental breakdown with roots in severe emotional abuse?]]
4	** Hathor in ''Eternal'' is very much subject to this as well. That she's [[spoiler:a villain]] is beyond question... [[spoiler:until her HeelFaceTurn, that is.]] That [[spoiler:we're nonetheless supposed to sympathise with her at times even before then]] is also beyond question. However, different players have had very different reactions to her character beyond that. ''Eternal'' 1.3 changes her characterisation substantially in places, which will undoubtedly create even more of this (though it also removes some of the ambiguity about her backstory and motives).
5	* {{Applicability}}: WordOfGod indicates that although ''Eternal'' can be interpreted as having a GreenAesop - [[spoiler:since the conflict between the Ascended Jjaro (powerful beings who rigidly insist on maintaining at all costs a status quo that they're at least partially responsible for creating) and the W'rkncacnter (equally powerful beings who essentially seek to cause chaos without regard for the consequences, and/or to destroy purely for the sake of destruction) would lead to the destruction of the galaxy without the player's intervention]] - it wasn't originally a conscious intention of the developers. However, many of them also seem pleased that it's a potential interpretation of the story, and they've suggested that 1.3 may play up this theme a bit more.
6	* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt:
7	** ''Tempus Irae''[='=]s textures and scenery, particularly the full-colour remakes for Aleph One.
8	*** Nardo began preparing a second remake in 2020 (titled ''Tempus Irae Redux'' as of 2022), and one of the team members has been posting some re-renders of old Vidmaster films with the 2020 textures on their Website/YouTube channel... [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoysJW6pXQ6nVJdLAfq0ZxS6WRv0bC3Fe seriously, just look at them.]] (Any film labelled “2020 remaster” or “2020 rem”, or with a recording date of May 2020 or later, has the new textures.)
9	** Despite not having gotten an HD remaster (due to the author [[DiedDuringProduction dying]]), remaster, the artwork for ''Pfh'Joueur'' also remains very impressive.
10	** ''Rubicon'' manages to create a biome that looks genuinely alien, and the textures for the ''Chimera'' genuinely look like a wrecked spaceship. Overall, it has a very sleek visual aesthetic and makes its settings feel real despite the limitations the designers were working with at the time (bear in mind, they made the whole game with the now-removed 1,024 polygon limitation).
11	** The 1.2 revisions of ''Eternal''[='=]s textures, now that they have proper bump maps and glow maps, make them some of the most impressive textures yet seen in the ''Marathon'' engine. Moreover, the subsequent revisions in 1.3 give many of the texture sets more appropriate and vibrant colours and outright replace some textures with even more impressive new ones.
12	** ''Apotheosis X'' has some gorgeous enemy and weapon models with some incredibly fluid animations, and even the low-res textures look incredible.
13	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
14	** The soundtrack to ''Marathon Eternal'', which features fantastic remixes of ''Marathon''[='=]s music by Craig Hardgrove and Nick Singer, plus a few excellent original compositions by Thomas Livingston and Eike Steffen. Listen to it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbkpMAZuOk0 here]] (the video description also contains a download link for the music by itself, including a few tracks that didn't make it into the game).
15	*** ''Eternal''[='=]s soundtrack is being massively expanded for its 1.3 release, and the new material (including works by nine new composers and arrangers, plus additional works from Hardgrove and Singer) is arguably just as high-quality. Since it's still a work in progress, it's not available on [=YouTube=] yet, but the codirector has made it [[https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuD0MykSsmaRnUJawmCYx8my2zSS?e=9rRYFa available to download in FLAC]] (along with [[http://aaronfreed.github.io/aaronfreed/soundtracks.html several other soundtracks]]).
16	*** Additional pieces of the ''Eternal'' 1.3 soundtrack are also possible to stream in the form of ''Marathon'' remix/arrangement albums by [[https://youtu.be/7uadHRPqrec Cory King Tucker]], [[https://youtu.be/bRiDh3PziWU Aaron Freed]], and [[https://talashar.bandcamp.com/album/eupfhoria Talashar]], though many of these have been altered somewhat (or spliced together) for their ''Eternal'' appearances.
17	** The various soundtracks to ''Excalibur'' have also been excellent, going back even to its original [=QuickTime=]/MIDI soundtrack from when it was still a ''Marathon 1'' mod.
18	** ''Trojan'' also has some excellent tracks, particularly "Lune Noire", "Have Gun, Will Travel", and "Dance the Last Waltz With Me". It's online [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFOdOT0kaaY here.]] It was also recently remastered for the 2021 Director's Cut of the game; the remastered version (which is somewhat [[LoudnessWar more dynamic, and therefore quieter]]) is [[https://youtu.be/bKQnv8zg8rk here.]]
19	** ''Phoenix''[='=]s soundtrack has quite a few bangers and fantastic atmospheric tunes as well, such as "Misuse", "Dice", "Babylon", "Animosity", and "Chronological". The ''Eternal'' developer responsible for remastering its soundtrack has recently remastered the whole ''Phoenix'' soundtrack and put it up on [=YouTube=]; you can listen [[https://youtu.be/KczNQR_K5Qc here]] (and if you want to use it in-game, just get ''Phoenix'' 1.4, which already includes the remastered soundtrack).
20	** The experimental map collection ''hellpak''[='=]s OST is just as experimental, but a lot more accessible - and frequently incredibly catchy. You can listen to it [[https://youtu.be/djme8sJfwOo on YouTube]] or [[https://1drv.ms/u/s!AuD0MykSsmaRnlBlixD0iXLX3NNO?e=r8YAh5 download it in FLAC]]. Each track also features unique artwork generated with [=Midjourney=].
21	** ''Apotheosis''[='=] soundtrack is also quite impressive. It's not on [=YouTube=] yet (the creators have indicated that they want to do a bit more than a standard "soundtrack with game logo" for the video), but you can download a version suitable for standalone listening [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/994539679963693096/1025583853655556168/2022-10-01_-_Apotheosis_X_OST.zip here]] (this version is properly tagged, has the silences at the start and end of some tracks trimmed, and has marginally better dynamic range).
22	* BossInMookClothing[=/=]DemonicSpiders:
23	** In ''Rubicon'', the enforcers. Dear god, I never knew a health bar could be drained so fast. It doesn't help that they ''also'' have homing projectiles, and they each do 1/3 bar of damage on Total Carnage.
24	*** The Pfhor Chamberlains in the same scenario also qualify. They can't actually kill you, but they can strip your health bar down to the point where one hit from ''anything else'' will kill you, and they can do it in less than a second. Luckily there are only a few in the entire game.
25	*** The Salinger Plank gives us the insidious [=MaserBoBs=], wielders of the powerful, perfectly-accurate Dangi Maser. If he sees you, you're as good as dead; they're more-or-less the human counterparts to the Enforcers. Luckily, you can pilfer their Masers and the ammo to load it with. Also, interestingly, at least "Core Wars" has significantly fewer [=MaserBoBs=] in ''Rubicon X'' than it did in ''Rubicon''. Compared to in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhd6WNqdn5g Rubicon,]]'' where it has something like [[ArcNumber seven]], to the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfBcwI3qDRo Rubicon X]]'' version, where it has ''two''. Unsurprisingly, Dr Sumner cleared out the RX version about eight and a half minutes faster. (The RX version of the level also deleted some 140 polygons for unknown reasons; it's one of several levels that was completely overhauled for the re-release.)
26	*** The maser turrets are even worse, since you can't kill them. Luckily, they only appear on a handful of levels, of which by far the most annoying is "With Utility Bills Like These..." -- and for that matter, most of the ones in "Core Wars" get shut off [[spoiler:after you kill Lysander]].
27	*** There are a few other annoyingly overpowered monsters, such as the floating mines, particularly the ones with the zap attack (although these might be largely difficult due to their janky hitboxes), and the drones with homing projectiles.
28	*** The Lookers in ''Rubicon'' inexplicably do more than a health bar of damage on Normal and above (which is far, ''far'' more than they dealt in ''Marathon 1''). And they often appear in swamps, where players can't shoot or even see them.
29	*** In general, a lot of the unpopular ''Rubicon'' levels are probably mostly unpopular due to the overpowered monsters. If the Enforcers weren't so overpowered, for instance, levels like "Not This Again..." would be a lot of fun to play.
30	** Many of the A'Khr (and a few of the Pfhor) in ''Phoenix'' have infuriatingly fast firing speeds. These are the main reason the scenario is NintendoHard.
31	** The hateful floating jellyfish (internally named [[MeaningfulName "Azrael"]]) from ''Spacial Outpouring''. Imagine the S'pht'Kr if they had twice the firing speed, a tendency to [[JumpScare teleport into innocuous areas]], and a burning hatred of Security Officers.
32	** ''Eternal'' had the orbs, which were basically its version of ''Rubicon'''s maser turrets. Fortunately, they only appear as adversaries in one (optional) level; elsewhere, they're aligned with the player. They're also substantially less extreme in 1.2 and on.
33	* BreatherLevel: Some of the scenarios have these. In ''Pfh'Joueur'', for example, the levels on the ''Nor'Haket'' tend to be less difficult than the surrounding missions, and in many cases have more to do with puzzle solving than they do with fighting off aliens. At the even more extreme end are the success dreams in ''Eternal'', the first four of which basically just involve a trip down a mountain without any combat, and the last of which is an inverted version of the prologue level, again without any combat. The first level in each chapter of ''Phoenix'' also usually serves a similar purpose ("Positive Force" being an exception, but it's still short in comparison to the other levels in the game); additionally, "Sanctum sanctorum" and to a lesser extent "Tantive IV" are quite a bit less difficult than the other surrounding levels.
34	* BrokenBase: The entire Tycho Plank in ''Rubicon X'', both regarding the quality of some of the levels and which ending is the best.
35	** Regarding the levels, a few levels are reused with few modifications from the original game[[note]]Actually, it's a bit more complicated than that: "Core Wars II" is the same as the ''Rubicon X'' version of "Core Wars" - but, as seen above under BossInMookClothing, they're both ''radically different'' from the original ''Rubicon'' version of the level. It's not entirely clear why the developers didn't simply use the original version of the level in the ''Salinger'' plank, and then use the modified version only as "Core Wars II". That would've likely been a lot more positively received.[[/note]], which is almost universally disliked, and the combat is generally regarded to be almost impossible (and not in a fun way) on higher difficulty settings, but there are fairly strong disagreements regarding almost everything else.
36	** Regarding the ending, it's widely disputed whether the Tycho plank or the ''Salinger'' plank is the "better" ending.
37	*** The Tycho plank [[spoiler:involves betraying and "killing" Durandal (who may be a bit of a {{Jerkass}} but still generally comes across as something of a JerkWithAHeartOfGold) and killing a large number of scientists who were just doing their job, but it also appears to result in the virus samples being ''completely'' destroyed along with all knowledge of them. Lysander claimed the virus was incurable and that InformationWantsToBeFree, which (if we [[VillainsNeverLie accept him at his word]] - and since the game's tagline and main theme is "truth is the first casualty of war", we probably shouldn't) makes this arguably a superior ending for mankind generally, though it also becomes an extremely dark case of BlackAndGreyMorality on the player's part. On the other hand, the epilogue level, "Lazarus ex machina", strongly implies that we didn't ''actually'' kill Durandal; we appear to retain his primal pattern, and the level involves us inserting chips into a computer core, with the final terminal displaying Durandal rebooting. This level also indicates that humanity has no idea what occurred on the ''Salinger'', suggesting that perhaps Tycho was being truthful and all information about ''Achilles'' really was destroyed.]]
38	*** The ''Salinger'' plank [[spoiler:has us ''capturing'' the scientists. Durandal retains information about the virus. He tells us that he won't use this information against humanity, but even if we accept that ''he'' won't, we are left with quite a bit of uncertainty about whether information can leak out via the scientists themselves. On the other hand, we don't kill large numbers of more or less unarmed scientists who were [[PunchClockVillain basically just doing their jobs]], nor do we betray JerkWithAHeartOfGold Durandal.]]
39	*** As a result, players ''still'' dispute which of these should be read as the BittersweetEnding and which of these is the flat-out HappyEnding (some TakeAThirdOption and consider both bittersweet in different ways). The ambiguity is confirmed to have been deliberate on the writers' part - again, "truth is the first casualty of war". According to [[WordOfGod the main writer]], D. Scott Brown, you're [[http://pfhorums.com/viewtopic.php?p=68857#p68857 not intended to be able to tell for certain]] who's telling the truth.
40	** ''Eternal''[='=]s level "Run, Coward!" was divisive in pretty much all its releases up until 1.2. Players either hated it because the main adversaries are stationary orbs that fire incessantly, were indestructible (until 1.2), and (again until 1.2) stripped away a bar of shields in under a second; or loved it for the exact same reason. This literally caused a two-page forum argument during 1.2's development that ultimately produced a level few people absolutely ''loved'', but no one outright ''hated'' either. The orbs are less annoyingly powerful and can be destroyed with either fusion guns, the wave motion cannon, or [[spoiler:the hidden gravitronic blade]], but they damage players caught in their explosions and respawn after some time elapses; players also have a finite amount of ammo to deal with them that's quite valuable for the rest of the chapter, so they're better off saving it. The Pfhor and allied Drinniol also respawn occasionally, and the doors open much faster, making the level less of a LuckBasedMission. It also features [[spoiler:the aforementioned gravitronic blade, which can one-hit kill almost anything in the game, including the orbs, with Juggernauts being the only exception]], plus a revised ending that now features a ContinuityNod to an earlier level ("Dread Not"). [[spoiler:This actually serves as subtle signposting to where the player needs to go on that level.]] A subsequent revision also adds vacuum areas. 1.3 widens many of the corridors to reduce the odds of monsters blocking the player's path, adds [[spoiler:allied drones and Juggernauts]] and windows (and vacuum areas), and allows most of the monsters (hostile and friendly alike) freer access to wander the level.
41	*** "Unwired" is another point of contention. Some people like it because it's basically a MarathonLevel version of, well, a ''Marathon 1'' level, but others dislike it because it is incredibly linear - there is essentially only one path through the level, which is virtually unique in ''Eternal'', a generally fairly nonlinear scenario. A particular point of contention was a change in version 1.2.0 that created a particularly difficult gantlet that players weren't required to run in any previous release, making it arguably the hardest level in the whole game (an odd difficulty curve, since it's only the sixth level out of fifty-two). 1.2.1 reverts this so that players can bypass the gantlet entirely, as was the case before 1.2.0. 1.3, meanwhile, goes the route of replacing the level entirely - "Remedial Chaos Theory", its replacement, contains several recognisable segments of "Unwired", but much of it has been ripped out and rebuilt from scratch; some players have commented that the result feels like ''Eternal''[='=]s take on a ''Phoenix'' level.
42	* CompleteMonster: In ''Eternal'' 1.3, the [[spoiler:W'rkncacnter]] given the nickname "Apep" qualifies. Where [[spoiler:Hathor]] is ultimately shown to be redeemable, Apep is never shown to have any redeeming characteristics whatsoever; it has myopically dedicated itself to revenge on our timeline for having the audacity to ''exist''. It’s dedicated to committing genocide against every other species in our galaxy, but as far as it’s concerned, ''we’re'' in the wrong purely because it existed before we did. Thus, it pulls an IfICantHaveYou on the ''entire galaxy'', and claims that it's simply doing this to restore its own timeline - even though that's InsaneTrollLogic: destroying our galaxy won't even restore its original timeline. And to top it all off, a being as powerful as Apep is perfectly capable of simply... travelling to a different timeline that's more to its liking, so its actions are ''completely pointless''; they're motivated by nothing more than resentment and spite, and it's simply invented an elaborate rationale to assuage any feelings of guilt it might otherwise feel about its actions.
43	* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: ''Rubicon'' is a {{downplayed\|Trope}} example. Its story, graphics, sounds, overall level design, weapons, and monster design are usually regarded as good to great, but its ''game balance'' is widely disliked. It's commonly felt that ''Rubicon'' as a whole must not have been tested very much above Normal, and that the Tycho Plank must not have been tested ''at all'' above Normal. Two common complaints: (1) The Enforcer at the start of "The Descension Factor" is impossible to defeat on a pistol start. (2) The Lookers do more than a bar's worth of damage on Normal and above and are impossible to see in swamps. The monster physics also come in for repeated complaints here; some players have contended that ''Rubicon'' would be better if it used mostly vanilla enemy physics. (Another bizarre example: Juggernauts' bullets' area of impact is the size of players' SSM missiles' explosions, which makes the former effectively impossible to dodge. There's no indication anywhere in the game that this is the case.) For these reasons, ''Rubicon'' is commonly regarded as not fun to play on higher difficulty settings. That said, its gameplay is generally regarded as perfectly acceptable on Normal and below.
44	* GeniusBonus: If you're familiar with Myth/EgyptianMythology, the ''Eternal'' level title "Sakhmet Rising" provides an early hint as to what's going on in the story. [[spoiler:Sekhmet (also spelled Sakhmet and a number of other ways) is (in many traditions of Egyptian mythology) the OmnicidalManiac SuperpoweredEvilSide of the normally kind-hearted, fun-loving goddess Hathor. This level provides the first overt evidence that ''Eternal''[='=]s Hathor has become less like her namesake and more like the mythological Sekhmet, although the full extent of just ''how'' vengeful she has become does not become clear until later in the game.]]
45	** "Enantiodromia" is another example: if you're familiar with the term from psychology or philosophy (which refers to a tendency of things to turn into their opposites, especially in the absence of balance), it clues you in on one of the game's major themes and {{foreshadow\|ing}}s several plot events before they occur.
46	* HarsherInHindsight:
47	** Paco of ''RED'' is bound and determined to get his jobs done and indicated to be somewhat trigger-happy, with Ian at one point being mildly exasperated that Paco is trying to wring more ammo out of him yet again. [[spoiler: Then you learn how he reacted to not being able to save the UESC ''Marathon'' or Tau Ceti IV, and suddenly this seems less like him simply being trigger-happy and more like signs of PTSD.]]
48	** In the era of COVID-19, the SyntheticPlague aspects of ''Rubicon'''s plot can come across as even more disturbing than they did when the game was originally released.
49	* HilariousInHindsight: The name of ''Eternal'', in light of the release of ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'', may qualify. Some of the developers of the ''Marathon'' scenario at least seem to find the name similarity amusing - they've made jokes about working on and playing ''Eternal'' "before it was cool". (The creators have also made self-deprecating jokes along the lines that the name ''Eternal'' refers to the game's long [[DevelopmentHell development process]] and/or [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading loading screens]].)
50	* JerkassWoobie: There's no doubt that ''Eternal''[='=]s [[spoiler:Hathor]] is a villain, but there are still several points in the story where it's difficult not to feel sympathy for her. In the final chapter, she arguably [[spoiler:becomes a straight-up {{Woobie}}, as it's clear she genuinely ''wants'' to reform herself, but unfortunately, the means by which she wishes to do this would have [[ApocalypseHow catastrophic consequences]], and by this point, her mind is so badly damaged that she doesn't understand the glaring flaw in her plan. (She genuinely does not understand that her plan to release the ''trih xeem'' on a system containing a W'rkncacnter, which she intends as a way to prevent a war that will lead to the extinction of organic life in the galaxy, is targeting the Sol system - this is confirmed by WordOfGod.) Furthermore, owing to the nature of the series, the player has [[PoorCommunicationKills no way to explain this to her]], meaning that even when she comes to the player with good intentions, she is ultimately [[ReformedButRejected rejected]] - all of which just compounds the tragedy of the story. Ultimately, the player and Durandal-Thoth make the decision to reset the entire timeline back to the end of ''Infinity'' and see to it that Hathor is not woken up as a disembodied AI, which she regarded as a FateWorseThanDeath (quite literally, as she had spent the previous century dead) and led to her FaceHeelTurn in the first place.]]
51	* NightmareFuel: See [[NightmareFuel/MarathonExpandedUniverse the Expanded Universe's Nightmare Fuel page]].
52	* OvershadowedByControversy: ''Portal of Sigma'' is generally regarded as a pretty good (albeit unfinished) mod, but it's mostly remembered now for a plagiarism controversy involving the primary creator rather than the content of the mod itself.
53	* ParanoiaFuel: Connected to NightmareFuel above; many of the scenarios get this way.
54	** The level "Roquefortress" in ''Phoenix'' is an excellent example: the level is extremely dark, if you take a wrong step you will die instantly, and enemies come from anywhere and everywhere and it is difficult to keep track of them. It does not help that many of the enemies in this scenario fly and don't make any noise until they fire at you, and can take away a whole bar of health in less than a second. Oh, and the level is set out in a completely non-linear manner so it's impossible to keep track of where the enemies have been released. Have fun! (Despite that, the level, as well as the whole scenario, is awesome, and one of the best examples of SceneryPorn created in the engine to date. The main creator was an architecture major and it shows).
55	*** Another example of this is in "Escape Two Thousand" (which even creator [=RyokoTK=] has expressed dissatisfaction with). Overall, this level is a massive change of pace from the rest of the scenario in that it is heavily dependent upon platforming and being able to make precise shots with the crossbow; the player gets almost as much crossbow ammo in this level as in the rest of the scenario combined (this is barely even an exaggeration, lest you're wondering; the level contains some thirty-four crossbow quivers). However, before the recent 1.4 release, there were a couple of points where the player also got attacked by Defenders -- who, again, can fly, and don't make any noise until they're right on top of you. There's nowhere to take cover for the first few of these attacks, which is probably the main reason this is such a divisive level. 1.4 nerfs this aspect of it. And there was much rejoicing.
56	** The swamps on the Pfhor planet in ''Rubicon'' have alien noises as random ambient sounds. There are also Lookers in the swamp (whose chatter is among the noises that happen as ambient sounds), and it's next to impossible to see them even if you have liquid transparency enabled due to the thickness of the sludge in the swamp. Needless to say, when wandering through the swamp, you're pretty much constantly afraid that you're going to walk over a Looker and die. Lookers do a ''ridiculous'' amount of damage in Rubicon, by the way - basically a whole health bar on Normal and above.
57	** ''Rubicon'' as a whole invokes this in its tagline: "Truth is the first casualty of war." To put it this way, the only person you can trust not to have it out for you [[spoiler: if you don't turn on him]] is Durandal--and even he makes some questionable decisions over the course of the plot(s). For that matter, it's also clear that [[spoiler:even in timelines where the player doesn't turn against him,]] he still outright lies to the player about at least a few things.
58	*** Though in ''Rubicon X'', as it turns out, [[spoiler:Tycho also behaves surprisingly benevolently should the player choose to align with him - he probably qualifies as a fairly dark antihero at worst. He claims to have little concern with the fate of humanity in one of the game terminals, but his actions throughout his plank make this claim questionable. The worst actions he's responsible for are sending the player off to slaughter the Dangi scientists and kill Durandal, but the former is arguably justifiable from a utilitarian standpoint (knowledge of ''Achilles'' in the wrong hands would kill some 99% of humanity, so the safest recourse for humanity as a whole is to destroy all memory of it; the scenario essentially posits a fairly massive [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem trolley problem]]) and, as revealed in the epilogue, we didn't actually kill Durandal. Not coincidentally, this ties in with the scenario's dream story, which ends with the narrator destroying all record of his most dangerous work and fleeing.]]
59	** The final chapter in ''Eternal'' was more a chapter of {{Scrappy Level}}s in earlier releases, but 1.2 revamps it into a chapter full of this. Instead of having to fight off enemies every second of gameplay, it's more a case of having to be constantly on your toes for enemies that are well camouflaged and have a habit of sneaking up on you silently. The Phantasms/Banshees also can cause {{Jump Scare}}s thanks to their attack sound (which is actually, as it was in ''VideoGame/PathwaysIntoDarkness'', [[spoiler:a sample of a lion roaring from Sound Ideas' Series 6000 General library]]).
60	* PlayTheGameSkipTheStory: ''EVIL'''s gameplay, monsters, weapons, sounds, and level design are generally considered decent to great (depending upon the level), but its "plot"...well, it's the least-discussed aspect of ''EVIL'' for a reason. (And most of the discussion it does get isn't particularly flattering.)
61	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Basically the whole fifth chapter of ''Eternal'' starting in version 1.2, for reasons discussed immediately below. "Deep Into the Grotto" and "This Message Will Self-Destruct" particularly stand out for this, though; both were considered some of the worst levels in the game in earlier releases, but are reasonably well liked in 1.2 and onward, if not outright considered some of its highlights. (1.3 also makes a few design changes to "Grotto" to improve its signposting.)
62	* ScrappyMechanic: ''Everyone'' who played ''Eternal'' versions 1.0 and 1.1 on higher difficulty settings hated the impenetrable swarms of monsters in the final chapter. This was toned down to manageable levels at some point around 1.2 alpha 4 or 5; the new versions are [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap much better liked]].
63	* SequelDifficultySpike:
64	** ''Rubicon X'' apparently wasn't really tested much on difficulties beyond Normal, with the result that the levels that only appear in ''Rubicon X'' get ''really'' hard on Major Damage or Total Carnage.
65	** ''Tempus Irae II: The Lost Levels'' is generally considered quite a bit harder than the original ''Tempus Irae''. Fitting, given its [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels namesake]].
66	* SlowPacedBeginning:
67	** A common complaint with scenarios such as ''Rubicon'' and ''Eternal'' that front-load their exposition. ''Rubicon X'' in particular has three levels before the game starts in earnest - "It Begins with a Ending", "Rozinante I", and "Veni vidi cursavi". This is one reason some players actually prefer the original ''Rubicon'' release, which only has "Rozinante I".
68	*** ''Eternal X'' 1.3, by contrast, splits up previous releases' infamously long opening exposition terminal into three - still a lot of exposition, but at least now players are ''doing'' something in between reading (even if it's just exploring and picking up weapons and ammo). The terminals also now introduce players to the non-vanilla mechanic of terminals triggering events in the game world, which appears again several times later in ''Eternal''. We should note that ''Eternal X'' 1.0 introduced the exposition terminal (and indeed, the entire prologue level) because players didn't [[{{RTFM}} read the readme]] included with the earlier ''Mark'' releases and then complained that they couldn't understand the plot.
69	** This can also apply to gameplay, since a lot of scenarios feel it necessary to use a lot of really basic enemies like fighters and drones that everyone's already killed thousands of for their first few levels. ''Tempus Irae'' toys with this by making the first level, "Ain't My Bitch", start off with a bang – which works fine, but it means the next few levels feel ''really slow'' in comparison (though they're otherwise very good).
70	** ''Eternal'' gets this in a different way, owing in large part to how many revisions it has been through and how the end of the game ''used to be'' widely disliked - the team has spent so much effort improving the end of the game that a common opinion seems to be that it is now the best part of the game by a substantial margin.
71	* ThatOneBoss: ''Istoria'' generally plays quite fair (though players should probably choose nothing higher than Normal for their first playthrough, even if they're used to Total Carnage). However, "Born Under Punches" features the first appearance of a Flame IADD, a boss monster that one-shots the player even at full health. It has 3,000 HP, so it takes a ''lot'' of damage to kill, and its attacks travel quite fast even if you hit it with an Ice spell. Perhaps worst of all, it's not any easier on lower difficulties. Depending on what class you've chosen, it can be a huge roadblock to the player's progression; Deceivers will have a particularly difficult time, since their active ability does nothing against it. The intended solution is to [[spoiler:use a Fury spell and then unleash as much Laser as possible while also firing at it]], but switching spells in the midst of combat can also pose issues. The developers have indicated that this fight will be toned down in a future update. There are more Flame [=IADDs=] later in the game, but by that point, you have your own one-shot ability: [[spoiler:the Black Hole spell]]. As a result, they're mostly trivial unless you've used up all your [[spoiler:Black Holes]] and/or they catch you by surprise.
72	* ThatOneLevel: Secret levels tend to be infuriatingly difficult, although there are exceptions (the last secret on ''Tempus Irae'' is [[spoiler:mostly an excuse for porn]]).
73	** "Deep Into the Grotto" and "This Message Will Self-Destruct" were both {{Scrappy Level}}s in ''Eternal'' prior to 1.2 (actually, most of chapter 5 was, but these two stood out as being particularly disliked). In 1.2 and onward, some players have cited them as being among the best levels in the game. Even prior to 1.2, "Deep Into the Grotto" could actually be completed in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bReStNCy1n4 shade over two minutes on Kindergarten]] and probably around three or four minutes on higher difficulties, but the level's confusing layout meant that the only spoiler guide out there completely missed the short route. (This route doesn't work in 1.2, but there's an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqqiNF0R4eQ&list=PLoysJW6pXQ6kXy_RptCSpaV7fvitdSKDH&index=47 alternate, secret short route]] - which also requires a rather trivial grenade jump in the final release - that ultimately takes about the same amount of time to complete.) In terms of ''difficulty'', the end of ''Eternal'' stands out for the massive swarms of monsters the player still fights, but fortunately, the ''respawn'' rate is vastly decreased from what it was pre-1.2. Also, for the first time in the game, players have a lot of ammo for the wave motion cannon and, starting in "Grotto", the gravitronic blade even if they skipped (or missed the secret blade in) chapter four's failure branch, which makes the combat a lot easier. The biggest danger here is probably the player's own overconfidence: the blade has a tendency to make people feel invincible.
74	** Speaking of swarms of monsters, ''Phoenix'' creator [=RyokoTK=] reckons his scenario's most difficult level is probably "Intervals". Some players may cite "Another Dimension" instead. Effective use of the energy katar can certain shorten "Intervals" a lot; one player managed to kill all monsters on Total Carnage, from a pistol start, without dying, in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owk1yPfPEs0 fewer than eight minutes.]]
75	* UnexpectedCharacter: Most players probably didn't expect the [[spoiler:W'rkncacnter from ''Pathways'']] to show up in ''Eternal'', much less for it to address the player directly!

Context YMMV / MarathonExpandedUniverse