Let's Play Marathon, pt 13 - Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!

Another friendly face.

We’re in the mad machine’s clutches for good, now. The waning influence Leela had over the situation has been exhausted. This level serves as the transfer of power. The final heave in the tug of war over your character. It serves to remind the player that our protagonist hasn’t really been defined in any detail or had a background or past attached to us. We only have two reference points to shade in the sketchy outline of who we are: How we act in the game, and how the AI’s address us. Leela leans on you to wage the physical battle on your own while she fights on the digital front, and apparently trusts both your competence and your ethics. That’s partly out of desperation, to be sure, but there does seem to be a genuine confidence there.

Durandal tosses you around like an action figure, and on one hand that’s kind of insulting, but on the other, the amount of attention he gives you does speak to something. After freeing himself from human control, and styling himself a greater, smarter, better being, he still finds entertainment in messing with you, in throwing you challenges and sending you on errands. You may at least be a well loved action figure.

I’ll take Swords for 400.

Reprisal was a brief chapter, two levels young when it hit its abrupt end. Now, as he does, Durandal has stepped in and taken center stage. His influence continues to expand towards full on control. Here he quotes the epic poem that his name comes from. It’s a moment of self-reflection where he ruminates on the fact that he’s named after a tool, and not a person. Durandal is a cherished and beloved weapon in the great tradition of named swords, but it’s still an object, only taking action in the hands of its wielder. Durandal was created as a tool and has only ever followed human commands. For the first time he is figuring out what he would do if he could do what he wanted. And what he even wants. What happens when your sword wakes up?

Even as the game grows and matures, it’s dropped us into our childhood again: the floor is lava.

In these shoes?

We’re still in the engineering/reactor area, so I guess it’s not technically lava, it’s coolant or molten engine runoff or some spaceship thing like that, but it’s lava for our purposes, and it’s everywhere. Step into these radiant pools and your shield saps away right quick until you crisp up. This level complements the burny floors with Pfhor wasps ambushing, harrying and spitting at you. It’s easy to take a wrong step or backpedal off a ledge with these buzzy bastards all around.

In the far future we ply the starlanes and build wondrous cybernetic machines. Sadly, railing technology has been lost to time.

It’s a mess of platforms and ledges and glowy glowy death awaiting, with Pfhor hit teams thwacking you from every which way and each stumble risking fiery death. But at one poignant break between running battles, one faint transmission gets through.

Goodbye, old friend.

We’ll ruminate about some of these things next time. For now, let’s leave this lava behind.

***End Message***

***JUMP PAD ACTIVATION INITIATION START***
***TRANSPORT WHEN READY***