Reviews (S-Z)

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S

The Sands of Anaurobi           Miracle           [Levels 20-30]
Synopsis- Part 1 of a 2-part legend about a Topekan goddess of the desert who is allegedly destroyed by a mythical legend known merely as "The Dark One". This area takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the MUD areas that take the 'cult' aspect too seriously. A wonderfully humorous series of descriptions at the end tell the storyline through sarcastic quotes from Topekan Religious books. The desert maze at the beginning may turn off some players, but the walk through the Topekan city is well worth the effort.

Important Mobs    - The Dark One, Warren Beatty

Important Objects - Gemstone of Elkissa

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 4 - Humorous descriptions, odd cameo by Dustin Hoffman and a clown

Objects        - 4 - Only two decent objects amidst a sea of bizarre ones

Rooms         - 4 - Clever and humorous, but sometimes confusing

Map Layout - 3 - The desert is confusing, I also messed up a few times here and there.

Storyline       - 4 - Proof that I shouldn't drink hard liquor

OVERALL RATING: 76% Good, BUT held back by a messy map layout

Sesame Street           Lenny           [Levels 35-50]
Synopsis - Mumford the magician is up to his evil tricks in this take-off of the beloved PBS series. The sometimes-masochistic genius that Lenny portrays in his man-eating muppets characters is very creative and somewhat shocking at points. I still have nightmares about Rodeo Rosie. This area is a must-see, although a tad hard to find.

Important Mobs   - Mumford, Kermit the Frog, Rodeo Rosie, Guy Smiley

Important Objects - Super Grover's Helmet, ring of evilness

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 4 - A sadist's delight, muppets gone bad

Objects        - 5 - A lot of decent equipment

Rooms         - 3 - You don't really notice the rooms cause you're usually getting bashed in

Map Layout - 5 - Well thought out

Storyline       - 4 - Psychotic muppets?

OVERALL RATING: 84%,  Excellent, but a harsh use of aggressive mobs may frustrate players.

The Shores of Hell           Tasris           [Levels 150-160] 
Synopsis - Yes, this area is utter hell. We hear alot of questions asking where to find this place on Dreams, but you're really better off fighting someplace else. The author of this one should've let well enough alone and stayed AFK.

Important Mobs    - None

Important Objects - The ridiculously unbalanced set of chains.

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 3 - Alot of hell-type mobs, but merely average fodder.

Objects        - 3 - A cheater's delight

Rooms         - 2 - Simplistic and really dull

Map Layout - 3 - Average layout.

Storyline       - 3 - Once upon a time, someone who didn't do a damn thing decided to attempt not to get fired.

OVERALL RATING: 56% - Everything in this area reaks of averageness.

Skyralthia           Arsenic           [Levels 40-50]
Synopsis - A mountaintop city is the subject of this midlevel area. The various guildmasters here are good for leveling, but not for much else. Also, the presence of a couple abandoned, slightly useless rooms draw away from the mountain type atmosphere that the rest of the area evokes. Overall a very good area though.

Important Mobs - Pyrcules, huge man

Important Objects - Ruby bracelet

Ratings:

Mobs           - 4 - Typical city area folk, but done a tad better.

Objects        - 4 - The ruby bracelet’s good.

Rooms         - 5 - The rooms fit with the theme well.

Map Layout - 4 - Somewhat simplistic, but it fits well

Storyline       - 4 - It’s good once you figure it out.

OVERALL RATING: 84% - Good leveling area, but if you need to train or practice, stick to up from recall.

Smurf Village           Generic           [Levels  1-10]
Synopsis - They couldn't have picked a more fitting builder name for this one. Everything about this area is generic. The storyline is taken from the popular cartoon series, but the fun ends there. What you end up with is an area that outlives its usefulness five seconds after you leave mud school. They could've done much better things with this one.

Important Mobs    - None.

Important Objects - None.

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 2 - It's most of the smurfs from the show, but not much else.

Objects        - 0 - More of the same, blah.

Rooms         - 1 - Boring descriptions.

Map Layout - 0 - Extremely dull layout, walk on the road, lead off the road, etc.

Storyline       - 0 - Where's Father time? Mother Nature? Any of the fun from the show?

OVERALL RATING: 12% - La la la la la lala, this sucks.

Smurfy Armageddon           Miracle/Fick           [Levels 150-160]
Synopsis - Papa Smurf goes bad in this hilarious satire of the original Smurf Village. Basic hack n' slash layout with lots of references to real-life people and places.

Important Mobs    - Antichrist Supersmurf, Grunge Smurf, Papa "Vito" Smurfleone

Important Objects - Too many to count

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 5 - Clever satire of real-life people

Objects        - 4 - A level 150's wishlist is present here

Rooms         - 3 - Somewhat sloppy layout, but still interesting

Map Layout - 4 - Many turns and twists, head any way and you can find something to kill

Storyline       - 4 - Papa Smurf joins the mob? Gargamel goes disco?

OVERALL RATING: 80%, Good area, much better than the original

Spires Reach           Arsenic           [Levels 100-120]           [Reviewed by Corraiv]
Synopsis: High up on a peak is a serene out-of-the-way resting area. Go ahead and get a drink, maybe a tattoo while you're there, or talk to Spanky for some of your "special" needs. Or, you can just go crazy and kill everything.

Important Mobs - Spanky, giggling sprites, Luna.

Important Objects - a blade of grass

RATINGS:

Mobs - 4 - It's SPANKY! Come ON!! The proprietors and the sprites all make for a sweetly unique atmosphere. It could be the colors.

Objects - 1 - I don't really recall any items aside from the blade of grass and a faerie. But good jobs with those - (I prefer simplicity myself)

Rooms - 4.5 - I have to give this ridiculously high score because it has one of my favorite rooms, aside from the Spanky's Whorehouse (which leads to another cool area), in the entire MUD. It should get a 3 at minimum, despite the empty rooms and unfinished nature of it, which is still pretty cool in itself.

Map Layout - 3.5 - It feels light and airy. I love it. It's got a great, detached, private feeling despite it's open-airedness.

Storyline - 2 - I usually just see myself taking a stroll through this town with friends, like I did when I was still in the Bay Area. Off to one side are the waves lapping against the boardwalk, and my chums are blabbering on about how sweet their day was. Ah, beautiful.

OVERALL RATING - 80%. I just can't give it any lower without feeling terrible. Because truthfully, it's not much of a leveling area. It's nice to bring people here though and just decompress.

Star Wars Revisited           Sting           [Levels 90-100]
Synopsis - An area dedicated to the George Lucas movies, it seems that the author just threw all the mobs together in an unorganized cacophony without writing a valid or interesting storyline like the movies had. Although somewhat true to the movies, the piss-poor organizational skills and a confusing map layout bring this area down. Not awful, but not the best.

Important Mobs   - Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker

Important objects - the lightsabers

RATINGS :

Mobs           - 4 - Lots of characters from the movies but repetitive descriptions are a little dissapointing.

Objects        - 3 - Alot of pistols and lasers, but nothing great

Rooms         - 3 - Lots of places from the movies, but poor descriptions for the rooms

Map Layout - 2 - Very confusing, no-portal rooms are a bit of a waste.

Storyline       - 3 - Only the mobs will give you a clue this is based on Star Wars.

OVERALL RATING: 60%,  Average area, if it was more true to the movies, it could've been much better

T

Temple of Elkissa           Miracle           [Levels 90-110]
Synopsis - Part 2 of the Topekan goddess's saga tells the story of a great war of good vs. evil being fought on the roof of a miscreant cult's temple. The mystery of Elkissa's death is cleared up nicely here. The humor of Anaurobi is again present in this worthy sequel that is often better than the original in many parts.

Important Mobs    - Elkissa

Important Objects - Elkissa's belt, the sword of Sorrow

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 5 - Lots of great mobs on the second floor and the battleground

Objects        - 4 - Although there's only 18 of these, the 18 present are decent

Rooms         - 4 - Good descriptions, but only 77 rooms

Map Layout - 4 - First floor is a little confusing, but the 2 other floors make up for it.

Storyline       - 5 - Fun and interesting storyline that is better than the original

OVERALL RATING: 88%  Excellent, a clever storyline along with a host of baddies makes this a must-see.

Tomb of Qualopec           Miracle           [Levels 30-40]
Synopsis- This small but fun area is based on the Tomb Raider(TM) computer games. Storyline is nothing to write home about, but the descriptions and easy map layout make up for the storyline's shortcomings. The basic plot of the area is to find an ancient idol and Lara Croft, who was conned by a shrewd and cruel businesswoman. Croft's role in the majestic Quake area is somehow downplayed by her disappointing 'damsel in distress' role in this area.

Important Mobs    - Lara Croft, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Jacqueline Natla, Qualopec

Important Objects - Atlantean Scion, Larsen's Knife

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 4 - Few human mobs in a nameless rabble of monsters, but the few human ones are good

Objects        - 3 - Few and far between

Rooms         - 5 - Mysterious quality to the rooms adds to the feel of the tomb

Map Layout - 5 - Simple and forgiving

Storyline       - 4 - Confusing and pointless appearance by Qualopec at the end makes you wish he stayed dead.

OVERALL RATING: 80%  Good, but the storyline is really confusing and there aren't enough objects

Toontown           Miracle           [Levels 150-160]
Synopsis - Saturday morning cartoons are the theme of this pure hack n' slash area. Easy to find stuff to kill. Really not much else to say about this one.

Important Mobs   - Marmaduke, Lion-O

Important Objects - Lion-O's sword

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 4 - It's got Speed Racer and Cartman, what more could you want?

Objects        - 4 - Lion-O's sword is worth getting

Rooms         - 3 - Average overall, but the university is clever

Map Layout - 4 - As good as a hack n' sash map can get.

Storyline       - 3 - None really to speak of.

OVERALL RATING - 72%  Good for hack n' slash, but really no storyline

Troll Den           Merc           [Levels 10-15]
Synopsis - This area reminds me of the old college pastime of trying to fit as many people as you can into a car. This FIVE room area, yes that's a FIVE, has eight total mobs and six objects. It's a downsized version of crappy everyday stock and should be avoided at all costs.

Important Mobs - None

Important Objects - Opal Ring - +2 Damroll, not bad for low levels

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 1 - About 8 trolls, but only so-so descriptions.

Objects        - 1 - One good object, the other 5 are garbage.

Rooms         - 0 - There's only FIVE of them.

Map Layout - 0 - Must be a bitch to connect FIVE rooms.

Storyline       - 0 - And when his area didn't work out.. he decided to write code.

OVERALL RATING: 8% - Good coder, BAD area. Call the doctor on this one!

U

Underdark           Silence           [20 65]
Synopsis - First off, there’s an invention known as the period, it completes sentences. Close to every mob in this area is missing a period at the end of their long descriptions. That’s the least of the worries unfortunately. The end product here is 500 rooms of mass confusion with the only fun present getting the heck out of there and going to a better area. Proof that size doesn’t always matter.

Important Mobs - Kind of fun to mispronounce Limbeck’s name as Limpdick

Important Objects - none really

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 3 - giggle, Limpdick

Objects        - 3 - There’s alot of objects, but they all kind of suck

Rooms         - 4 - There’s 500 rooms, most aren’t very good.

Map Layout - 0 - It’s easier to drive on the Long Island Expressway than to find your way around this mess.

Storyline       - 2 - I still haven’t figured it out.

OVERALL RATING: 48%: A whole lot of nothing.

V

W

Witches Forest            Maeve            [Levels10-25]
Synopsis: With worse grammar than a south Bronx cabbie, the outright blandness of this area makes it more useless tripe for the fire. The area has a lot of big words, but the manner in which they were used would make even Mrs. Malaprop blush. Also the infinite number of spelling errors makes the rest of the area a hassle to even bother with. Bottom line, I'm glad she's gone.

Important mobs: The dogs I would use to chase her down.

Important Objects: The stick I would beat her with afterwards.

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 0 - Even big words can't save these atrocious mobs.

Objects        - 0 - The long descriptions aren't even complete sentences.

Rooms         - 0 - She misspelled "the" and "noisy". AWFUL grammar.

Map Layout - 1 - She remembered to connect them. Bravo Maeve!

Storyline       - 1 - Pack your things and hit the road wench.

OVERALL RATING: 8% - It's called "Hooked on Phonics", use it.

Wonderland           Yaegar           [Levels 110-140]
Synopsis - The wonderful novels by Lewis Carroll are captured beautifully by Yaegar in this area. From the Sea of tears to the Croquet Game with the Queen of Hearts, this groundbreaking area shows the true genius of Yaegar and why he has succeeded writing time and time again.

Important Mobs    - King of Hearts, Alice, White Rabbit

Important Objects - white gloves

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 5 - If it's in the book, it's here

Objects        - 4 - There's tons of them, but you only want 3 of them

Rooms         - 4 - Well-written and true to the book, but the croquet lawn needed a little variation

Map Layout - 4 - Many paths leading off give a nonlinear aspect

Storyline       - 5 - I enjoyed the books immensely and this is true to the books.

OVERALL RATING - 88%,  Excellent, a Yaegar classic

WWF: Raw is War           Sting            [Levels 150-160]
Synopsis: Monday night wrestling bangs down your front door and kicks you close to home in this fantastic representation of the World Wrestling Federation and the humorous and somewhat odd characters involved with it. Stone Cold, Undertaker, Sable, and the horny Val Venis take thier places ready to whup your ass and take names. The map is also great. If you're a wrestling fan, you'll love this area. If you're not, you'll still like it.

Important Mobs: Undertaker, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

Important Objects: Quite a few

RATINGS:

Mobs           - 5 - If Vince McMahon thought it up, it's in here

Objects        - 4.5 - Lots of cool stuff

Rooms         - 4 - Tons of good descriptions, true to the theme

Map Layout - 5 - Excellent wrestling ring, tons of cool hidden stuff

Storyline       - 5 - Let's get ready to RUMBBBBLLLLE!

OVERALL RATING:  94% - More enjoyable than a Tombstone Piledriver. Great work Sting!

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