Series 4
Posted: 28 Oct 2003, 19:48
Hi all - I've been mulling this review about in my head for a while, and thought I'd show it off to all you fellow Knightmare fans.
Season 4 wasn't the best of seasons, but it had its bits. Good dungeoneers, bad dungeoneers, dungeoneers you can't decide over being bad or unfairly killed off... the season had it. Although there did seem to be a dramatic increase in dungeoneer game time (meaning fewer dungeoneers overall), partially IMHO brought on by many of the new features the season brought in.
First of all, the Eye Shield. Now I can't say I've been a huge fan of the Eye Shield itself, mainly because it seemed to reduce the amount of stuff a dungeoneer had to do. I suppose in this season it did its job of reducing the need to "guide" a dungeoneer to an exit (but then again it could take just as long to show the ES sequence), and it was necessary to show transition between the prefilmed areas of the dungeon (i.e. to get from the forest to the castle, rather than awkwardly jump from one room to another. However, in some cases it did feel that time that could be spent giving the dungeoneer another room or challenge was taken away by showing another piece of prefilmed footage. Plus there was the couple of minutes or so needed to explain about the ES on each quest, which extended quest time.
Another problem I have was in the quest themselves... they were extremely repetitive. Every team followed a very similar sequence of rooms each time round. Sure, they were jumbled up a little in places, but gone was the big, random choice of rooms that had been around in the previous seasons. This did make things a little boring, and in some cases made it a little obvious as to what would happen next, and what would happen to the dungeoneer.
Now, for some good points. I do give a thumbs-up to some of the teams in this season - I'm not sure whether it was through the dungeon being easier or not, but 4 teams reaching Level 3 (one of which winning, although IMHO the final dungeoneer deserved to win) is a pretty good feat. The deaths were also rather good; true, we did see 3 lose on the Block & Tackle, but at least they died in different ways (and who didn't laugh at Team 4's "Sidestep to your left!"? ). Corridor of Blades started its killing spree, Mogdred got to off a dungeoneer in person, and I must say that crunching sound when Ariadne gets her victim sends a shiver up my spine every time I hear it! And at least the deaths made use of the Life Force clock - something that would soon be nigh on forgotten about.
So to conclude, I guess I could say that season 4 saw the start of many things that would change Knightmare, be it for better or worse. I wouldn't call it anywhere near Knightmare's finest hour, but it had enough to keep you watching and enjoying the season.
Any other thoughts and/or opinions?
Season 4 wasn't the best of seasons, but it had its bits. Good dungeoneers, bad dungeoneers, dungeoneers you can't decide over being bad or unfairly killed off... the season had it. Although there did seem to be a dramatic increase in dungeoneer game time (meaning fewer dungeoneers overall), partially IMHO brought on by many of the new features the season brought in.
First of all, the Eye Shield. Now I can't say I've been a huge fan of the Eye Shield itself, mainly because it seemed to reduce the amount of stuff a dungeoneer had to do. I suppose in this season it did its job of reducing the need to "guide" a dungeoneer to an exit (but then again it could take just as long to show the ES sequence), and it was necessary to show transition between the prefilmed areas of the dungeon (i.e. to get from the forest to the castle, rather than awkwardly jump from one room to another. However, in some cases it did feel that time that could be spent giving the dungeoneer another room or challenge was taken away by showing another piece of prefilmed footage. Plus there was the couple of minutes or so needed to explain about the ES on each quest, which extended quest time.
Another problem I have was in the quest themselves... they were extremely repetitive. Every team followed a very similar sequence of rooms each time round. Sure, they were jumbled up a little in places, but gone was the big, random choice of rooms that had been around in the previous seasons. This did make things a little boring, and in some cases made it a little obvious as to what would happen next, and what would happen to the dungeoneer.
Now, for some good points. I do give a thumbs-up to some of the teams in this season - I'm not sure whether it was through the dungeon being easier or not, but 4 teams reaching Level 3 (one of which winning, although IMHO the final dungeoneer deserved to win) is a pretty good feat. The deaths were also rather good; true, we did see 3 lose on the Block & Tackle, but at least they died in different ways (and who didn't laugh at Team 4's "Sidestep to your left!"? ). Corridor of Blades started its killing spree, Mogdred got to off a dungeoneer in person, and I must say that crunching sound when Ariadne gets her victim sends a shiver up my spine every time I hear it! And at least the deaths made use of the Life Force clock - something that would soon be nigh on forgotten about.
So to conclude, I guess I could say that season 4 saw the start of many things that would change Knightmare, be it for better or worse. I wouldn't call it anywhere near Knightmare's finest hour, but it had enough to keep you watching and enjoying the season.
Any other thoughts and/or opinions?