Intro
Everyone's second-favorite Gothic horror creature escapes the shackles of B-movies and storytelling games to arrive at a Quake deathmatch near you, whatever the phase of the moon. Originality
Well, it's not based on another character in particular, but it is the "standard" werewolf that society has become accustomed to. On the other hand it's the first werewolf PPM I've seen and it does have a somewhat different body style and stature than the classic werewolf so 4 stars for originality. The Model
The polygon count (909 faces total costs the model a star) is extremely high, which can be attributed in part to a detailed face and hands with jointed fingers. Apparently the level of detail at eye level was done so that the model could squint as it fired its weapon ... this effect is virtually unoticeable, though, and several triangles could have been sheared off with a simpler head design. Beyond the self-deprecating face count, I like the model in general with its lanky, plodding look and think it works very well for the subject. It was mentioned in the readme that the animation uses a bones system for the most part, so I wonder why it is constructed as separate overlapping sections? Even though I get the impression that it was not originally intended for skeletal deformation, a more cohesive body style could have been done once the decision was made. This "modular" nature doesn't detract too much from the model once a skin has been applied (it wouldn't at all, but the sections come together not at the boundaries of clothing and armor but at joints and other open areas of the body), but does from time to time give the impression that the character is made from meta-objects that haven't completely dissolved into one another. The Animations
The movement doesn't reflect any of the character's bestial nature, unfortunately, which might have been an excellent angle for the author to come from. As it stands, the werewolf sort of resembles Steed's original male player model in a lycanthrope costume. The "Useless Five" animations (Flip, Salute, Wave, Point, Taunt), where a model author has a great chance to be thanklessly creative, were glanced over with Id look-alike scenes like the standard one-finger salute and crotch-grab. Not a huge deal, but Brian seems to know what he's doing otherwise and I'm surprised he didn't give these scenes some personal, original attention. So the animations work but could have easily been better.
14 included skins by various authors give players a wide range of choices. One or two of these skins aren't too hot but generally do the job. Sounds N/A Visible Weapons Support None. It could be added someday, but the high polygon count of the main wolf model would force the visible weapons to be extremely simple, as the current standard weaponmodel had to be. So it could be done, but it might be difficult. Pack Inclusion As I mentioned before, I do like the model itself ... but the face count is just too far out of bounds for it to be included in the pack. It's a pity, too, as the Werewolf is a solid effort and would have made it if only the author had made some much-needed compromises on the high-detail parts of the model.
review by Malekyth
|
|
