Breakfree 3 - Dunkelschwamm

    Breaking the tradition of the previous two entries, number three ditches the elevator and goes for a straight up platforming map. Visit beautiful Wing Fortress from Sonic 2 and confront Eggman inside.

SCMapDB page

Author:Beather

Date of release: 2007

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Breakfree 3

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by dunkelschwamm | April 30, 2023 | 3066 characters

    Breakfree is the third and, afaik, final chapter of the Breakfrees by Beather. You wouldn't think so without the map name, as aside from the Sonic reference there isn't much connecting it to the previous maps and their elevator gimmick. This is probably for the best, as it means this is the most playable of the breakfrees years later.

    If you've played Wing Fortress Zone, the penultimate zone of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Sega Genesis/Mastersystem, you know what much of this will be. High winds blowing you around, fans that you hover above, bottomless pits, rotating platforms above said pits. There's a couple one-for-one creations that are fun, like the Tornado being downed at the beginning of the map (though my teammate fell off of the plane at the beginning of the scene and kept respawning above the open sky, left behind by the plane). Soon after the beginning areas, however, the similarities fall apart and the map becomes more about simple goldsrc platforming puzzles with annoying ladders and push volumes until the player finally reaches the boss.

    The boss is an enjoyable spectacle of whirling devices, a big obvious weakspot that occasionally exposes itself, and electricity shooting around. I couldn't tell what was going on most of the time, and pressing my body against the weakpoint until it was exposed and smacking it with my crowbar worked. The number of instruments of death surrounding me that didn't come into play in any way reminded me of the bit from Undertale where Papyrus briefly taunts the player with an over-the-top trap.

    The overall experience was a bit grating. It's an obstacle course that mostly comprises of crawling through straightaway corridors briefly broken up by high-stakes moments where engine jank is most likely to cause accidental instant player gibbification, which is great for high-tension but not great for replaying the map endlessly. The only checkpoint is before the boss, and that checkpoint is very appreciated, but too little too late. If we hadn't eventually noclipped we wouldn't have made it to the checkpoint, just out of lack of patience. This is one thing this breakfree has in common with the other breakfrees.

    If you're a fan of sonic and sven maps with janky platforming, give it a go. There's fun little boss battle at the end!

Pros:

• The boss battle is a fun little spectacle
• The beginning part is a pretty faithful recreation of Wing Fortress
• I liked the propeller platforming
• The tornado at the beginning and the rocket at the end are both a lot of fun

Cons:

• Too much crawling
• Needed more checkpoints for how much time wasting there is between deaths
• Too much danger is reliant on goldsrc jankiness
• The overall map, though Sonic-looking, is very not pretty to look at
• The boss, while a fun spectacle, is mostly wasted effort as the gameplay is dirt simple

Score:

4.8 / 10