Scerendo's Shadow Trooper

Y'know, nothing makes me chirpier than running into an author who has fully checked their work, gotten advice from everyone around them, and gone over the end result with a fine-toothed comb. Those are the people who deserve praise, rather than the people who pump out flawed work but get away with it because of the "fanboy" instinct.

One word popped into my head when I saw this skin: "nanotechnology".

That's precisely the effect you get, too. It looks good, even without dynamic glow. Oh, yeah, for those not aware of the visual nanotechnology effects, there's backstory to it, but that's hardly relevant. Bottom line is, when a nanotech-enhanced human is hurt (usually by gunshots), a pulsating energy pattern appears over them. This effect has been used in many games, but the closest to this skin's style is the nanotechnology in Red Faction II. I'm not sure the author was aiming for a nanotech look, but that's certainly the closest description I can think of.

But, that's enough backstory. Let's look at the skin. The basic skin is a complete reskin of the Shadowtrooper. Everything has changed, although you can barely make out the original skin's shape. The design is now more of a space-age style than the plastic Star Wars junk Raven Software threw out. The only thing that really remains is the gem, but even that looks much classier, as well as the unit holding it. The worn-down effect looks great. I can't really describe much of it, there aren't enough words in my vocab. I am, however, reminded of Nod Soldiers, from C&C Tiberian Sun and C&C Renegade.

But now we get on to the best bit. The nano effect. Available in blue, red, green and cyan, the effect consists of a pattern of glowing lines and grids across the skin. Each color is perfectly matched to it's appropriate saber blade color, although orange and purple are missing. I noticed one error with the glows, which I hope has been fixed - a few parts on the cyan version is still red.

The Jedi Academy version also includes .npc files, allowing you to overwrite the default Shadowtrooper.

I don't need to say much else. Quality tends to speak for itself, and this file proves it to be true. Scerendo has taken the time to go over the project, hasn't rushed it, and made sure every angle was covered. The fact that it looks good is unrelated to the quality factor, but it's still a great bonus.

It's very rare that anything created in the typically weak and outdated Q3 engine can sincerely impress me, but this has. It's definitely one for the collection if you're a fan of the futuristic style.

~ Kouen

Bot Support: Yes Team Support: Yes New Sounds: No NPC Support: Yes