Beneath the Surface | MCres

Ok, this is going to be a long description. DISCLAIMER : I didn't beat this level, this a showcase sent to me by MCres, the creator of the level. MCres is a truly underrated creator. The amount of care he puts into his level is insane for someone who only got 2 creator points. He has a really unique style that we don't see anywhere else, and it's really refreshing. This level is the second level in a series of level MCres started in november of last year with Bury The Sun, another great level that you should check out here : https://youtu.be/GuA-5EIdBwg Beneath the Surface is a long exploration, and the progression is a major part of what makes this level as good as it is. You will start your exploration in a big open area which is flooded with water, which contrasts a lot with the first level in the series, Bury The Sun, which took place in a dry desert. Even in this first part only, you can see the progression as the obstacles become more diverse as the part goes on, this helps make it feel more interesting, as it is quite long : 38 seconds. After that, you enter a temple with very thight corridors, it contrasts well with the feeling of freedom the first part gives you. The decoration has a lot of depth, which is achieved with a great use of parallax in both the background and the foreground. This part is really short, only 13 seconds. At the end of the part, the temple crumbles around you, as you escape through a small hole in the wall of the cave the temple was built in. This is the first example of a theme we can see a lot in the later parts of this level : the destruction of what was constructed by an unknown civilisation. The length of this part, being one third of the first, reminds us that everything we build will be outlasted by nature, and by a lot. In this third part, we are still in a cave, but this time, it's way more open and huge. We can still see constructions built by the same civilisation, but we also see a lot of vines and brambles. Again, the depth is achieved with a heavy use of parallax. At the end of the part, the screen fades to dark, which is a bit sad, as a transition here could have explained better how we end up in the next part. For this next part, we end up at the bottom of the ocean, with the water resistance, the physics change, which would have made the gameplay a bit tricky. Fortunately, it is kept really simple, with just some really easy to read jumps. As I said in the last paragraph, I would have hoped the transition explained how we ended up here. Was it a secret path to the sea? How did we go so deep when we barely went down. . We see the same constructions in this part as in the last 2, which may indicate that it used to not be flooded in the past. As we see some vegetation, we may think that the flood happened a long time ago. For the next part, we go back to above the surface, where we see the same structures as we saw in the last few parts, but this time in the open, which shows that this old civilisation didn't live only in caves. In the background, we see some houses, which don't seem to be built by the same civilisation, but by a more recent one. I uses the same wood as we saw in the first part of the level. They are elevated above the ground by these wood pillars. Maybe this new civilisation knows about the flooding of this place, and try to keep their feet above water? 2:25. The level starts to get faster. For the first time in an open air part, you don't see the water. 2:38. It slows down again. You are way above the water now, you think you are safe. 2:51. The flood starts. The water level rises up fast, there are huge waves breaking into the structures made out of rock and wood. We see a platform made out of wood being destroyed by the strength of the waves. There are water droplets flying everywhere on screen. The intensity of this part is insane. After almost 3 minutes of storing energy, level finally releases it, and you can definitely feel it while playing, as the gameplay also becomes way more intense. This is a good use of a difficulty spike. After the flood, the water level seems to stabilize, and you can see some white buildings way up in the sky. These buildings are way more advanced technologically, as we can see that the civilsation masted electricity. Later in the part, we find the green rocky constructions we saw earlier, but this time way above the water. I'm not really sure how they ended up here, as the old civilisation seemed to stay low and not build that high up. 3:42, the world is now fully flooded. You are alone on a small raft made out of wood in an endless blue landscape. Nothing survived except a small black and white icon in the background, floating above the water as you sink beneath the surface. ID : 88420369 Song : http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/894795 MCres' youtube channel : https://www.youtube.com/@MCres_ (go sub to him)