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Minions of Destruction is about madness and rage. There's not a real storyline, but the deal is this: everyone fights to transform themselves into the Minion, who has enhanced strength, speed, jumping ability, air speed and control, etc. than normal players. The Minion, due to the extensive energy he uses to maintain this enhanced state of being, loses health steadily, and can only replenish it by getting kills. Health packs, armor and the like are useless to the Minion. An unchecked Minion can wreak absolute havoc. Kill him. Kill him now!
Fresh off Chris's computer comes a brand new version of Minions of Destruction (MoD), which includes new support for Capture the Flag, Domination and, by downloading the MoD Bonus Pack, the Epic Bonus Pack models. You see, in addition to the Minion being faster, stronger and more deadly than regular players, he's bigger, something to keep in mind if you play MoD on maps with tight squeezes.
Setup is easy, with additional menus nested within the standard UT popup game setup window. You can tailor MoD in many different ways, including levels for gore, frags to transform, how quickly the Minion loses health, how much health he loses, damage and damage absorbed, max. number of Minions in a game at any time, mood lighting level, spawn guard duration, Minion weapons selection and much more.
The spawn protection is 1st class, and necessary if you are to survive past your respawning. Minions themselves come in several flavors; if you select the randomize option, you will get invisible Minions, those with a red glow around them, each with slightly different enhanced abilities. If you're lucky enough to get a Minion that's invisible and with maximum enhancements, you will be nearly unstoppable!
There are several modified weapons thrown into the mix in MoD, including the Shuriken Catapult, Metal Fatigue Mortar, Cyclone, Blood Thunder Rifle and Death Spitter. Each uses existing UT weapon models, but the effects are staggeringly different. I'm not going to spoil it for you and tell you what each of them do; suffice it to say that you'll be pleased with your increased firepower!
Gameplay is most excellent! You'll have to play with the configuration menus a bit to get the right balance in some of the gametypes, though. For instance, you'll want a high number of Minions available for CTF games, otherwise the one or two players that may become Minions will easily dominate the game. I should tell you that, after playing the original version of MoD, I virtually BEGGED Chris to add CTF and Domination, which (thankfully) he did. There was some concern over game balance, but with the excellent configurability of the game, they play just fine.
Chris has added a new score screen that breaks down the teams into the four corners of the screen, in transluscent team-colored blocks, with your detailed information at the very bottom of the screen (see the screenshot). You'll also enjoy the new HUD (actually, two new huds, one supports relics, one is for straight UT/MoD). Just another nice couple of touches to a very polished, if relatively unknown, mod.
MoD also includes a little Jukebox, available from the mod menu at the main UT GUI. If you don't want to listen to other tunes, that's fine - you can disable them. More polish.
I said earlier that Minions are larger than life. True by default, but you can also pick midget Minions! Don't be fooled by these little fat guys - they're hard to hit, and pack a HUGE punch! By the way, when you select this option, all players are reduced in size.
There are also some new sound effects included in MoD, which really enhance gameplay by creating a 'horror story' mood throughout any map. The Minion howls, you hear 'Smackdown' and become totally engaged with the match. It's really immersive.
I'm not even sure, after playing MoD for a few months, that I found all the goodies in it. Tap the front movement key twice, you flip, ala Matrix Moves. Try using all Stealth Minions for a real challenge. Vary the other configuration options and come up with your own Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, CTF or Domination game. You'll be surprised at what some subtle tweaks can do for gameplay.
You'll also find a MoD server browser tab added to your UT Browser, making it easy to find MoD servers on the net. Online play is very good, by the way, although bandwidth use is a bit higher than in regular UT due to the increased carnage levels (not a bad thing). Gameplay for most should be relatively unaffected, and if you have broadband, you really don't have to worry about it.
There are some other files available from the MoD website. You'll notice some playerpacks there. Since the player code has been significantly modified in MoD, these player packs allow you to play using some popular third-party models for UT. The MoD UT Bonus Pack does the same thing in supporting some of the better UT bonus models. Do not install the player/bonus packs unless you have all the models they support installed - this will cause problems.
In summary, Minions of Destruction is a thoroughly enjoyable mod, one that deserves much more press than it has gotten since its release. The addition of CTF and Domination, as well as the ability to use the Bonus models, really enhances this fine piece of work.
My kids and I play MoD more than most UT modifications. The mod is simple in theory - you have one superpowerful Minion character with an Achilles heel - yet powerful in effect. Chris has implemented his ideas quite elegantly, and I cannot imagine anyone not thoroughly enjoying playing Minions of Destruction!
Interview with Chris 'Hollywood' Schletter
Minions of Destruction Website
Download Minions of Destruction Files
Download Latest UT Patches and Bonus Packs (required)
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