Like many of you guys, I played the original Blake Stone as a kid. It was probably the most advanced FPS my PC could handle at the time (Tandy 386 with 1 mb RAM, running at 25 mhz). However, it hasn't aged that well, mainly for the level design. The difficulty curve is very steep, and there is a lot of backtracking and getting lost in the mazes, which are arguably all too big. This is a problem through all 6 missions, which are really monotonous. I never got a chance to play Planet Strike back in the day, but now that I have it, I can say that it's *way* more fun and way more contemporary than the original. It looks better, thanks to a tweaked engine (complete with lighting effects that have me squinting into the distance). The environments are more interactive, and the weapon designs are improved -- thanks to Cygnus studios, the folks who made the great-looking Raptor. But the key difference is the level design. The levels are paced well, where load-up zones come between monster-closet shootouts and there's much more linearity than before. The live map makes things much easier to navigate (sort of like Corridor 7), and works much more smoothly than the later versions of Aliens of Gold. The levels are smaller than AOG, but I don't think that's a problem as it makes it much easier to play a couple of levels on a coffee break. The secrets are also much more telegraphed and intricate than before, and more rewarding too. The Blake series's biggest shortcoming is lame bosses, but at least they are a little less predictably placed in this game. It's never going to be Doom or Doom 2, but it's a lot of fun.
