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August 2007 Issue

PC Gamer Review: "Epic" only begins to describe Flame Knives, a huge campaign by Metathrom that encompasses 14 sprawling maps (a \"Special Edition\" of this mod released in 2004 adds spoken dialouge for most characters, new sound effects, new unit graphics, and more glam cut scenes). The storyline deals with the ancient history of the Protoss, so most of the maps see you playing these mysterious aliens or the Zerg. Settings range from tight canyons of icy planets to deep space, and new tilesets give all these locales a fresh feel. As with Metathrom's other big StarCraft campaign, Aeon of the Hawk, the difficulty is over the top.

下载地址：
http://www.scrpg.net/data/attachment/csga/The Flame Knives.exe

Story：
The Flame Knives is an original Starcraft: Brood War campaign that takes place on the Protoss refugee world of Kharnikha. Join Executor Maradun of the Kharnikhan Empire against the enemies of the Hawk's Throne, in an environment where conspiracies, ancient secrets and treason are a constant.

Kharnikha, an ancient world formerly inhabitated by an unknown race, was conquered by a group of Protoss exilees during the Aeon of Strife. Led by Judicator Haissar, the exilees managed to develop a civilization isolated from the greedy Conclave. This culture was further known as the Kharnikhan Empire, and it was based on the centered power around Emperor Ashtorium, the heir of Haissar.

Although a few meaningless dissidences had arisen among the merchant tribes of the Kharnikhan wildlands, the Empire reigned uncontested on this land...so far. Now, an ancient force is about to claim the lives of all Kharnikhans to itself...

From the Archives of Ansham, planet Kharnikha:

2 millenia ago, the Protoss species reached one of its greatest moments. Technology, scientific knowledge and psionic development ensured the superiority of this species, as it began exploring the space around Aiur. However, this progress came at the cost of blood and sacrifice...

Most of the laws of the Protoss were written by Khas, a wise Templar, worshipped by the future generations as the greatest lifeform to have ever existed. Yet, he had a treacherous oppositor during his lifetime, who tried to vanquish Khas and his code of laws, known as the Khala. This fiend was called Zarthiom. A long war between Khas' Army - the Conclave - and Zarthiom's followers - the Flame Knife - finally ensured the survival of the Khala.

Yet, before Templar Zarthiom met his fate, he cursed every following Protoss generation, claiming that somehow his wrath for the Khala would not cease. This threat was faced as the last attempt of Zarthiom to tear down the Protoss, and the fiend finally succumbed to the strength of the khalai.

The Conclave was not a tolerant government, thus several groups of Protoss had to flee Aiur in desperate attempts of survival from the dictatorship of the Judicators. Some of these exilees arrived in the distant world of Kharnikha, where a new government was established. The ruler of Kharnikha, Haissar, was a High Templar whose son was left on Aiur to die, for being born with the symbol of the Flame Knife incrusted in his chest. Nevertheless, Kharnikha prospered under the rule of Haissar's successor, Ashtorium...

Screenshots：
Defend vital Psionic machinery
using a variety of units and tactics.


Survive ambushes as you
flee through dark caves.


An intricate plot with conspiracies
and unlikely alliances...


Combined arms: Corsairs cast their Disruption
Webs while allied Dragoons engage foes.


Gunboats guard the Kharnikhan flagship
from enemy fighter attacks.


Can you defeat a superior
number of opponents?


The Umojan Protectorate
fails to fend off a Zerg raid.


Battles take place
in deep space...


... in ancient
underground caves...


... and finally in Terran-built
dark corridors.


Logs：
Flame Knives is meant for somewhat experient players, although no ungodly micro and/or cloning are needed; just don't expect to go too far if you lack skills(although you could cheat, meh). It is heavily based on ambience, story, character development and minigame-based gameplay.

With the original version, I got overwhelmingly positive feedback, and I'm much thankful to all fans for that. That's a key factor to my motivation concerning this Special Edition - to know it'll probably please fans even more. The only downfall is the increase in map size due to better sound quality, but a few extra MBs shouldn't harm anyone in this *insert 3 digit number* HDD era.

The campaign is currently available on its Special Edition version. Too cool for school.

SPECIAL EDITION

What did I add, and what existing stuff did I improve?
- Polished grammar and dialogues in all maps.
- Added lots and lots of sound effects to all maps(some maps have over 40 sound effects now :P).
- Added ambience sounds to nearly all maps.
- Improved music quality(all music files are 22050mhz, Stereo, 16-bit now) and added some new music as well.
- New graphics for 3 units and new doodads for all tilesets used in the campaign.
- Relocated a previously released bonus map so it better fits the storyline now.
- Improved all cutscenes and added a few new ones.

So, if you have played it before, here's a reason to play it again, and, to quote one of my beta testers, to \"see how FK was meant to be from the start\". If you haven't, you're welcome aboard. Too cool for school.