Questionable Ethics: Alpha Test

Title: Questionable Ethics: Alpha Test
Link: https://www.gamemaps.com/details/3589
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=339599340
Author: Nihilanth
Survivors: L4D2
Notes: This is the sequel to the original campaign Questionable Ethics.

Questionable Ethics: Alpha Test is of course the sequel to the original L4D2 campaign by the same author, Questionable Ethics. Alpha Test picks up where the first campaign left off, which is, spoilers, at the beginning again. However, this campaign has different tricks up its sleeve and employs a variety of different puzzles for the survivors to figure out and scenarios to escape. In ways, some of these are perhaps better suited to L4D2 than even the original, and while not all may work perfectly, they definitely stand on their own and make it a worthy successor to the original campaign.

Right off the bat, Alpha Test does something very similar to the original Questionable Ethics in that it teaches the player simple features of the campaign before throwing more difficult puzzles. The first is the fact that once again, gas cans open up areas resource caches, which will be important to progressing. Unlike the previous campaign though, Alpha Test shows that floors can and will open beneath players' feet, which will become relevant in a couple of places.

Another new element to this campaign is that the grenade launcher will need to be used to activate crucial devices or blow up important panes of glass in order to progress. Personally, I feel like this addition makes it a lot better suited to L4D2 since the grenade launcher isn't a weapon that has a lot of use in general, this actually gives it some kind of purpose. However, in my opinion this is probably where players will either enjoy this or utterly hate it, since there are few ways to go about it. Firstly, you could carry the grenade launcher yourself and rely on your secondary weapon to kill the infected, which may or may not be fun, depending on if you like using your secondary weapon. An alternative to that would be someone else carries the grenade launcher (provided you have other people in your party), or you take turns carrying it. A third alternative is no one carries it and you only pick it up when it's absolutely necessary. I haven't confirmed this, but as I was going through, it seems that the grenade launcher is always provided in places that need it, which I think was a very smart decision to add.

The spots to hit with the grenade launcher are usually very bright red lights or panes of glass with targets on them, and in general in the first map they're not hard to find out. The first map also has an air pad that boosts players up, which was featured once in the first Questionable Ethics but will make a return later. There is a general holdout area in the first map, which honestly I felt was in a somewhat weak area.

Questionable Ethics: Alpha Test in general feels like it features a lot more of the "underbelly" side of the otherwise clean and pristine Portal-esque vibe that the first campaign was going for. That is, I feel as though there are a lot more of the old industrial zones that weren't really meant to be seen. This is done nicely in both Portal 1 and 2, and I don't have a problem with this per se, but I do think that those areas feel a bit under-developed and aren't that fun to play in. Frankly, they mostly look ugly and are more architecturally primitive in terms of how they use space. It's a little unfortunate and it doesn't contribute much to the play space.

The second map begins with one of the most infamous parts of any saferoom. At first, there's no obvious exit and a giant fan will descend from the ceiling. At a certain point, it will be possible to deactivate it by shooting the button with a grenade launcher. At this point, the floor will start to open up. I do feel as though this could have been done better, because as of right now it's possible to fall without being to anticipate where the floor will start to open up, and you need at least one person with the grenade launcher paying attention to the floors. 

All of the players will eventually be forced to fall and panes of glass will need to be blown up by the grenade launcher. One slip-up and there's no getting around certain death. This also gives the possibility for trolling, and I just don't really like to see the possibility of one person being able to easily troll the group by letting the other three teammates die due to not shooting the glass except for himself.

The next and largest part of this map is actually one of the most standard. Players have to search certain areas to find and collect gas cans, and it plays very nicely because of the way the rooms are set up. At a certain point, everyone winds up in a sort of office-looking place, and it seems rather uncharacteristic of the campaign to have it shift its environment so abruptly at this point. While it may shift gears to make you think and wonder what the purpose of the whole campaign is, it doesn't provide any answers, or even hints as to answers, so it kind of comes across as a little out of character with the rest of the campaign.

At a certain point, there will be a part that requires a substantial amount of teamwork as one group of players activates a switch to collect gas cans and the other group does its own thing. It's a very interesting part of the campaign and in my opinion it works very successfully, although it is rather difficult.

After the gas is poured in and the players traverse a short transitional section, the next major area introduces bounce pads that are required in order to hit certain buttons with grenades on the other sides of unbreakable glass. These aren't necessarily difficult, but I feel that this mechanic could have been indicated a little bit better, although to be fair I myself can't think how. Hitting the buttons will open the way forward, across some catwalks, and I thought that it felt a little empty and that action was more or less at a low point in the map at this point. Thankfully it's not much further to the saferoom and you can benefit from bringing a gas can into the saferoom.

The beginning of the third map has perhaps the most, erm, questionable area in my opinion. In contrast to much of the rest of the campaign, it's fairly nondescript and not really all that creative in its design. One of the weirdest choices for me was the fact that an entire bland room is used as an elevator, which I found kind of pointless. 

The short "puzzle" with shooting two buttons in succession in order to obtain a gas can to pour into the fuel tank to open a door seemed very formulaic at this point and it was odd to me that this was included here, because even in the second map, more complicated things had been accomplished by the grenade launcher. A short industrial section that follows that puzzle is also probably the low point in terms of layout and gameplay for the entire campaign.

Thankfully the next section is rather high-octane, requiring a careful balance on scaffolding with infected rather frustratingly thrown at the player in order to keep up the intensity. A gas can needs to be brought to activate the lift but navigating the area is easier said than done and it can feel like a rather climactic event.

The lift takes the players to the last part of this map, which has a button requiring gas cans poured into it, as well as several rooms with the gas cans inside and possibly infected or resources in there. It's somewhat interesting, especially if you have to fight a tank, but I feel that it exists more simply to contrast with what came before and give some excitement to perhaps getting resources. It's not terribly difficult but can be dramatic if the previous section went poorly.

The fourth map is very long, perhaps the longest in the campaign, and is especially ruthless, dangerous, and confusing. It starts rather innocuously, with a deteriorated industrial section that's actually closer to standard L4D2 fare of progressing linearly and killing zombies, which is fun and provides a bit of time for players to cool down from the previous map.

Possibly the biggest hurdle in this map is the section requiring players to cross a maze of pipes above a floor of fire. Eventually as the players ascend high enough, cars start to fall. The time at which they fall can be predicted, however, I get the feeling that most players won't make the connection between the audio cue and the cars dropping until quite a while. 

After a rather difficult and exhilarating climb up, the players must deactivate a fan by shooting a button with the grenade launcher, then using the fan itself as a makeshift bridge to cross into the next area. Personally I thought this was one of the most creative uses of the environment to lead the players forward and thought it was worth mentioning.

Unfortunately I don't think the last part of this map works quite as successfully. The players have to collect gas cans to progress again, and here bounce pads have to be used a little differently, but I find the trajectory at which they have to be bounced very unpredictable. The idea here is that two buttons in two different rooms have to be hit at, essentially, the same time, which is made easier with a team of two players, but it's unclear to me how this is managed with only one player. Even with two human players carrying grenade launchers, it can be strenuous if one player on low health is forced to go by himself, when special infected can incap him quickly. In any case, this puzzle was one that I felt was a bit unclear and could have been more narrowly focused into one area so as to not make it appear as though the has to be split. Once the buttons are both hit, the way to the saferoom is made clear.

The beginning of the last map exists similar to the beginning of the last map in the first Questionable Ethics, and it's here that I believe bringing a gas can make a difference because it opens up a ton of resources for the finale. This finale is much more of a rush than the finale of the first campaign, which was for the most part a simple holdout, because this finale is an aggressive gauntlet.

The finale pulls together a lot of different elements of the campaign, including using the grenade launcher to hit buttons, remembering a password, dropping down industrial piping, bouncing grenades, as well as the usual fighting hordes, special infected, and a tank along the way. Overall it's a lot more exciting than the first campaign's finale and while it might be seen as more difficult, it at least feels like it logically leads up to it rather than the gauntlet rush at the end of Questionable Ethics' finale that may have felt a little unnatural and tacked on.

The infected really pose quite a challenge and it's nice to see the difficulty coming from the infected this time around, rather than arbitrary things in the environment, such as platforms dropping out from under you or cars falling on top of you, as they did in the finale to the first Questionable Ethics.

The very last area is a creative integration of using the grenade launcher and remembering the passcode to escape. Once the buttons are activated, players have to wait very briefly in intense anticipation for the lift to finally come and take them outside. I've only seen this part be intense, as the lift takes just enough time for a tank or two to come bursting through. Once it arrives, however, the ending, brief though it may be, feels very satisfying.

Difficulty: Questionable Ethics: Alpha Test is about as difficult as its predecessor, if not possibly a touch easier. It doesn't have as many unpredictable elements, such as disappearing platforms or sudden tank spawns in cramped quarters, although some parts do require attention to be paid or else everyone will die. Just as with the first campaign, first time players may find it beneficial to start on Easy so as to learn how the logic of the campaign, and even then not feel too discouraged if they die.

Final Verdict: Questionable Ethics: Alpha Test is in my estimation a better campaign than its predecessor. While it succeeds by having puzzles and traps that aren't as dickish, some areas are a bit unexpectedly bland and underdeveloped. The low point for me is the long and unclear puzzle at the end of the fourth map, and the bouncing grenades off of bounce pads can be a little frustrating because the trajectories are unpredictable. However, the parts that succeed are definitely better than the first campaign. The campaign is puzzle-based but it also does a good job of knowing when to let the default gameplay create the difficulty for the players. While it may not answer any questions as to the first Questionable Ethics, Alpha Test does a good job doing its own thing and getting the most out of teamwork in its puzzles and layouts. As with the first, if you prefer standard maps that involve mindless shooting, this one's not going to be for you. However, if you want to try out something a little less conventional, and especially if you enjoyed the first Questionable Ethics, this is a good campaign.

Rating: 4.08/5.