CT Elite Force

Description
I'm a long time fan of Tobe's files. They've always been so crisp and clean and new, and I loved his ability to take mundane, dusty base JA models such as the mercenary or reborn turn them into something extraordinary. They were all so unique and the masses loved them, as did Averus' undead hordes. This is a sequel to the CT Elite Force mod pack by Tobe that included some skins as well as some new sabers modeled as guns - not surprisingly the guns were more popular than the skins and people were requesting that they be made into actual gun replacements. A friend of mine tried to do that with less than perfect results (First person view was missing and the effects were glitchy), and though some people were content with it, others still wanted Tobe to make an actual weapon replacement pack.

He's done it and included it with this update to his CT Elite Force skinpack, and he's outdone himself once again. I'm amazed by the quality of this pack, and I'll start with the skins.

First off this pack includes the skins from the original CT Elite Force, so you can delete the old one and replace it with this new version. These original skins aren't changed very much from the originals but are still great skins. There's 3 helmeted, camo commandos that really look great - blue, red, and default. Tobe is able to make each of these three look unique but at the same time tie in to the central skin, and it's so refreshing as most people would just dunk the original skin blue and red and be done with it. Also included are the bare-skin, muscley, Arnold Schwarrzenegger Predator-style commandos with body paint and bandannas.

The new skins featured in this version are based off the plain old Snowtrooper model and they completely transform it. These skins follow the theme of the whole pack and are camouflaged commandos, and there are 3 versions as there were with the originals: default, red team, and blue team, and again Tobe is able to make each one unique. The pattern of camouflage varies slightly between each as does the color (obviously) and as does the styles of body armor. My personal favorite of the three is the default green one which wears a sort of pleated-segmented-layered armor that reminds me of the Korean Nanosuits in Crysis. The Korean Nanosuits, for the record, are way cooler than the boring American ones simply because they're camo and their armor has a cool texture.

Did I mention all the skins are available in the species selection menu so you can use them in single player?

The new sabers in the pack are upgraded versions of those featured in the old one; the saber-guns make a return as do some of the shields. There are a couple combat knives which are very nicely done if someone boring when compared to the laser-pointing-gun-sabers and the 4 types of shields. The shields range from your standard, though sexy, SWAT shield, to a glowing hunk of metal that wouldn't be out of place in a Gundam episode; it looks extremely heavy, is very stylin' and crackles with electricity when you bash in the skulls of your enemies.

Speaking of bashing in the skulls of your enemies, it's never been easier than it is with these completely new guns! :D Tobe includes new models, as well as new effects and new sounds, for every single one of the guns and explosives and they're all extremely well thought out and implemented. All of the weapons are great; the models feature tons of little details and the skins really make them feel like heavy duty weapons. Every skin is scratched and worn and because of it every gun now reminds me of the Trandoshan weapons from Republic Commando. They range, just like the shields, from the realistic to the Star...Warsey. The blaster pistol is replaced by a silenced... I think it's a 9mm, though it looks like a 10mm from Fallout 3. Either way it has a laser pointer, which is nice. The E-11 is now an SMG with a flashlight attachment that actually lights up the area you point it at! :o The bowcaster is now a crossbow that fires nasty looking bolts with green feathers, and the thermal detonator has been replaced with a real-life grenade that is, as the skin says on the side, 'highly explosive'.

Now we move into the Star Warsey though, and I've got to say I love it. From the very nice disruptor with it's own laser pointer to the heavy repeater and the rocket launcher, all the models work extremely well and the skins look great. My two favorites though are the heavy repeater and concussion rifle, and let me briefly go over why. The repeater model is so unique when compared to anything I've seen before. It's like a sort of minigun, but it still works so perfectly with the base JA animations; you hold it with a handle that rises up from the actual gun and also serves as the trigger mechanism. The actual gun consists of the 3 barrels, a grenade launcher beneath that, and an ammunition drum that looks like it could hold a hundred rounds.

The Concussion rifle deserves its own paragraph. This massive hulk of death is one of the most intimidating things I have ever seen modeled for JKA. The weapon itself is huge, perhaps 3 feet in length, and looks extremely heavy. It has blast shields all around it that protect the user from the actual blast of the weapon, and the effects are great. It really feels powerful now.

I only have a few criticisms for the file as a whole, and I'll put them in a neat little list that's easy to read.

- The sounds for the weapons could have been better. They really lacked that 'Oomph' that's needed to make a gun feel real and dangerous in a game.
- Some of the effects were incomplete or didn't really match. For example the bowcaster and blaster pistol still have the glowing 'charge' blaster effect. The muzzle flashes are also the default ones.
- You should have custom sounds for the skins, even if the default JA ones kind of fit they get old really fast. In fact they're already old just because they're default JA.

Only 3 real things I think could be improved for this file. Damn. Nice job Tobe.

~Laam'inui

Ah $#!%, forgot the 'Ja/Nej' list.

Team Skins: Ja.
Species Customization: Ja.
New Sounds for the weapons - Ja.
New Sounds for the skins - Nej.
Bot Support: Ja.
New Weapons: Ja.
NPC Support: Ja.

Damn. He did [i]almost[/i] everything.

~Laam'inui