Game:

Counter-Strike: Source (2004)

Duration: 14:49

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3

Wait, what? YOU again?! What do you think you're doing here? ...huh? Unfinished business? Complete and total neglect for HOW long?! ... ... ...nope, no idea what you're talking about. Plus, the time for excuses has long since passed, but trust me, they were equal parts maddening and absolutely excellent. So... I win, right? Right.

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Another "great" Octoweapon down, another new random batch of glass light fixtures to shatter... ... ...are we certain that this is the best kind of security measure that the Octarians should be using to prevent deeper encroachment into Octo Valley? (Should this have been questioned way back in the planning phases?)

Anyway, you'll notice once again a very slight jump in the footage where I stitched out a brief return to Inkopolis for taking the blueprint Sunken Scroll back to Sheldon (which was also followed up by yet another cut, seeing as how I hadn't attained the level required for him to make the proper introductions...) and then we get back on track and head to our next cluster of floating platforms and kettles.

Actually, this next stopover feels even weirder than usual... instead of a reclaimed bit of urban blight littered with invisible kettles, this one looks like some kind of assortment of chunked up skate park pieces somehow magically stacked around the place, strung up invisibly in the air and linked by the various set pieces, conveyances, and general inkable ground-to-wall-to-ground patterns we've come to know and love.

Fortunately, all the extra complexity in the hub area means that the likelihood is slanted more likely in favor of running into more advanced numbered stages than the one you're actually looking for. More likely, but not a given... but I'll take those odds!

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22. Splat-Switch Revolution
~ A Change of Scenery ~

Actually, no, there really won't be a change of scenery in store, because we've seen every general audiovisual variation for the backdrop upon which Octo Valley stages can be set... but I suppose it'll become readily apparent that this isn't at all what they meant when they were naming the stage.

It seems a bit late to introduce a thing like this, but Splat-Switches, as the title braces you for imminent encounters therewith... are switches. That you splatter ink on. That's basically it. You'd think they'd be somewhat indispensible for all kinds of stagecraft and cause-and-effect trickery, but their existence NOW kinda makes you appreciate just how much stages before this point managed to do without such things... and it's probably stronger stage design for it.

Don't get me wrong, switches would be another layer of complexity, and the stages could've gotten even more devious with their use... but their OVERuse would've been all too easy a pitfall to stumble into, creating obtuse runarounds and frustrating hide and seek situations for little reason, seeing as how you can make better do with less rather than more. That, and it would be at extreme odds with the decidedly gentle difficulty curve and general approachability. (Classic gaming is incidentally rife with all manner of such cases. Flip the blue switch to get the red key so you can finally reach that green door you saw way back at the beginning of the fourth level!)

Actually, come to think of it... the revolution will NOT be televised, because this is the ONLY stage that will feature these Splat-Switches. Yep, of all the design elements that see unexpected comebacks with interesting interactions with one another... the humble switch will not be one of them.

Instead, the revolution is indeed quite literal. Most Splat-Switch reactions are of the sort that will cause other stage elements to revolve lazily into new positions... new scenery! I don't know whether to pause for mild expressions of subdued appreciation or groans of deep resentment...

Somewhat interestingly, for all the potential applications and pitfalls, very little of this stage's challenge comes directly from the Splat-Switches themselves, not even when once you might be tasked to find one that's a bit out of obvious view. But make no mistake, this is the last set of stages finally, so it's not going to be nearly as easy as things have been prior. In this case, the stage designers seemed to take some measure of delight in springing ambushes for reasons not usually tied directly to the switches themselves being activated.

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At least the Sunken Scroll wasn't TOO craftily squirreled away... speaking of which, this one seems a bit weird, even among all the weird ones we've seen thus far. Maybe it's the serious tone or the heretofore unmentioned new subject matter... plus the fact that we have NO idea who the writer is, and these files have been pretty eclectic in their sources and statements... so who really knows?!

Well, I mean, if we were still in the first or second day of playing the game and word was still slow to spread... and even then, did people actually voluntarily play too much Octo Valley?

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