123782: Holy Canolli! by @Kuniyoshi

My Rating: 3 stars

I wasn’t engrossed by this mission at all, but the author definately put more effort into it than a lot of other missions that I’ve run. He included a custom mob faction, which I don’t see the need for, considering that they didn’t do anything really different from the Family or the Mooks. There have been a few mob-themed missions lately, now that I think of it. Much of the 3 stars which I awarded this mission is due to effort.

The story is this, a wiseguy named Stinky Carbone needs you to kill another mobster named Johny Rachinelli, who has put a hit out on him. Johny did this because Stinky put some dirt out on him to the fuzz to get himself out of a situation at a go-go bar. Anyway, he has you go in, off Johny’s goons and blow the place up. He also asks that you personally off Johny, because he has a tendency to survive anything.

Along the way, you learn that Stinky is also either something of a neurosurgeon or has mental powers, because he somehow lobotomized Johny’s brother Nicoli, who can join you in the mission. In his words, “I severed the lower part of his brainstem from the occipital lobe and… what? A guy can’t have hobbies?” Actually, I liked that. 😉

The custom mobs (heh) were nicely designed. I liked the costumes, overall. There was dialogue, especially from Johny, but I don’t think it was very witty. Still, effort was definately made, which I appreciate.

Here’s the end scene from the mission:
[NPC] Johny Rachinelli: Alright ya mooks, time to beat up some old ladies and blow up some candy stores!
[NPC] Johny Rachinelli: Say hello to my little friend!
[NPC] Johny Rachinelli: That kinda hurts! You ever considered boxing professionally?
[NPC] Johny Rachinelli: Look, Let me make you an offer you hopefully cannot refuse!
[NPC] Johny Rachinelli: Drop him in the river boys.
He got me once, while I was trying to take screenshots.

[NPC] Johny Rachinelli: Mr Stabby will have his vengence!
You have defeated Johny Rachinelli
[NPC] Johny Rachinelli: You were supposed to wait till mamma dies!

182619: Johnny Dangerously by @Rathulfr

My Rating: 3 stars

Fun mission. Good dialogue. Funny character biographies. Its not really a villainous mission in any sense, but for a ridiculous change of pace, its nice. Johnny hires you to take out two other mobsters, Roman Moronie and Danny Vermin, before they kill his brother. The mobsters are surrounded by Family and aren’t overpowered, even for a lowly level-7 brute such as I was when I ran this.

I’m going to run out to see what White Castle’s new Pulled Pork Sammiches taste like, so, before I go, here’s some dialogue from the aforementioned mobsters, and their biographies:

Roman Moronie: Roman Troy Moronie was responsible for The Mother’s Day Massacre, The Christmas Day Slaughter, The Lincoln’s Birthday Mutilations, and The Groundhog’s Day Beheadings. The years hadn’t softened Moronie; he continued to murder the English language, and anyone else who got in his way. He was deported to Sweden, but says he’s not from there.

This is Roman’s dialogue, as you make for him the cement shoes:
[NPC] Roman Moronie: Dis country was founded so that the liberties of common patriotic citizens like me could not be taken away by a bunch of fargin’ iceholes like yourselves.
[NPC] Roman Moronie: What are you doing here, icehole? Don’t bull sty me.
[NPC] Roman Moronie: You fargin’ sneaky bastage.
[NPC] Roman Moronie: You miserable icehole, I’ma gonna nail you to the wall!
[NPC] Roman Moronie: I’ma gonna crush you in a meat grinder, you dirty sunnamon batches!
[NPC] Roman Moronie: You gonna wind up with your bells in a sling.
You have defeated Roman Moronie
You took down Moronie. What a mouth on that guy!
[NPC] Roman Moronie: You lousy cork-soaker — you have violated my fargin’ rights!

Danny Vermin: Danny Vermin fulfilled a lot of people’s prophecies by becoming a real scumbag. He enjoys collecting protection money, putting women to work, loan-sharking, and planting bombs in people’s cars. These are a few of his favorite things. He claims to be handicapped: he’s psychotic.

Danny’s last words, as spoken to myself:
[NPC] Danny Vermin: Dames are put on this earth to weaken us, drain our energy, laugh at us when they see us undressed.
[NPC] Danny Vermin: You shouldn’t have hurt me, Jotnara. My mother hurt me once — ONCE.
[NPC] Danny Vermin: I am handicapped: I’m psychotic!
You have defeated Danny Vermin
You stopped Danny Vermin and saved Johnny’s brother!
[NPC] Danny Vermin: You shouldn’t have beat me, Jotnara. My father beat me once . . .

Danny Vermin: he’s handicapped

Roman Moronie, from Sweden

153586: Natuu Investigation by @Stay-puft

My Rating: 3 stars

I ran this one with Jotara, my new brute. Tonight is a good night for quick missions. This was another well-put-together run. The writing was good, the action was quick. There were custom mobs and the mission had a plot. A drawback was that the mobs didn’t have custom info, but the mission dialogue wasn’t bad. It advanced the plot.

Initial dialogue

Its late and I’m going to bed, but here are some snippets of NPC dialogue before I crash:

This chick must have seen something. You hear her screams when you enter the mission:
[NPC] Elisa Harmon: Please, please let me go. I don’t know anything!
[NPC] Natuu Crusher: No witnesses!
[NPC] Elisa Harmon: Help, please!

A clue as to what’s going on with this Natuu bunch:
[NPC] Natuu Sniper: Round up this demon trash so we can convert their energy in the generator for the portal tap.
[NPC] Urz Minion: How dare you summon the Legion, You will cower and beg for your lives before this day is done!
[NPC] Natuu Sniper: What fresh hell is this?! Deal with ther intruders and throw them in with this lot.
[NPC] Urz Minion: More to feed on! DESTROY THEM ALL!

Confirmation. Simple but effective:
[NPC] Natuu General Kaza: We need more demon scum to power the portal generator so we can harness that power.

Boss fight, but not needed for mission completion. He was an LT to me, because I’m on Villanious. These were his final words, during the fight:
[NPC] Natuu General Kaza: This should provide some much needed entertainment.
[NPC] Natuu General Kaza: HA! HA! HA! You call that an attack?!
[NPC] Natuu General Kaza: Keep it coming.
[NPC] Natuu General Kaza: Not bad for a civvie.
[NPC] Natuu General Kaza: You must be allied with this demon scum

[NPC] Natuu General Kaza: You’ll never take me alive.
…and I didn’t. 😉

55008: Take Down Seven by @Zarod

My Rating: 3 stars (Average)

This is the 2nd MA mission I played, and its a marked improvement over the first one. There are still details missing, but the run was enjoyable.

Take Down Seven is a 2-mission, level 1-54 villain arc with custom mobs. The contact provides some backstory, introducing each mission. There are rescuable allies and custom bosses.

I ran the mission with Zeus Ex again, a level 13 bots/storm Mastermind.

Story: A group called Ioxenic has moved to a new headquarters, but has been infiltrated by a heroic group called Seven. The player is recruited to help fend off Seven and purge their presence from Ioxenic’s ranks. While not rife with plot progression, the rescuable NPCs did each have (the same) one-liner when released from captivity, and I enjoyed having new enemies to square off against. Missing were clues and NPC descriptions.

NPCs: The contact’s dialogue had some spelling errors (homonyms), but communication was still clear. Custom mobs were not overpowered. The two groups, Ioxenic and Seven, were not overpowered for my level and the allies didn’t run off too crazily.

Setting: The mission used a warehouse map from the Cult of the Shaper arc (the Freakshow maps) and a warehouse map that I don’t immediately recognize. There was nothing to interact with on the maps, but they did fit the mission; the contact explained that Ioxenic had relocated their headquarters to warehouses (which might have been in the Rogue Isles, my memory is fuzzy).

Each of these missions is kill-all with boss defeats, but they go by quickly. The first mission’s map is very small and the second mission is large, but odd. The first half of the mission was populated when I ran it, and the rear was empty.

Rescued Ioxenic Eliminator

Seven Soldier group attacked

Rescued Ioxenic Fighter

Defeated Seven Elite