Sometimes it's those little touches that make all the difference. Passing this crypt entrance triggered an animated flock of bats to pour out-- although in this case, the player is probably more intent on the Myrmidons killing his units.
The slow, weak, but offensively powerful Fetch menace units with lightning bolts. The unit became the center of many bug exploitations and other tricks, as the bolts could be used to extend the range of dwarven satchels in multiplayer, and could even be used beyond the Fetch's own range in a trick called "Chain Lightning".
Both of the two Myth games made by Bungie featured levels in which you had access to "Hero" units that were far more deadly than ordinary ones... but nothing else, and finishing these levels meant surviving without any casualties.
The first level in the Myth demo was Crow's Bridge. It began with a series of forays into the small village by quick Ghol units, followed by a reinforcement of the bridge by slower Thrall hidden in the water, and a final group of Thrall and Soulless that advanced up the road across the bridge. The trick was to place archers and dwarves on the hill above the bridge, out of range of the soulless, and lure the Thrall into a killing ground with a few footsoldiers, then mop up.
The shot that hooked me on continuing to play Myth despite my obvious lack of ability. The snow level "Bagrada", which was included in the Mac demo of Myth: TFL, was a stunning gameplay experience at the time, and many players' first encounter with the giant Trow ended up with most of their units being kicked into gooey remains.
The giant Trow unit deals damage by kicking enemies. Nearly invulnerable to Fetch bolts, Trow were, however, susceptible to archers if they could be kept at a distance, but were best attacked by large numbers of Berserkers.
Dance On My Grave / Spiderweb was always a popular map for flag-based games like Last Man On The Hill (LMOTH).
The town of Crow's Bridge had a pumpkin patch in it, and one of the voice clips for the wandering villagers would be to ask about what will happen to them. In most cases, they met with a gruesome fate as a result of Dwarven explosives. Myth levels were full of small touches like battlefield debris that would fly and bounce after explosions, and the sequel even included "ambient life"-- battlefield debris with a mind of its own... in other words, chickens.
Halo was not the first Bungie game to have a level with "library" in the title, although the Myth version certainly deserves its titular "great", which the Halo version probably doesn't (apologies to Ferrex). A single journeyman must venture inside the Great Library while the player defends the entrance from all comers until he returns; a real challenge on Legendary difficulty.
The spot of white in the lower left hand corner of this shot is a bit of the "ambient life" advertised-- in this case, a chicken. Early Halo movies, such as the one from E3 of 2000, showed that game with different kinds of ambient life: dinosaurs and a flock of small, scaly horned ponies. They were all removed from the game prior to publication. Chickens became a favorite target of dwarves for many players, as the spray of feathers produced by the explosion is particularly satisfying.
Many Myth levels feature bridges or other narrow spaces as killing grounds, where the player can lure-- or be lured-- into a dangerous area. This level is also special because at certain viewing angles, the reflection in the stream beneath the bridge reveals the Myth engine's true nature as 2.5d rather than fully 3d. In the strict sense, Oni was Bungie's first game that utilized fully 3d geometry.