From the righteous dude who brought us "jump
city" comes another brilliantly put together map. And this
time, it's gimmick free. :) Oh what a gloriously beautiful
map! I'm almost in tears! This is the first 3rd party map
I've seen that I could definitely call a work of art. It's
so very intricate. This could become one of those maps that
people learn. I mean really learn, like Teamjungle in AQ2,
Q2DM1, Q3DM17, and E1M1 from quake. This will be the kind
of map that people can parade through blindfolded with a hoebag
on their heads upon request. *Sniff* okay on with the review.
Eyecandy and Performance: Holy jumpin',
folks, this one's on the level. (hehe, did you see that? A
pun!) Such marvelous detail with such amazing performance,
ooo baby, this is the big one. It's finally here. *Melt* oh
man, the portals is sexy, the textures are amazing, the architecture
is BANG on. This map has it all!
Gameplay: Let's get cracking, shall
we? A few references, just to get your mind going. Quake's
DM1. Quake 3's Q3DM17, Action Quake 2's Urban2. All of these
maps have something in common. Can you guess what? I'll let
you know later on if you can't. Let's start with the obvious:
(because I will be going IN DEPTH here) the possibilities.
It's extremely easy to get lost in this tiny map. (Author's
note: pay careful attention to that last sentence, it's almost
as cryptic as the map itself) the learning curve can be one
of two things. Immense, or tiny, all depending on one thing:
the first run you take through the map. Oh MAN this map is
great if you're lucky enough to catch the greater bulk of
the rooms on your first run through, you should be fine getting
along in a match. There are several rooms each with not less
than 2 exits. A few rooms have teleporters (which, I must
admit, at first site scared the shit out of me :)) the teleporters,
more often than not, lead to a different level. The map has
(I'm estimating here, oh god don't let me be wrong on this)
3 major levels the majority of the action takes place in an
atrium connecting the 3 levels (although it's not fully obvious
how it does so) 2 facing walls of the atrium are hollow, allowing
(quite devilishly, as you'll note when you play this map)
players to pass through the two openings at either end. Okay
did you get that at all? To visualize: | | | | During my playtest
with the artist, we would both attempt to cut each other off
when one of us entered the tunnels, very exhilarating. The
second level is essentially where archaic decided to shunt
all the pathways (WOW! Another pun!) a few weapons are to
be found, as well as some jumpers leading to the third level.
The third level (nice segue, Eh?) is for the most part a few
isolated platforms, overlooking second or first level areas.
There is, however, a 2.5. And what a beautiful 2.5 it is.
Above the atrium, is a transparent structure of some sort
that allows players to stand on top of it and shoot down,
and players below it to shoot up. Yes. Oh yes. You are home.
Okay everyone; take a breath. I'm going to pull rank (??)
on you now and ORDER you to get this map and put of 50 servers
running it non stop day in day out. The weapon placement and
choice is simply exceptional. You have a choice between the
stylish tommygun, very-green-in-hue laser, the rather long
Double Barrel, or the entertaining grenade launcher. What's
more, they're all rendered equal by various devices present
on the map. The tommygun is valuable for its hitscan abilities,
the lasers for their hot goo-making properties, the double
barrel because it's so damned sexy, and the GL for it's… well,
for it's make-boom.
Recommended Player Number: One on One
sneak-outs through to and including A (infinity) player bloodbaths.
Yeah, it's that good.
The Final Word: I've never done this
before, and probably wont again for some time now, but:
OVERALL SCORE: 10/10
That's perfect, absolute, 100%. Go download it. Now. NOW YOUSLIMY
BASTARD!
-Caid-
