Map name: CUCU40a
Map author: Webz and Garff
Map filename: cucu40a.zip
Reviewed by: PACMAN{TECH}, Bulldog
Review
Architecture Comments:
According to the readme, this is a teamplay map. My GOD this is the smallest teamplay map i have ever seen. There are two small clearings, each connect through a mountain pass and an underwater pass. It takes 3-5 seconds to get from one to the other through the mountain pass. The underwater pass takes longer because it's (hey hey!) underwater. There are ledges along the larger map's walls, accessable from the top of the few buildings (not really buildings, more like small lookout towers) There is a little hovel, which has a back entrance from a ledge branching of the the mountain pass. The layout is probably for the servers with little to no player traffic.
Looks Rating: 5 /10
Looks Comments:
It's a wintery place, full of snow and pine trees. I spontainiously combusted it was so like winter when I frist saw it. It uses the same diamond mine texture used in winter (which, in turn, was an orignal Quake 2 texture). Most of the snow was plain white, there must have been some way to fit in a snow texture. Other than that it's a really average affair, a little to average for a higher score. The lookout towers are wooden, the hovel has a nice metal-under-snow texture on many of the sides, but nothing to convince you a "lot" of time went in to the textures.
Gameplay Rating: 5 /10
Gameplay Comments:
DM is crummy in that all the weapons are easily avaliable for those who try, the sniper rifle being the hardest. The shotgun was strangly absent. In TP there are mixed ways of getting to the enemy besides the main mountain route (you will always be shot up if you go that way). Underwater and the ledges are easy to use, but all in full view.
A two man team, one gaurding the underwater passage with a sniper rifle and bandolier, for the IR vision, and a MP5/10 man wiht laser sight could hold out for a long time. One good thing was that the underwater part was easy to see through, unlike actdam or beachassault where it's impossible to see. Simply put, small number of players equals small fun, no players or lots of players equals not not not NOT fun!
Ambiance Rating: 3 /10
Ambiance Comments:
The only redeeming feature is the sky, which works well, plus one wind sound. What makes the score so low is that it stops at the edge of the map, with no wall or anything to discourage you from thinking you can walk right off. AAAGGGHHH!!!! I can't STAND that! Next map I see that in gets a 1! There isn't much else to say. I didn't at all feel any special ambiance.
Other Comments:
This map probably didn't make it through testing as quick as winter, but it still pales in comparison. It's a very rush job by two people. Why do you need two people anyway? Is it becasue you guys are lazy or what? Starnge name too, can't figure it out.
Conclusion:
A sub-standerd winter map. No reaql reason to add it to your server list, no reason to make any sort of sequal. End the boredom and work on something a little more orignal (in a general sense, the idea was probably orignal at the time)
Overall Rating: 4
Reviewed By: Bulldog
Review
Architecture Comments:
I would have to say that this map has a good layout for teamplay, but it seems to give one side an advantage over the other. This map is generally 2 outdoor snow covered areas with several caves connecting the 2 areas. There are many different ways to get from one side of the map to the other, but it seems that te side of the map with sniper towers and structures has more cover than the other area which has only a few boxes and is much smaller in size.
Looks Rating: 6 /10
Looks Comments:
This map makes good use of colored lighting wigh dark blue caves, and blue-ish (is that a word?) outdoor areas. The main factor that turned me away is the alignment of the walls and floors. The mis aligned walls you will usually notice when you are walking backwards shooting at an enemy, then get caught on a piece of the wall. There are serveral boxes just hovering in the air, along with one cliff. There is also a hole in the ground in one of the caves where you can see the ground below. Another thing is the sky allowing you to see into other areas. It is not much of a factor in this map, but you can see through the sky into other walls and through blocks.
Gameplay Rating: 7 /10
Gameplay Comments:
I haven't tested this map on a server yet, but it seems like it would be fun to play. I would have to say though, that since it is so small, about 6 to 8 players would be the max for deathmatch, and 8-10 for teamplay. I'm sure more could be used, but then it the map may be too crowded to have fun...
Ambiance Rating: 5 /10
Ambiance Comments:
Well, the colored lighting did give a sense of dark caves, but that was about it for this map. Nothing very new in the way of textures and no new sounds lower this maps overall feel. Also the fact that some outdoor parts of the map are blue-ish (i think thats a word... sounds good enough) and some are just normal light.
Other Comments:
Yeah.. I know... It's kinda ironic who's reviewing the map :)
Conclusion:
Well, with some extra effort this map could have turned out better than it is. The mis-aligned brushes and lack of anything new generally turned me away from this map. However, it appears that much effort was put into this map, and there are no major problems with the map.
Overall Rating: 6
Reviewed By: PACMAN{TECH}