Map name: Mantidoba's Playground
Map author: Mantidoba
Map filename: omd_map1.zip
Reviewed by: Bulldog
Review
Looks Rating: 8 /10
Architecture Comments:
The layout is a two sided city, both sides are identical but inverted. There is a big road down the middle, and two opposite corners are open and guarded by chainlink fences (which, by the way, are climbable and semi-transparent, which is really cool). The upper city is made up building tops and a small hall system that makes a rough square. Two billboards, and a few rooms conected with the halls finish up the top. Alleys make getting around easier , and it's more hidden way to travel. The layout is very good when one considers the over used U shape of many city maps.
Looks Rating: 7 /10
Looks Comments:
The map is at night time, but is lit well enough to see most things, unlike urban2 which was a nightmare. The fences look great and the use of colored lighting in the upper city and pipe corner are great. One of the best looking parts is the halls in the upper part which go from building to building. They have transparent floors! They are so cool, and they help to locate players. The textures themselves are run of the mill city textures, but they aren't that visible because of the dark and so don't hurt the map too much. The building tops are also populated with some decent cover and some interesting things like a large group of pipes.
Gameplay Rating: 5 /10
Gameplay Comments:
This is the rather weak part of the map. In DM battle freaks and chargers are well catered for as there are about 3 Handcannons along the main road. Thier fun, however, will be cut short when an unseen sniper picks them off. The snipers are unseen because, like subway, most of the building tops are pitch black. Plus, if the sniper has the silencer, then you will probably never know what hit you, time and time again. But, there is hope if a person gets lucky and finds the Stealth Slippers. With the Handcannon and the slippers a Sniper-Hunter can go undetected, though he may have trouble find a sniper to hunt. TP is also a mixed bag, but slightly more fun when everyone chooses the sniper rifle, sniper wars are a lot of fun on this map.
One thing that was annoying was the effectivness of picking the lasersight and MP5/10 and camping away on a far away building top. It gave away your position a whole lot though, and anyone trying it would find themselves the victem of handcannoners.
Ambiance Rating: 6 /10
Ambiance Comments:
The use of colored lighting was very good and not overused. There was some curious blood on some of the windows, but other than that there was no obvious setting besides "a city". There wasn't any use of sound that I could find, which is a shame because it could have been used to great effect in some of the rooms and the big pipe in the corner. Being called the Praying Mantis's Playground, it would be nice to have seen some sort of subtle and very non-subtle clues that someone stalked people on this map (just an idea :)
Other Comments:
Again I liked the fence a lot, it was useful in running away. Some of the buildings are very tall which led to some jumped heartbeats as I looked down and nearly fell. Sneaking up behind somebody and kicking them off would be very good for a laugh. One last thing, I have suddenly realised that this is a great chase map, with the fence and the way the building tops are placed.
Conclusion:
A better than most night time city map, home to some of the funniest falls in the world... ever! Defenaitly worth adding to any server op's list.
Overall Rating: 7
Reviewed By: Bulldog