Review:
First of all I'd like to thank Cliffe for that excellent news article bout me scarfing down nacho goodness!!

Sludge1 is a pretty good map. It combines hazardous stuff( such as slime and big falls) and the map itself "flows" with the theme of the title.

Weapon placement is pretty good here. The shotgun is too easy to find cause it's right by a respawn point! The author did do a smart thing for all those M4 hogs out there, he made it so if you want the M4, your gonna take at least 40 - 50 hit points of damage(no I won't tell you where it is thats up to you!)

Sludge1 doesn't lag at all on my poor p-133 so thats a good thing for those with high ping (moi).

The things that I could have improved upon are the number of elevators in the level, because elevators work like crap when you have 400 ping, I would of just put some stairs or a main elevator like in Office3.

By the way, I changed my name from NaChoS[EL PasO] to Gunny bear[St6] just in case N E one's wonderin.
-NaChoS[EL PasO]

Review:
A pretty small level, placed in a water-treatment facility. There are a lot of levels looking down to some rooms and hallways. Placing the M4 over a pool of slime is a very good thing, because you will surely suffer from taking it. And when you can shoot those over-enthusiastic M4 freaks when they are getting it from a crack above, it really adds to the coolness level. Watch as they try to jump for it, fall into the slime, climb to a small piece of dropped ceiling and BANG! It looks like Mr. M4 Freak got a hole in his head. There are some tight corridors for the handcannon, especially when drop behind someone and let him feel the pain. 'Cause of some small corridors and not-so-big rooms, the Sniper Rifle isn't that useful. But MP5 kicks ass in this. You can enough ammo for Pistol and MP5. Overall is very good.

Review:
First of all, what does Action Quake mean to you? Realistic situations, interesting settings? If this is so, then you will be disappointed by Sludge Inc. There is nothing essentially "wrong" with this map, it runs smooth and there are some nice effects and architechture. My one niggle is that it is not a quintessential "action" map. Sludge seems incredibly like an IdSoftware designed deathmatch map. The aesthetics are almost exactly like Q2DM7 or Q2DM5, or indeed any Q2DMx map. Whilst this may be okay for a mod like "Lithium", "PureDM" or "Xatrix", it is unacceptable for a mod such as ActionQuake2. Maps such as Actcity and Desert have a specific feel to them, but Sludge on the other hand seems a little drab and doesn't exactly offer a distinct change from ordinary Quake2 DM except the Action gameplay, which is much better suited to maps like Actcity and the likes.

The gameplay side sludge1 of it isn't much better either. There is little cover so sludge is rendered one of those close-combat maps, which may appeal to some people though, but the idea of ActionQuake is strategy and tactics, which isn't incorporated into sludge.

On the whole, it is a well-compiled, but dull and uninteresting map, which offers little in terms of gameplay.

The Verdict:

Gameplay : 3/10
Speed : 9/10
Graphics : 5/10
Originality : 2/10
Overall : 5/10

Closing words : we play ActionQuake don't we?
-Daikatana

Review:
When I first ran this map off-line I was impressed by the architecture and the lighting, but disappointed at how small it was.

Then I had the chance to play Sludge1 in Team Play and it rocked.

In team-play the limited size worked to it's advantage. Two teams (four or five each in the game I played) are forced into a small (not so much "small" as "compact") location where every corner means a tactical decision, cross-fires are easy to set-up, and the chances for an ambush are very good. But you have to think fast. Most areas have at least two access points, making a camping defense a dangerous option. And hunting down that last wounded survivor is quick and dangerous.

Sludge1 (by accident or design) is one of the few maps where tactics can beat raw-skill and low-ping most of the time. Like Jungle1, the outcome is usually decided by how The Team uses the geography, rather than who is the best shot with the biggest gun. The nice thing about the geography here is that a static defense is useless if your team isn't pressing an attack somewhere else.

The dead weren't complaining about waiting five minutes for two campers to kill each other off since the layout makes confrontation inevitable (basically a series of loops leading to the central core), and there are enough sound cues (elevators, and jumps) to give away locations.

One downside: although fast everywhere else, r_speeds climb in the central core (up to 1000), although this didn't seem to cause any significant slowdown in frame-rate -- possibly because the angle of view is relatively narrow.

SERVER OPS TAKE NOTE: As a DM it probably is lousy, but as a Team Play level it's a fast mover -- most rounds lasted under three minutes (frequently under 2) -- which means if your server is set to Round Limit (rather than Time Limit) you'll get a fast paced, gun-fire filled interlude between larger levels (it snuggled in well between Museum and Blockwar, if I remember correctly).

As others have mentioned, snipers will hate this one since, for the most part, lines of sight are short. But if you appreciate tactics and mobility, this level races.

As for the Quake vs. Action Quake aesthetic arguments -- I'd rather have a level that plays well than one with the "appropriate motifs" (whatever the hell they are). Besides, Quake textures or not, it looks good -- way better than average.

Teamplay 9/10 (nothing's perfect)
DM play 2/10 (my best guess)
r_speeds 5/10 (usually fast, though)
Appearance 7/10 (lacking in AQ "motifs")

Final Verdict:
Put this in your Team Play rotation for a fast change of pace -- we are playing ACTION Quake, after all.
\-Owen Coughlan