Layout - Score 7

What sets each city map apart? Is it the author? The layout? Textures, maybe? Of course all of these play into it, this city layout is no different. This layout is built upon a square city block, with a brick wall surrounding the city. There are many different elevation changes throughout the entire map, making for some interesting lines of sight. Most all of the buildings allow you access to a few rooms inside and onto the rooftops. You are also able to navigate the entire city block without ever setting foot on the ground. The park area and layout is great, a nice addition to a city map.

Textures & Sky - Score 8

There are some excellent looking textures used throughout the entire map. That is a big plus, but the drawback is the extremely high r_speed associated with these beautiful textures. There is a nice variety of textures used on the buildings, from red brick and gray concrete to glass buildings and white marble. It creates a good looking map. The sky also aids in the overall ambience. It is a grayish, partly cloudy skies, with areas of blue peaking through.

Prefabs - Score 7

The map has some great prefabs used. The trees and street lamps look great. While in the 'Smoking Area', there are picnic tables to relax at. The building which has the sign, 'Planet X', has a few tables scattered downstairs, which are not in the flow of traffic, but seem to get in the way. As you make your way upstairs in the club, there is a DJ's booth, complete with turntables. You will also find a few tables in some of the buildings and a few crates stacked down one of the alleyways.

Sounds - Score 5

While in Planet X, jam to your favorite tune while fragging the enemy. This is the only area which has any sound and fits the setting, since you are in a club.

Lighting - Score 8

The street lamps look really good and give way to a cascade of light which disperses onto the ground below. This effect is used throughout the entire map on the street level. All of the buildings have some sort of interior lighting, be it a white or colored looks great, given the grayish setting the city is shadowed in. 'Planet X' has a multi-colored flashing disco light upstairs you must check out.

Playability - Score 4

Extremely high r_speeds recorded on half of the map! I recorded upwards of 2100 in a few areas, usually found near the park area near 'Planet X'. This portion of the map averages at least 1500. The other portions of the map were also fairly high, with some areas having lower (200-500) speeds, but this definitely cause a bit of lag when I was in teamplay, online via DSL. The files are named correctly and unzip nicely into their correct folders.

Teamplay - Score 7

Another solid teamplay map for 10 to 12 players. There was ample space to move around in. With all the different elevations changes, players could be found anywhere on this map. Most of the action seemed to center around the open park area. Snipers setup camp in the building directly across from 'Planet X' and began their killing spree. Other players took advantage of the higher elevations and attempted to attack those players on the street level. There are many different objects to act as cover when on the ground, from open doorways, to trees and lampposts and even covers of the buildings. It made for a great rounds of fighting.

DM - Score

N/A

Originality - Score 6

Yes, this is another city, but it definitely has a different feel to it then say the urban or actcity series. This all goes back to the layout and structure of the map, this is a standard 'city block' but was created so you could enter a majority of the buildings on the map. The only area which detracted from the map is the r_speeds.

General Feel - Score 7

Yes, it is another city map, but like its predecessors, it has a completely different feel to it. With the exception of a map series, such as Urban or Actcity, each city map is unique in its own ways. Downtown is no different. The map flows well and plays fast while looking great, but map be difficult to find on many servers due to the r_speeds. It is a modest download at 1.06mb. But if you play on a LAN, get ready to rock! This map is a blast!

Final Rating - Score 6.5 (59/9)