Kona
has been on the Quake mapping scene for some
time now and has ceated a lovely set of Quake
single player maps that any level designer would
be proud of. The latest of these maps, Egyptian
Myth is no exception to that record and I'm
going to tell you why...
Original!
Stylish
Eyptian Myth is centered around an abandoned
temple, the environment is lovingly realised
with egyptian symbols and heavy sandstone decorating
the walls, halls and courtyards that dominate
this map, this style is maintained throughout
the map but Kona still manages to make each
new area feel different to the last one. The
actual detail in the map could be higher and
more rounded as some of the walls and ceilings
look very square and plain in some places. The
out door sections are much better than the indoor
bits and the authpr has definately spent more
time doing up these rooms, there are broken
tiles with encrusted mud underneath, murals
on the walls, and the sunset sky finishes it
off very nicely. Some halls have carpets and
banners on the walls that really enhance the
atmosphere created by the egyptian theming.
Is that a snake in your pocket or....
To further increase the levels eqyptian roots
the "snakeman" monster has been included
with the pack, this is one of the better custom
Quake enemies around and fits nicely into the
map and provides a change from the ordinary
Quake monsters. Saying this the other monsters
in the map are used very effectively and placed
according to abilities and weapons. The Ogre's
are usually above you so that they can grenade
spam you while shamblers have the horrible knack
of just appearing right in front of you causing
quite a shock... As you get into the map you
will realise that places you have already been
have been re-populated with monsters to greet
you on your way back, you are never sure if
the next room is safe even if you have walked
through it three times before...
Connection Accepted
One of the other great things about this map
are the layouts and the connectiveity. you pass
through some areas more than twice but each
time you are trying to accomplish something
different. Some may say that to much connectivity
is a bad thing but on this map is works very
well and (I know I keep mentioning this) it
really does deepen the temple feel even more.
Lock and Load
Weapon and item placement is a fundemental
feature of any Quake map and Kona has done a
good job of it on Eqyptian Myth. The weapons
are evenly placed throughout the map, one feature
I liked about the weapon placement is that you
could get the weapons in a different order each
time you played the map and this adds a lot
to the re-playability. Ammo is there when you
need it. Saying this though ammo is always tight
and this makes the combat more tense as you
know that if you waste a few rockets then the
next fight could go very badly, health is in
short supply but is placed at nice intervals
between major combat hotspots and there is just
enough to avoid frustration over repeated deaths...
the wise player will seek out all the secret
areas as these usually contain health pickups.
All good things come to an end
Sad but unfortunately true, Eqyptian myth does
come to an end. The ending is very good on this
map and features a souped up hell knight with
lots of health and the ability to throw vore
style homing projectiles at you, not very pleasant
and quite hard to kill but different and fun
none the less. But there are much better endings
out there in other maps.
Round up
Eqyptian myth is a very cool single player
map that deserves to be on any Quake players
hard drive. The layout is good, the design style
easy on the eyes but lacking any real detail
and the combat pumps along and keeps you entertained
every time you play it.
Build Quality = 82%
Monsters Score = 89%
Layout and connectivity = 95%
Weapons and Ammo = 85%
Ending = 80% Overall Score = 86%
