Layout

Believe it or not, I have met Quakers who insist on organized maps. These players insist that every design should flow in a logical and consistent manner, with no disorder or ambiguity in the design. If you're one of those poor unfortunate souls, stop here. Because this is SO not your map. Butchered Creatures sprawls erratically in numerous directions, expanding in clumps seemingly without rhyme or reason. Like any skybox map, the design incorporates a single structure floating in space. On the first floor, a number of medium-sized platforms either hang off of its sides or are carved into its interior. They are linked by numerous corridors and half-stairways, some of which cut through the interior of the map, while the remainder skirt around the exterior of the structure. Access to the higher levels can be found at the base of each the numerous curving support beams, where jump pads await. The two upper floors merge into a variety of terraces on slightly different elevations, punctuated by a variety of tilted bulkheads. Some of the faces of these beams appear to be ramps (but are too steep), while other, more functional ramps are hidden in the jumble. At the top of the heap is a small covered pavilion, surrounded by several different sloping beams and a free-standing plateau. Strapped on one side of this who arrangement is the much smaller second floor, which consists of a single walkway runing solely along one side of the map. Although I am not opposed to chaotic maps per se, this one did cause me some consternation. Especially on the upper levels, players were apparently left to blaze their own trail on where to go, leading to much clumsy scrambling between the various features. The somewhat random upper floor narrowly treads the boundary between an unconventional (but acceptable) layout and one not particularly friendly to player navigation, and stands out sharply in contrast with a traditionally defined lower area. It all just seems a bit disjointed. (B-)

Atmosphere

Speaking of blazing his own trail, Kona has put together an interesting collage of textures from a number of sources, most notably several of Rorshach's Headhunters3 sets. The major theme here is red brick, with floors and walls tiled in crimson ceramic, and secondary panels set in tan stone and rusted metal. Highlights are done in turquoise in some places and burnished steel in others. This texture set doesn't quite jel together, but at the same time it is hardly aesthetically slipshod. The practical illumination presumably comes from the skybox, which is a tranquil setting sun set above tropical blue waters. The board is lit at a fairly constant level, and is more than sufficient for the playing surface. Still, it seems odd that with no visible light fixtures some areas are brighter than others. In sum, this somewhat eccentric environment is just slightly off the mark. (B-)

Technical

For gameplay, there are some things you would expect and others you wouldn't. First, the obvious. BC has all the usual dangers of your typical skybox map. Faced with the usual sorts of weapon knockback and ledges everywhere you turn, most players will take a long walk off a short platform at least once. Additionally, lower ledges are only sometimes visible from the upper levels, forcing players in a hurry to choose whether to take a blind chance and jump, or to go to the edge and peer down (which poses its own dangers). With no logical scheme underlying the arrangement of consecutive floors, blindly dropping down from one level to another is a real leap of faith. Now, for what you don't expect. First, I found that the jump pads played little role in the action. Although they are the only game in town for moving up from one floor to another, their speed and their ricochet trajectory (along the beams) prevents players from laying down much in the way of anticipatory fire at landing zones. Instead, conflicts are brutally direct and conducted at devastatingly close range. The irregular shape of rooms and platforms and the unforgiving size boundaries enforced by ledges puts a hard edge of desperation into confrontations. Especially on the upper levels, where the exact contours of the map are rather vague, players scramble frantically across the map's jumble of features, all the while engaging in the ugliest sort of smash-face DM. Strict space restrictions greatly limit maneuvering or DM finesse, replacing it only with the ugliest sort of tactless in-your-face butchery. (Not that this is a bad thing) Weapon placement is pretty uninspiring, but functional nonetheless. The SG and the RL both sit near jump pads on opposite corners of the rectangular bottom floor, while the GL squats in the map's largest room, a blocked-in cellar set into in another corner. On the second floor, the YA and the LG face each other at opposite ends of the small walkway that basically makes up the whole floor. Oddly, the one place I expected there to be a weapon– the pavilion at the top– stood empty, while the PG and the RG were placed on nearby beams. Overall, an odd assortment of features combine to create gameplay that is brutal and fast paced, which has little tolerance for players who expect to dance about in their usual manner. (B)

Conclusion

A very odd map, in nearly every respect. With a piecemeal texture scheme, and an irregular layout divided between clearly defined areas below and a hodge-podge of features above, this is a map with a bit of an identity crisis. Although the lack of clear form in places may frustrate some players, it does keep most combatants on their toes by being so very different from the typical DM venue. This, in combination with the space restrictions imposed by the presence of so many drops, blunts matches into sledgehammer-style slugfests. Not for everyone, especially those who don't take well to floater maps. (B-)