From the collective minds of
four great mapping talents comes a single level
right out of the blue. Lunarun, Than, Damaul
and Xenon sat down and for three hours and under,
each constructed a high-quality section of a
level, including monsters, items etc.
Then Damaul spent a couple
of days glueing all the sections together. A
common theme was used, one which we've probably
all seen before - Kingpin. An industrial brick
texture set brought to life in the fantasy Quake
world, with plenty of variety in designs. The
fact that each mapper had only three hours to
complete his section meant some areas looked
rather plain, with no real stunning set pieces
sticking out. Some of the more interesting sections
was the outdoor areas at the start/end and also
an ambush scene quite deep into the map with
some stylish curved walls. Lighting was rather
dull and uninspiring. However the layout was
well put together, with your returning back
to the start of the map for an epic final battle.
I found it tough to distinguish each mappers'
areas from one another.
Gameplay was good fun, aswell
having a good flow to it, rather than feeling
like four big battles. A few tough traps and
ambushes are put in, which while are good fun,
some players might have trouble. Skill settings
aren't supported, so the weaker players out
there might find it very difficult.
Overall, this map turned out
really good, especially for just four speedmaps
put together. It feels like a normal full custom
map. Design is usually good, but not fantastic,
and gameplay is a tough battle.
Review
by [Kona]
[Kona]'s Score:
77
A joint speedmap project by
Damaul, Than, XeNoN and Lunaran. This was a
very good idea.
I take it that a general design
outline and texture set was provided as this
map flows remarkably well given its origins.
The textures are dirty industrial, and put to
good use. Most of the map takes place in corridors
and indoor rooms, which can get quite repetetive
but manage to look good despite somewhat plain
designs (understandable given its origins).
Some of the indoor areas are more complex and
interesting though.
Gameplay is rather strange
at times; there was a Shambler in a completely
unexpected (strange, not nessecarily bad) area,
and I had exactly 1 health for quite some time.
Other times I ran out of ammunition, however,
supplies were almost certainly around the corner
when I did run out. Despite runing out of supplies
on several occasions, there is also an area,
really very strange, when you are given a Quad
damage completely without any requirement for
it. This Quad would have been better place somewhere
else - when I just had an axe, I could have
used it! One of this map's greatest moments
is its final area, in which I did run out of
ammunition (and nearly health!) and found myself
retreating from a horde of monsters - Shamblers,
knights, scrags, dogs, fiends - and ran out
of room to retreat in. I hit a wall behind me
and realized I was cornerd. Most dramatically,
and most sweetly, there was a Rocket Launcher
at that very spot. I wasted no time destroying
the horde.
The end area is definately
the map's strong point - the rest of it looks
good and plays well for the most part, despite
some gameplay oddities, but the end area far
outdoes the rest of the level, which is mainly
medium indoor designs, with a large outdoor
design featuring a series of triangular towers
and walkways. It looks damn cool, and is designed
very well. And fittingly the gameplay gets much
harder, though not frustratingly so (there are
plenty of supplies, you just have to make it
to them!), and finishes off the map with a fittingly
climatic ending.
All in all, this was a very
good idea and has turned out very well.
