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GMD Verdict  

Review of The Infested Caverns
"The whole map, even with it's short-comings, seems to achieve a very spooky, abandoned feel."
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Map Name   The Infested Caverns (gloom.bsp)
Map Author   Kris Siuda
Download   gloom.zip (0.25mb)
 
Reviewer   JexJackL
Reviewed on   Tue Apr 11 09:41:25 2000
This map earns the GMD Seal of Approval!

ScreenshotScreenshot


The first thing I noticed about this map is that it has a few problems with lighting, such as large black areas on a face surrounded by other lit faces. Also I'm not sure how this happened, but there are strange "anomalies" in the lighting on the floor, roof, and walls of the human base causing very sharply distinct lighter and darker areas in odd shapes. Another thing I noticed from playing the map is that drones and other higher jumping classes can easily get stuck behind the pipe fixture in the large human hallway. A few other problems on the cosmetic side are the lack of detail and the monotony in the texturing. Also the caves were little more than large straight hall-ways with pointed pieces sticking into the room. However, the blue lighting glistening off the rocks adds a welcome original twist and a very foreign or "alien" feel to the caves. The whole map, even with it's short-comings, seems to achieve a very spooky, abandoned feel.

Moving on to gameplay, this map, despite it's unelaborate layout, seems to supply consistently good games, both enjoyable, and strategic. It may be the fact that the layout is less complex that induces such strategic teamwork as this map has seen. Also, A large aid to gameplay is the fact that both humans and spiders have more easily defendable ledges in their bases. This small addition adds so much to the strategic gameplay, and helps to extend the length of games as many people enjoy. Also the various holes and elevated areas scattered around the map add some excellent hiding spots for spawns if you can get there. One thing that could have been improved though is the fact that each team's starting spawns are all in a small clump (this often occurs in older maps). Other than that drawback, each team can construct a nicely secure base.

Returning to the layout, although simple, the map flows well without having certain areas and choke points where most of the action takes place, it is well spread throughout the map. Also the connectivity works very well making each area of the map easily accessible.

The gameplay aspects of this map are all very well done, however it doesn't look as good visually as it could have, but it runs fast and the games are fun.


User comments:
hi - Cataclaw
pointless comment hooray!!!! - lorp

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Average rating for The Infested Caverns: 7.4/10

Rate-O-Map™

Total: 47 ratings
 
Textures
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Comment: Although a bit monotonous, the textures all fit the theme and the faces they decorate.

Layout
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Comment: The layout is seamless. Plenty of interesting build areas as well as balanced gameplay.

Creativity
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Comment: The overall feel of the map is great, however detail is lacking.

Overall
Cube Cube Cube

Comment: Great gameplay, but a bit bland.
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