Date: 12-09-99 Teams: 3 File: hw_hell.zip Players: 4-16 Game: TFC Size: Medium Briefing: Ewwwwwwww....

HW Hell

Hmmmm...

You'll have to go up there eventually...

Ugh!

Author: sotrt | Reviewer: Borg

Objective:

CTF, bring the flag from your base, to the second floor of the enemies base.

Scoring:

50 points for the team, 5 points for the person. 50 points is not a lot, as it's very hard for someone to capture the flag. Note: The Yellow team is the hwguy! he's invincible, run from him at all costs!

Evaluation:

Well. I guess I have to note first off, that this map was pretty ugly overall, as you can see from the screenshots. Textures were stretched to a high degree, and the end result wasn't very pleasing. Not a very pretty place to play. As for a theme, that was pretty much non-existent, as it is with a majority of maps out there. I don't think authors really pay enough attention to this, and believe me, when they do, it gets noticed! The one cool sound that the author did add to this was neat, but I found WAY too many people dying on purpose just to hear it.

As simple as this map was, it was way too hard to figure out where to go to score. The readme (which is almost non-existent), didn't give much detail on this, other than "go to the enemy base 2nd floor". Well, first off, the scoring point is on the 3rd floor, and the only way to it, is up a narrow ramp in a far corner of the 2nd floor. Quite confusing, and many people asked where it was...repeatedly. No signage, no direction, and annoying ladders all made for annoying gameplay. Just add the god-like hwguy, and you have a game that gets old VERY fast. Mobility and connectivity were pretty limited, and this seemed to be an afterthought by the author, or maybe this thing was just put together too fast. Either way, it's a tough play. The addition of a stretched out bouncepad just served to annoy people, and was left alone for the most part.

There were enough opportunities to utilize every class on this map, and I guess that's one good thing, however, you had to choose your battles carefully, otherwise the action just passed you on by. There wasn't any new strategy to employ here, as the map is pretty simple, and the addition of the hwguy was really superfluous. He just didn't need to be there. Again, this map really has the feeling of being done too fast, and in the future, the author should take his time, and really give some serious design thoughts consideration.

Verdict:

I'd pass this one over. Not much fun to play, and all the annoying design elements will definitely bore you fast. While not as horrid as some examples I've seen, this should have receive more beta-testing.

Delta Bravo Final Score: 
- 11/50 -