• Currently 1/5 Stars.

Ugly on the outside, ugly on the inside

irons on Feb 21st, 2011, Version 1.0

This level is unattractive for numerous reasons. It is split between a cramped maze with 5D touches and an inverted ziggurat "arena." Both areas look absolutely horrible, as the textures are some of the blandest in the Water set. The mapper chose to use the default (paved) floor texture, which almost always looks bad, but is even worse in the "arena." Lighting appears to be fullbright everywhere. The mapper seems to have given little or no thought to actual gameplay balance. He attempted admirable innovation in creating a dichotomy of fighting style, but he seems to have neglected tactics such as running to the arena, grabbing the shotguns, and then camping in the maze area. Other players might wait in the arena for people to teleport in, for the helpless teleporter has a very small chance of even seeing his attacker before it is too late. In a duel, I can see one player following one strategy while the other does the opposite, thus creating a game in which nothing happens. There is no fun in running around mazes, and 5D space is a novelty only to those who have not "enjoyed" its extensive use in real network play. While I'm sure the creator envisioned tense shootouts in this area of the level, the more likely case is camping and goose-chasing. The arena is similar to an arena level I once saw for the original Marathon, which used almost the exact structure seen here. This is not a compliment. Neither is the fact that the M1 version looked a whole lot better. The mapper would do well to make an extensive study of game balance in post-Infinity network levels, and to practice more attractive texturing and lighting practices. The time it took to review this is probably more than anyone would want to spend playing it, and that's not a long time at all.

My first netmap posted up here. You can choose between a close quarters firefight, or use the bigger weapons in the Battle Pit.

The title refers to The Twilight Zone episode of the same name.

Will update so irons can stop berating me (but would that change anything) (probably not)

2,322 downloads, 2 reviews, 0 screenshots, 1.5 rating