reviewed by b-nutz
Every year
or so a new mapper arrives on the scene and
completely changes everyone's view of what a
deathmatch level is. In 1999, Gustavo arrived to
grace us with 20+ levels of pure genius. In 2000,
Apocalypso has proven that he can match Gustavo's
skills and provide a little bit of variety with
each map. Ladies and Gents, I believe (yes, I'm
jumping the gun here) the mapper of 2001 has
arrived and his name is Peter Manson. (Now I
realize that he's been on the Half-Life
deathmatch scene for quite awhile, since his 1999
release, "Ender's Game" to be exact.
However, his latest maps seem to be quite a step
above his first few and I might also add that
he's spitting them out at an alarming rate.)
One of his two latest efforts, Plateau, is a
prime example of a flawless level. I really tried
my hardest to tear it up and pick out some flaws,
but alas, there wasn't anything that I could find
worth mentioning.
The level itself resembles what seems to be a
grand lodge high up on a plateau, cradling a
river. The buildings surrounding the water are
well constructed and may I add that the level
sticks with the same theme throughout, while at
the same time adding some mysterious elements,
too. The map flows from a large courtyard area
with a couple of nice sniping roosts to a small
courtyard towards the back with a quaint little
water well and a climbable windmill. On the other
side of the larger building is where the river
resides. There's a large, slowly turning
waterwheel churning the river and the water
itself flows off the edge of the mountain where
you can end up too, if careless. Towards the back
of one of the smaller buildings you will find
some large stone walls that lead back to a
smaller area containing a UFO floating above the
area that is shining a beam towards the ground.
Inside the buildings themselves, you will find
several rooms, each containing an item or two,
with a very promising layout for some nice close-quarter
battles.
This brings me to the fancier elements of the map.
Step into the UFO's beam, and you are
instantaneously transported to a very odd room, a
la Dr. Who or some wacko Stanley Kubrick flic (RIP),
that contains a G-man and in the center you will
find a jumppack. The exit or exits, I should say,
are very unique and animated very nicely. Upon
closer examination of one of the walls leading
into the area containing the UFO, you may notice
a stone skull. Press it and one of the most
impressive "warp gates" that I have
ever seen appears, and it takes you to a ledge in
another area of the map. Upon even further
inspection I found an identical "warpgate"
in another location. Peter has also made good use
of animated models, using cyclers. You will find
a flock of what looks like flying manta rays
above one area, some chubby leeches in the well,
and various plantlife sprinkled throughout the
map. These things give what is already a superb
level some extra liveliness. It's a breath of
fresh air if you ask me.
Mr. Manson's use of textures and lighting is very
nice, as well. It resembles a Counter-Strike
level like "Dust" or "Aztec"
with it's large chunky bricks, dusty concrete and
wooden trim. I especially liked the way he used
both a scrolling and a churning water texture on
two seperate water brushes to create a more
convincing flow of water.
Weapon and item placement is good and fairly
logical. However, I think that there could have
been a few more guns floating around. Boy, I love
those things!
The r_speeds stick around a whopping 450 w_poly
in the outside areas, which, without my sarcasm,
is perfect. Indoors, the count remained well
under 250. The r_speeds did jump a bit in some
areas, but nothing worth crying about.
In conclusion, this is one of the prettiest, yet
highly playable DM levels that I have yet seen.
It's absolutely gorgeous! I really tried to find
a minor brush error or bad texture alignment or
anything that I could pick on. Man, was I in for
a surprise.
SCORE:
A*
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