ONS-CBP2-Brassed
Title: Brassed
Author: Emanuel 'Krolizard' Da Roit
Game: Onslaught
Volume: 2
Node Setup: Click Here
Too hot, too dusty, too brassed.
RaptoR: Another desert themed map! This one’s slightly smaller (and thankfully darker) than Argento, with play revolving around a network of winding caverns rather than the open, exposed battlefield that we see in the previous map. Brassed’s visual style is similar to that of Mirage. The map is set in a large canyon, with giant rock pillars towering overhead. Brassed also offers a welcome break from the classic fog-ridden Onslaught maps in the retail version of UT2004, instead using clever placement of rocks and other barriers to impair visibility. One obvious disadvantage of this, however, is that less powerful systems will struggle to cope with more on-screen. With the three desert maps in CBP2, plus Onslaught bonus map ONS-Aridoom, I think it’s fair to say that the desert theme has been done to death. Let’s try to come up with some more original settings for Onslaught maps, mmkay? Thankfully, Brassed offers enough vehicles to ensure that Onslaught is played The Way It’s Meant To Be Played™ - with vehicular death coming at you from all angles. Brassed employs a figure-of-eight shaped node layout similar to that of retail map ONS-Dawn, which makes for some interesting gameplay twists as the defending team tries to isolate the attackers through controlling the all-important central power node. Brassed is yet another solid, fun Onslaught map.
hal: This map features a pair of stylish looking bases with brass awnings and trim, dropped into opposite ends of a twisting sandy ravine. Overhead, geometric sentinels line the arena, pointing towards the blue sky. It's these very angular outcroppings that draw one of my few gripes with this map. The few that are in the play area do not have vehicle collision detection, allowing the possibility for players to become trapped within. And though very cool, I still haven't figured out what the round doors behind the power cores do. The opening door is a nice effect, but they do not seem to lead to anywhere in particular.
I guess it is personal preference, but I don't think having the Sniper Rifle along the ledge at the top of the base was a great choice. It's not going to be very useful in this map due to the high number of vehicles in the relatively small playing space and it's certainly not worth going out of your way to go get. It seems to me that a better choice would have been an AVRiL.
Overall, a solid map. The look is bright and sharp, the map is just open enough to allow good vehicle play, and the selection of vehicles is appropriate.
Raffi_B: My favorite ONS map of volume 2. The map is exciting and fun, with an excellent node layout and great vehicle placement. The use of terrain and cliff meshes to create variety is excellent, and the end result involves well-defended nodes and high frame-rates. The one complaint I have has to do with the center node. Neither team could hold it for more than 30 seconds. I think this needs to be changed. Taking a node should be about strategy and brute force, instead of being lucky that the enemy isn’t sniping your node from across the map.
Zenny: I like Brassed because it is a large map, but the mountains dapped throughout the map serve to break up the map. The link placement makes the map extremely difficult, and so the majority of games I've played have ended over a battle for the middle link. While this isn't all that bad - it takes away the fun of winning outright.