Epic UT 2003 Bonus Pack One Review
By: TwrecksBowling for MapsIs not maps what Bonus packs are all about? With ten maps of 4 flavors this pack hits solid leaving nothing to spare. 2 pics per level are provided above each run down for you sight hounds.
BR-Canyon by Warren Marshall. Featuring a Techno beat ogg. Best with new -sexy- announcer. 32 player starts in kiddie pools identified in the Ued2 grid shot as the four round white spots. The Antalus spike is obvious, hanging team banners, and a large MyLevel set skinned with the CliffTest Textures comprises the visuals. A simple layout, river in the middle with near symmetric brush placement. The fast track to victory is to fire the ball over barriers in front of goals and trans-chase. Basically a cliff walled flat terrain map with mesh barriers as seen in the second pic courtesy of Ued3. I was suprised that this was the only Bombing Run map included as this gametype has become very popular.
CTF-Avaris by Jim Brown, Jean Rochefort and Scion Studios. 2 fort with chasm of doom seperating the opposing Egyptian facades. Routes circle each side of the pit and a central temple houdes the greater artifacts of war. 24 player starts plus all your Egyptian style meshes in addition to the BP_egyptnew set, of course the appropriate glyph rich textures paint the decor. An over view taken in the Editor gives a clear indication of the symmetrical layout.
CTF-DoubleDammage by Warren Marshall. Well we know where the power for DM-Injector came from. CTF-DoubleDamage is a superbly realized hydro-electric plant. No man's land is the awesome central wier, complete with turbulant white water exiting the spill gates. Unfortunatly, the outside will bog the FPS just as dramatically as the scenary overwelms the senses. 40 player starts. HumanoidArchitecture textures are predominant. Multiple industro-tech mesh sets are used. RL room is reminescent of DM-Asbestos that premiered in TEH DEMO.
DM-1on1-Crash by Paul Fahss. Rectangular BSP trimmed in a metal mesh shopping mall. 2 levels with lifts, stairs, and jump pads. Reminiscent of the bowels of a giant space ship that when they built the place forgot to put in any doors to this arena. SG_LO_meshes & Shiptech textures. Lots of misalignments (don't translate) around the corners. Some are hidden by meshes or shadow, unattended ones are abhorant. Able to handle smaller player loads with 16 player starts. I would recommend a max of 4 to keep this crash in control.
DM-1on1-Mixer by Sidney "Clawfist" Rauchberger. Multi-Z lightly decorated with meshes. Humanoid Hardware meshes, mixed with cement and rust. 18 player starts inside the heavy steel reinforced concrete construction of unknown industrial purpose. The entire level feels securly anchored to the surface of some far off planet. To find out what gets processed here is players, a quick wash down gets it ready for the next pair of combatants. This map is too big for the 1 on 1 moniker, gets better when used for Team Deathmatch upto 8 players with weapons stay.
DM-IceTomb by Chris Perna, CliffyB and Warren Marshall. A lot of brush work here, 216 to be precise. A heavy atmosphere of freezing wet, beware of the waters they're icy touch is as deadly as the weapons neatly strewn about this tomb. Primarily reskinned cp_wasteland meshes the lack of contrast though awe inspiring mutes gameplay along with some overly steep stairways. 16 player starts covers larger numbers of contestants readily. Unfortunatly leaves a cold R-C-R (room-corridor-room) taste as filtered out by the zone view above.
DM-Injector by Jeremy "Faceless" Graves (map courtesy of Ion Storm) This level pulsates with blue light. Perhaps a Power grid relay station best describes the theme. Multiple embedded pressure vessels with their oval shaped hatches bely the dangerous capacitance of this level. 14 player starts prevent spawn killers from over-powering gameplay. A containment bay for docking what must be highly volatile energy cells can be seen while exploring the map. Concrete and steel grate textures liberally applied with black and yellow caution tape further enforce the danger for mayhem. cp_Mechstaticpack1 is the predominant mesh pack used for the Ued minded.
DM-IronDeity by Chris Perna and CliffyB. A large industrique, looping map with ramps, 3 lifts and plenty of Z. 3 teirs hold the 6-10 recommended players. Mainly cp_Mechstaticpack1 and few meshes from the CP_UT2K3_TechSetMesh1, G_Finalset1_M_CP and cp_Evil3 sets give Iron Deity its status. 17 player starts total make it team deathmatch friendly. The zone view from the editor shows streamlined build, minimal fluff and maximum drive.
DM-Rustatorium by Alan Willard. 16 player starts in a pile of refuse seems to be a good idea for a map. To achieve that add AW_Junk, AW_RustMeshes,and LP_Junk custom mesh sets. Junky indeed, with no large areas making the sniper rifle a liability and the 8 ball, sorry, Rocket Launcher lord. Ued3 overview pic is included to impress the dump like setting. Visuals are a premium here, as will any additions to you make to this bone yard in way of giblets.
DOM-Junkyard by Alan Willard. The only DOM map in the pack, a rippling terrain map with Mesh barriers hides 16 player starts. Spawning on seperate sides of the map Red near the A control point and Blue near the B. Dominating the level are the AW texture sets and AW-Junk mesh set (includes a wrecked bulldog). Litter liberally with LP_Evil & LP_Junk, among others, and this trash heap is worth its weight in scrap. The only trash I could dig up was the round scaffolds around the CPs were not easy to negotiate, then again this made them easy to defend with a Shock Rifle provided you could find one. The Ued overview is to illustrate how the routes circumnavigate the map even though the two CPs are close together in the middle.