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GMD Verdict  

Review of Arachniphobia
"A beautiful map with an achilles heel"
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Map Name   Arachniphobia (arachnid.bsp)
Map Version   12. 3. 1999
Map Author   JexJackL
Web page   Click here.
Download   arachnid.zip (1mb)
 
Reviewer   Grytviken
Reviewed on   Mon May 22 05:25:54 2000
This map earns the GMD Seal of Approval!

Once my favourite map. Arachniphobia pits you in a cargo ship where something went wrong. The problem is that the spiders ate all the cargo, so there is nothing left but a big empty room where they are nesting on a catwalk.

this map VS different classes.
Engi-Why aren't you fighting? if we need an engi we'll call for one.
Breeder-Well you could go stack up to those engines, but they know about that place already. Your best bet is to make tons of gassers right at the beggining. They are durable, handy and waste human ammo like beer on saint pattie's.
Grunt-Easy kills for you here. Don't worry, you won't be a grunt for long.
Hatchy-Hide... If you can grab a stray bite do it, but hide.
ShockT-Not really recomended unless a stinger pops up or something.
Biotech-Be her, you won't your flashlight. If you are running down a hall use the scattergun. Once you are fighting, whip out the ol' pistol.
Drone-When you get a stray frag, i recommend becoming a drone. Mostly due to the up-downess of his agility, and his ease at getting around the level.
Wraith-You won't get to many kills with him, but you could go for the human engi (if there is one) and his turrets.
Kami-Unless you name is Chrono or SirFrags, i don't recomend wasting your hard earned frags on a kami. But then again if six humans are fighting close together or trying to take out eggs, nothing gets the job done better.
HT-Don't, he is pretty usless here. Considering the wastness of the place coupled with the fact that the spider base is on a highrise, don't. Otherwise it would entile shooting at your feet to take out eggs, killing yourself.
Stinger-If you get 3 frags, become a stinger and don't waste time messing around. Head straight for the human base and take it out (ask fr a hatchy escort in case of mines), the stinger is probaly your team's only chance.
Comando-A good choice for this map with his grenades and c4. Just prime your c4 and run straight into the spider base. Begin taking out eggs the standard way, and if you die... there wont be anyone to eat the c4 :)
Guardian-Not a good choice because of the size of the guardable area, but quite practical for infesting bodies.Your choise I guess.
Exterm-Standard killer unit. He kills egg and spiders. Don't go without an escort, or you might loose 4 frags to a hatchy.
Stalker-Why be a stalker when you can be a stinger?
Mech-Same as exterm

Oh well, still one of the best maps IMHO and it merits the GMD seal of approval.


User comments:
Poor spiders. - The_Pyro
If the spiders can drive the humans out of the base, your best bet is t... - Blakhawk [more]
unless of course your not only out to kill eggs then the HT is very usefull ... - hehe [more]

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Average rating for Arachniphobia: 6.1/10

Rate-O-Map™

Total: 46 ratings
 
Textures
Cube Cube Cube

Comment: An example of standard textures put to good use. Kinda of a dark rusting metal feel to it. The lighting is pretty standard for looks, and although it may look spiderish, the lighting is mostly human oriented (ie. they cover the floors the whole waythrough.)

Layout
Cube

Comment: This is where the map sags. The human base, while hard to protect in itself, is rarely in need of infantry defense. Probably because a spider makes it there alive once in a blue moon. The worst part is the spider base. While the idea of making a large metal jungle for spider bases usualy works well. It doesn't in this case, considering all the trees were cut down, leaving a vast open space with no cover for our poor hatchy and his friends. This huge area of nothingness could easily have been avoided with a few prefabs (Columns, crates, cranes, rouble) anything would gives the spiders a small chance. And as far as the hallways are concerned... From a spider's POV patience is the key, otherwise you'll be capped a mile away. They are pretty long, but offer carved sides for cover, the large doorways are prominent thus offering even more protection. Too bad pointage was lost here.

Creativity
Cube Cube Cube Cube

Comment: This is the most kick ass part. Even though a map might look similar, arachniphobia has got so many extras that it beats most in terms of creativity. Starting with the pipe system. Imagine pipes high above, shrouded in darness and covering the whole map. Pretty neat, but the best part is they are travelable! Yes! a small salvation for hatchies who have such a hard time getting around safely in this map. The pipes are somewhat harder to get onto for other spider classes even for a drone. For the humans it is the opposite, really easy to get onto, like a red carpet even. Too bad for the hummans that engies feel it is nececary to cover their end with a turret, making pipe travel impossible. You can always see the turret as a spider so yo just jump off right befor th hummie base. This map also has a couple more extras, like the hummie base that actually looks like a bridge (ship bridge),some walls that were blasted open and a couple of neat expansions. A nice change of pace is an appropriate term.

Overall
Cube Cube Cube

Comment: Great looking map with a different feel. Cappy layout. Humans usually win, save having a kickass player on your [spider] team added to a moron engi.
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