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GMD Verdict  

Review of Satan's Phantasmagorial Lethe
"A map with great visuals, but perhaps a bit too large..."
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Map Name   Satan's Phantasmagorial Lethe (satan.bsp)
Map Version   07/13/01
Map Author   {GZ}Monster-[Soup]
Download   satan.zip (1.94mb)
 
Reviewer   Saig
Reviewed on   Sun Aug 19 23:32:41 2001
This map earns the GMD Seal of Approval!

Im not even bothering to type out the name all the way, so lets just call the map SPL. It comes from Monster, from clan GZ, and if you didnt know that before booting the map up, you will know instantly from the gargantuan GZ logo that pops up at the start of the map. :)

I cant help but like the architecture around this map. Everything connects well, and detail is established with a "bordering" technique that I find quite attractive. Bordering conists of outlining a brush with more brushes, which are textured to contrast the texture of the brush they are outlining. It works very well in my opinion. Lighting is bland for the most part. Yellow ambient lighting covers about 3/4 of the level, but a few areas consist of nice blue lighting with great architecture, and add some variety. Textures may not have been aligned perfectly, but the bordering makes up for that.

The layout is gargantuan, and incredibly confusing at first. I must have run around for 10 minutes, passing by the same pillar with creepy music about 5 times over. Frustrated the hell out of me, but once memorized, its pretty easy to navigate. One thing that bugged me was the fact that the map layout looked semi-rushed. Im sure there was a solid foundation for the layout, but a lot of the side paths looked like they were thrown in to provide more ways around the map. Sure, they do help you get around the level, but none of them are really effective. There are usual chokepoints, and the paths do nothing to help you get around them. They do, however, help out when trying to confuse a persuing attacker, which is a good thing. All in all, its not a bad layout, just needs some chopping up.

The r_speeds were divine. Such a large map, you might expect to have serious slowdown, but it runs flawless, even on a low-end system such as my own. Any slowdown is to be blamed on e_poly counts really. Im pretty sure this is Monster's first map, and seeing as how he actully payed attention to the r_speeds puts me at ease, and leaves me looking forward to what Monster has in store for us if he continues mapping.

SPL is of decent quality for a first map honestly. Playing it might become a chore, as most of the time the games drag on to time limit, but thats namely because of the balance the map provides. Long stretches for Humans to spray gunfire down, and an exhausting ammount of corner for Spider to launch surprise attacks from. Filled to the brim with relocation opportunities, but a tough map to play that will provide long games if both teams have dedicated players. Some chopping of the level would be nice, but overall its a superb map to add to your collection.


User comments:
Nice map, a tad weird, but makes for good games. - Cataclaw
Fantastic architecture sets this map out from the rest. Gameplay is o... - ComeToFragy [more]
the music makes me want to....*squirt*ohh yea.. - PeSTiCiDE
Fantastic architecture my ass. The whole level's architecture is so homogen... - Sejii [more]
Oh god thats sick Pesticide... - Saig
seems like im one of the few people that enjoy that map...even though i ... - Xenocide [more]
Woot! go stupid cool map! - Devil Warrior
OOOHH! Take it easy on fello clanmate eh SaiG? - {DaRk}Defiler
Besides Monster felt it totally nessasary to ridicule my mapping s... - {DaRK}Defiler2 [more]
I dont suppose it has anything to do with gloom instead of fragy be... - [BBG]Knuckles [more]
[O]{DaRk}Defiler: monster cool map....[O]{DaRk}Defiler: you are a better m... - laa~~~ [more]
Hey! Someone made a deathmatch map for Gloom and it sucks! - HOB
i like it... only shit that looks like a dm map... - ReD DraGoN
monster is an idiot. - Echon
fan-taz-mag-or-ick? is that a word? yeah uhh... i am the master of confusi... - Ranger [more]
Fantastic map, flowed perfectly for lightspeed hatchies (in the day), plen... - Godmil [more]
http://www.ringtones-dir.com/download/ download ringtones. nokia ... - free ringtones [more]
http://www.ringtones-dir.net/get/ ringtones site. [URL - ringtones free
FUCK YES I WANT FREE RING TONES...wtf, think we got spammers.maps a 7. id pu... - Kain [more]

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Comment on this review:

Average rating for Satan's Phantasmagorial Lethe: 4.7/10

Rate-O-Map™

Total: 43 ratings
 
Textures
Cube Cube Cube

Comment: Cant complain about the textures. The entire level had a set theme, and stuck with it constantly. Although, I found myself running in circles half the time, and some areas were frankly quite boring to look at.

Layout
Cube Cube Cube

Comment: The layout is quite decent, but its TOO much layout. There are tons of ways to get around the level, which leads to confusion. Hell, even after memorizing the layout it was confusing to run around in.

Creativity
Cube Cube

Comment: Contains some nice ambient music and sound effects, both of which contribute to the map's name. But, it just gets kind of boring running around and seeing the same thing all the time.

Overall
Cube Cube Cube

Comment: Not too shabby. Games tend to get hectic, but balanced, and it seems fair for both teams. I dont know what the name is supposed to suggest, but nice job Monster.
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