Map reviews

[Crowbar]

Well, I had planned on doing this awhile ago, but the day I took all the screenshots, our FTP server went down. So, it has waited until now. I decided to play a little deathmatch, and I did so on three very fun maps. One, KillBillyBarn is included in the Community Bonus Pack 2, and the other two I downloaded while connected to a random server.

So, lets start the reviews.

 

First, KillBillyBarn. Almost every UT2k4 player has this map already and might not even know it. It is part of CBP2 and is installed along with all the other maps. Find it on your list of Deathmatch maps.

KillBillyBarn is very small, very fast paced and quite different than "normal" UT maps. Even the music is far removed from what you expect. Personally, I laughed out loud upon connecting to the map, having no idea what I was in for.

The setting, is a barn on a farm. The map maker took care to add background for the map, which you can read on the map info screen (hit ESC in game or read it in "Instant Action" setup). There are rusted old pickup trucks, a silo, a tiny pond, a barn and a scarecrow. And while the firefight is raging, you get to listen to a good ole hoedown song.

The construction of the map is well done, as are all the CBP2 maps, but it's really the originality of the map that makes it so much fun. I wouldn't want to play it every day, but this one is definatly worthy of some time.

 

 

 

 

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The second map I played should be instantly familiar to anyone who's ever spent time on a Nintendo 64. Temple. For me at least, when I think back on my limited console experiance, this map is one of the first things that comes to mind. Twenty foot tall ceilings, four foot wide hallways, multiple levels, and that impossible to find passage to the body armor. The only thing this re-make left out was the sliding doors. This is quintesential deathmatch.

 

 

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After playing Temple, the vote went up and a map called Aztec was chosen. I figured this one would be similar to the many UT2k4 maps dealing with the "egyptian" characters and archetecture. Wrong. Upon entering the map I immediatly recognized the gray cobblestones broken by spots of green poking through, the wooden footbridge over a L-shaped river and the strangely placed crate, open on one side and full of what appears to be straw bales. Yes, this was none other than the Aztec I knew and loved so dearly. The very same map on which I spent countless hours frolicking with AWPs and MP5s. Memories of suicide rushes through those unmoving double doors and that footbridge seen through a scope flooded back to me. Memories of a simpler time, when we all only had one game to spend our time playing. Playing this map again, with it's same paths retextured in lush new colors was probably the most fun I've had with UT2004.

We simply must add it to Cuffo.