BeyondUnreal Reviews: UCMP2
UCMP2: DM (Page 3/3) & The Final Verdict
DM-UCMP2-Thebes - "Built by slaves of kings, this structure once played host to ancient battles of the long forgotten desert warriors."
Author: Steve Keene
Dark Pulse: While I'm not a very big fan of Egyptian-themed maps (I cut my teeth on UT, dammit! Dark and Gritty all the way!) this one is simply too good to not take notice of. The level flows real nice, the theme isn't used to overkill - there's just the right texturing and mesh placement. A good map for you survivalist types - health is definitely going to be hard to grab, whether you're doing a Fatal Four-Way or a Super Six. I can see lots of fights in that 100 Shield area, so watch out if you're going to try to swipe it from a foe's nose - you just might meet up with the Blue Combo of Doom! All in all, Steve Keene scores a nice double kill here, and a delightful change from most Egypt maps. If only they were all like this, I might like the theme more!
8/10
Hal: Steve Keene is two for two. Awesome map for small numbers. The Egyptian theme is a little long in the tooth, but I don't think I'd care if it wasn't even textured...
8/10
Raffi B: Some places the layout was a bit awkward with some flow obstructions, but other than that a clean and fast-paced map. The weapon placement was decent, although I would have liked to see the powerful weapons in more open areas of the map.
7.5/10
DM Overview: The DM maps are all solid. They all fit well, provided you play them right, and all have quite excellent work, from build, to theme, to flow. There's definitely some of the finest maps here yet for the game. Adamantium is a faithful remake of the original, Churn has that "Death around the Corner" feel, Dynarak is just loaded on atmosphere and immersion, Hieron is a tricker's Valhalla, Saiko simply rules in all areas, Taron has that oldschool vibe, and Thebes proves that Egypt-theme maps can kick ass without being ostentatious on the theme. Solid section of a solid pack.
Final Verdict: The sequel that bests the original! Overall, the pack is quite good. The Assault map is fresh, the BR map is decent, VCTF has a new "must-play" map, CTF makes a strong showing, and DM stronger still. In the end, UCMP2 is a fine addition to UT2004 for most players, and it has maps everyone should give a spin. The final score is held down a fair bit by one lousy CTF map, and two rather iffy DDOM maps. If you don't really care about those, then by all means, this pack is absolutely wonderful, and a must-play. The DM and CTF portions make up the bulk of the bundle and, appropriately enough, have some of the most enjoyable level designs.