BeyondUnreal Reviews: UCMP2
UCMP2: CTF (Page 1/2)
![CTF-UCMP2-Campgrounds](http://www.beyondunreal.com/staff/hal/ucmp2/ucmp16_thumb.jpg)
![CTF-UCMP2-Campgrounds](http://www.beyondunreal.com/staff/hal/ucmp2/ucmp17_thumb.jpg)
![CTF-UCMP2-Campgrounds](http://www.beyondunreal.com/staff/hal/ucmp2/ucmp18_thumb.jpg)
CTF-UCMP2-Campgrounds - "Rays of sun gently warm the cold skin of your face, as you look around you mesmerized by the chilly air. The sky looks bright and the birds chirp delightfully. A moment passes, the reflection of a waving flag in your eyes. Time starts to flow again, an enemy is coming your way. Enemy flag carrier is here!"
Author: Slainchild
Dark Pulse: Ah, Campgrounds. Slainchild made probably the finest reproduction for 2k4 of this Quake 3 classic, and who better to make a CTF version of it? He doesn't disappoint. The Flag is where the 50 Shield would be, with the 50 shield moved to a nearby new corner walkway. Flag Carriers have several options of where to go - Down under by the Flak Cannon. The overland route by the Link Gun. Up the steps to the walkway leading to the Rocket Launcher and, from there, either going that way or jumping across to the lightning gun. Fortunately, it's just as easy for you defensive guys to choke them off and get that flag back. Both bases have their own 50 and 100 shields (Where the UDamage used to be) and the UDamage is moved to a new construct in the columns room, where both sides intersect. All in all a solid map, and a great conversion of a great DM map.
8/10
Hal: Slainchild has taken his conversion of the popular Quake3 Campgrounds deathmatch map and stretched it out for the CTF crowd, not unlike Scott 'Goose' McGregor was able to do with DM-Grendelkeep. The difference between that map and this one, is that new pathways were opened up in Grendelkeep to create three distinct routes through the center. The hall of pillars that comprises the center of Campgrounds effectively creates a single center chokepoint and the clusterfuck of differently-angled stairs just exacerbates the problem. I do really like that the author has taken the familiar Campgrounds map and given it a 'decayed' look, complete with hanging vines and a collapsed ceiling. This converted map, just like the ctf conversion of DM-Rankin, just doesn't work so well as a basic mirrored level - it begs to have some tweaking done in the middle.
7/10
Raffi B: I didn’t know whether the popular Campgrounds map could have been converted into a CTF map due to its layout, but I think Slainchild has done the best he could with what he was provided. The divide and the flags were placed in the best place possible (even though it may not be the right place in terms of how CTF maps are usually constructed). I find the center area to be a bit lacking, but as I’ve said there’s not really any other way Slainchild could have done it. I just think this is one of those maps that didn’t need to be converted to CTF, since it doesn’t really work that well. Regardless, Slainchild’s effort is superb. Some of the visuals are enhanced from the DM version, the item placement is good, and there were no real chokepoints.
7.5/10
![CTF-UCMP2-Enlightenment](http://www.beyondunreal.com/staff/hal/ucmp2/ucmp20_thumb.jpg)
![CTF-UCMP2-Enlightenment](http://www.beyondunreal.com/staff/hal/ucmp2/ucmp21_thumb.jpg)
![CTF-UCMP2-Enlightenment](http://www.beyondunreal.com/staff/hal/ucmp2/ucmp22_thumb.jpg)
CTF-UCMP2-Enlightenment - "One solitary island. Two abandoned castles. An endless supply of death. Go forth my brothers and bring your righteous fury to bear on any heretics who would attempt to proclaim themselves kings. For this is the Age of Enlightenment, and there can be only ONE!"
Author: Aaron McCoy
Dark Pulse: Oh man I love this map! First off, a fresh theme - The castles look and feel like castles, and they're separated by a sizable expanse. Weapons and ammo are a little hard to find at first, but once you do you'll have no problem picking them up. Lots of players recommended for this one - 16-24 is the recommended playercount - but at FragBU we had an excellent game with just 10 players that ended with a 3-2 Overtime win. Aaron McCoy simply has a winner - The build is awesome, with nice Terrain work and great placement on atmosphere - it's gray, it's rainy, and feels gloomy and dreary. Morrowind it ain't, but a Great theme + Great gameplay = Great map, pure and simple. Give this a jaunt.
9/10
Hal: It's cool that the castle is based on the real-life Bunratty Castle, but that's not what makes this a good map. Essentially a large terrain map with two smallish castle bases and some strategically placed out-buildings, the routes provide plenty of cover and crossover that make fleeing with the flag a joy. No Face-like sniper-hell and no Maul-ish flak fireworks to spoil the fun. Despite it's size you are never far from something significant. Bravo!
8/10
Raffi B: This one is huge. With relatively even teams, this map can last an hour or more. The layout is basically a large terrain structure with several small bits of castle architecture interspersed around the map. The action was very spread out, but this led to a lot of the areas of the map going underused. I think perhaps the map has too many pathways (not for the flag carrier, but just in general). The weapon placement was good, with the hitscan fairly far apart and plenty of health for the size of this map. The visuals were great, without being overdone. Performance and flow were good also, something that is rare in large open maps like this.
8/10
![CTF-UCMP2-Orcus](http://www.beyondunreal.com/staff/hal/ucmp2/ucmp23_thumb.jpg)
![CTF-UCMP2-Orcus](http://www.beyondunreal.com/staff/hal/ucmp2/ucmp24_thumb.jpg)
![CTF-UCMP2-Orcus](http://www.beyondunreal.com/staff/hal/ucmp2/ucmp25_thumb.jpg)
CTF-UCMP2-Orcus - "Deserted by everything but the playful birds floating on streams of wind, the Orcus mines seem to be bustling with activity still. It's employees have fallen to a terrible fate unbeknowst by the machines with their rambling gears carelessly keep on digging the slowly destabilizing earth..."
Author: Paul ".:ZiO:." Peccia
Dark Pulse: ZiO has a rather good map here. The map takes place in an abandoned mine, and is quite realistic in that regard. Big steam machines, mine carts, a waterfall even. Aesthetically pleasing to look at. And the gameplay isn't a slouch either. There's a bunch of places to the flag, and quite a few of them are rather stealthy. The 100 Armor will be a place for contention in the upper levels, and so will receive a fair bit of traffic, but a FC wishing to go undetected or - hopefully - unmolested will probably favor some of the lower routes. Defense will have a fun time too - there's a strong potential to send combos right at the opponent, and a sly defensemen can hide on the ledge above and behind the flag and lay a full load - but the offense will catch onto this tactic after a try or two. A nice little diversion from the usual sort of CTF we get.
7/10
Hal: The theme is excellent for this underground flag battle. The atmosphere and general shape remind me of Plutonic's CTF-Unearthed, but with more fully realized routes. There is connectivity and crossover literally oozing from this map, so much so that more than a few gamers complained of being lost on our first few test run-throughs. Give it some time and explore it before you play online and I think you'll agree this is a worthy map. A minor complaint includes rather rudimentary "BASE" signs to guide the way, but I guess the author realized that some extra guidance was needed here too.
8.5/10
Raffi B: Great map. Plenty of routes for the flag runner without being overkill. The visuals and theme are excellent, and for the most part there were no flow obstructions or anything of that nature. Some areas were a bit too open though and therefore could be easily defended by someone with a hitscan weapon.
8/10