Map review of Osprey Down

by hydeph | October 8, 2006 | 3430 characters

I recently had the pleasure of playing a Best of Map Showcase gem, sc_opd, generously hosted by Venom. Made by Mr.Me, Osprey Down features both arena style combat and walkthrough style twists and turns to keep you interested.

Architecture/Textures

Right. Well the map has a very nice Middle Eastern/desert theme,with matching desert camouflage grunts. As far as architecture and texture usage/alignment is concerned, this is top-notch. Everything flows from the spawn,and the entire map fits together well. From the market style carpet awnings to the simple arches and the foliage and derelict objects, Mr.Me has created a nice environment for dropping lead into some faces. I spotted few if any texture issues, once again everything just fits together. It's a believable atmosphere and that really helps immerse you.

Sound/Ambiance

I didn't really notice the background sound, infact I had to check my folders to see if sound files were even included! The flamethrower grunts could have had some sound replacement going on, and I've never heard a human make noises like that before.

Originality

When it all boils down OPD is a good, fun walkthrough map with a nicely made albeit overused desert theme. It would have been nice to see some more interesting NPC sequences, soldiers calling for help, dying and such.

Gameplay

Speaking of which, the only fault in the gameplay is the overly powerful snipers, which tend to become a nuisance as there are a good 10-20 male assassins located in the map. On the other hand the snipers really hold up the pace of the fighting, and players tend to progress slower throughout this particular map. This can obviously be changed by adjusting the skill.cfg, but I'm too lazy and I can bear with dying. The flamethrower grunts are really cool and work well, with some errors (such as the green blood and sounds). I also deeply love the NPC respawn and reinforcements, they really make the entire map feel much more military, once again with the environment.

Monster/Item Placement

This was a tough cookie to give a rating to. The spawn can be argued both ways, negative and positive. The spawn is COVERED in male assassins and human grunts and it's real challenge to clear it out. Luckily there is a SAW grunt there to help you out. Ammo is also spread out nicely, with a few pickup guns here and there. Snipers are located throughout in clever little spots that'll probably make some of you fume out the ears. I think there could have been a couple more human grunts during the last arena battle, but it's pretty tough as it is now.

Overall

This map is definitely a good play. The only lost points are the lack of help in the spawn and the powerful snipers. I suggest you play with 4 or 5 people, that makes things nice and even, without the run through pace of regular public servers (thank you male assassins). The only thing holding the rating back is that the map is kind of short,and by the time I got really interested we beat it.

Pros: