I was prepared to try to fight the chopper with the only weapons I had at the time (1 SMG grenade and 3 AR2 plasma balls or whatever–those don’t work, if you wondered). Then I reloaded and found out the right way to do that part.

I also took out the turrets with my lone frag grenade before finding the alternate route. So I reloaded.

From my perspective, this was so good that it felt longer than it was. I didn’t find myself with too much ammo, but there was certainly more than enough health. (I’m not giving it a PIN because it actually is short, and the ending was kind of anticlimactic, as Phillip said.) That said, I’m looking forward to playing more by this author!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53IgNN-lFCE

It feels a little rough around the edges in a few spots, and not all of the ideas were fully developed… but there’s a lot of action packed into relatively short playing time.

All in all, I’m another voice in the “play it now” choir!

For a first map this shows EXCELLENT promise.

I had issues with the lighting affects glaring off of surrounding surfaces and textures; this surely must be down to inexperienced mapping.

The gameplay was adequate if not that challenging with only the helicopter gunship having me worried for awhile; however most of the action takes place in familiar surroundings these being enclosed environment with a few brief glimpses of the outside.

On no account does this map reach any admirable a height of achievements, what we have is simplistic and basic with all the signs of an author learning the trade. This is not to say the map is not worth playing, far from it, I enjoyed the experience and would adverse other to both give it a play through and leave your thoughts.

To the author — more please!

I liked the chopper fight but a skybox (or at least something!) would have done wonders here.

This guy should have waited to release, and kept working on fixing the lighting issues…and adding detail the the area.

If he really learned how to do all this in Hammer in only two weeks, then he undoubtedly has prior experience with other design tools. Not a bad release by any means, but Source requires more attention to detail and much more patience because it can be a slow tiresome process.

There were also a few logical oddities (What was the deal with the moving block in the beginning, I’m not quite sure? Why did the door unlock after I defeated the gunship?)

Anyway, onto the map.

Visuals
The initial prison cell and corridor are really well lit and there is some atmosphere reminiscent of a horror mod. The lighting is a little strange in some places; one chair seems to shine and a few crates are black. These are minor quibbles because overall it’s a very nice looking map.

Once outside the EP2 engine shines and things look great. I did get the feeling that there were too many changes in visual design but I attribute this to want to never make it boring for the player and whilst I currently (notice that the adverb: currently) I do feel it’s something that happens with newer mappers. An experienced mapper should write an essay on how to keep things looking consistent without looking boring.

Gameplay
I have no real complaints about the gameplay but more beta testing was definitely needed. I got stuck in a room once I reached the outside and had to reload. I also felt the strider was too easy. I have kept enough rockets to kill it before I had to fully expose myself.

The section with the mounted turret gun could have been really good but the manhacks almost ruined it. Definitely more use of the area could have been made than was. In fact that should have been the end of the level because by getting me to go through another door I began to suspect/expect more action, and that slight deflation of excitement is what I was left with.

I understand why this was done but felt that Dewkl should have sought help with fading the level after the destruction.

Regular readers may have noticed that often, the more I like a map or mod, the more I seem to complain about it.

Layout and Design
Designing the level before building it, clearly made a difference and besides the visual style changes the layout was interesting enough to keep my curious.

Summary
A really enjoyable map that clearly demonstrates the author has a future as a modder. Working alone is great but going through some for of quality assurance (beta testing) is needed, not matter how good the level is. I can’t praise Dewkl enough and look out for an interview with him on PP soon.