[ Rating ]
Design = 9
Flow = 8
Balance = 6
Textures = 9
Overall = 8.00
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"...originally
intended for Shambler's 'Back To Nature'
Q1 mapping competition..."
About
three years ago, an author by the name of
Matt Sefton came out with a base-style
map called "Jawbreaker". It was one
of the few Quake maps at the time that
featured support for transparent water;
and its traps and large monster melees
hearkened back to the days of Doom.
A user could quickly find himself
overwhelmed by the Grunts, Enforcers, and
dogs that lay in wait around nearly every
corner. It still stands as one of the
most intense single-player levels ever.
Fast
forward to today. What Jawbreaker did for base-style
levels, Precipice Continuum (a telling
but rather odd name) does for outdoor
ones. In fact I could almost call this
"Jaw-buster". The map is not
really functional in an architectural
sense (although it has some awesome-looking
Roman-style design); it just serves as a
backdrop for the gauntlet of monsters the
player must fight through. Yes, there are
over 100 monsters on this level even on
Normal. There are a few Scrags and Ogres
here and there, but the majority of the
monsters are the really tough ones found
later on in the regular game: Vores,
Shamblers, Fiends, and Barons. Even just
a few of these guys can quickly do you
in, but in this map you could literally
end up fighting a dozen of them at once.
Courage must be your sword, grasshopper.
It's hard
to know how to play this map. Ammo is
abundant here, but health is very scarce.
Prudence would dictate carefully picking
your engagements and fighting from long
range, but it robs you of the certain
evil smile you get whenever you can get
the monsters into each other's line of
fire. And with so many of them on this
map, it's not that hard to do. But if you
want to actually make it to the
end of this level, I recommend prudence
over charging blindly ahead. Unless of
course, you're in GOD
mode...
[ top ]
As the
name of the level suggests, there are
plenty of precipices that you must fight
on, in, and under. It makes the level
very interesting, but very hair-raising.
If you are high up, you need to always be
mindful of a potential nasty fall; but
when you are at ground level, the
creatures up high can rain a ton of bad
news down on your head. This level seems
to delight in making you feel pretty much
screwed no matter where you are.
As you can
tell, I spent a lot more time talking
about the gameplay than about the design.
The layout of the map is pleasing to the
eye, and crafted so to make the combat
all the more difficult. There are some
new textures in use here and as I
mentioned it tends to make one think of
ancient Roman or Greek ruins. You can
take some really cool screenshots with
this map. But also as mentioned, the
architecture is designed for heightening
the intensity of combat, not
funcionality, so you will notice that the
map is very linear, with very few
shortcuts. It's all about busting your
jaw.
Overall,
I'd say the map is worth getting. It's
the kind of level that you bring up and
marvel at what can still be done with the
Quake engine, but when it comes to actual
gameplay, only masochists need apply.
Recommended, with provision.
Level
Created by Tim Elek
Please
visit the authors site :
Tertiary Concepts
Review by Zoopster
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