Bridge Lockdown (sm221_mrtaufner) is an uncomplicated run along a bridge with several gated sections. I enjoyed it well enough, but found it a bit under-populated and over-provisioned, so the whole thing was rather a romp rather than an adventure.
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overall_rating
4.153846153846154
26
Plum Pylons (sm221_omni) is a get-as-high-up-as-you-can map with some well-graded challenges as you make your way upwards, and with plenty of opportunities for creative retreating and sniping. Visually it’s all a bit one-note, which made it hard for me to know exactly where I was among all the similar-looking towers. I actually quite enjoyed how I was able to win the final massive battle for the loss of almost no health just by keeping my distance. Nice.
I really enjoyed Knight Shrine (sm221_pinchy), partly because it’s such a nice change be outdoors in the sunshine, and in a relatively pleasant environment. This is one of those maps that does more with less, almost all the action taking place in and around a circular tower whose affordances provide plenty of opportunity for fighting smart. I was able to get all 75 kills, despite missing all four secrets, with carefully managed infighting playing a part in that. It’s physically small — it could almost be a 1024^3 map — but uses the space so well that it feels more substantial.
Viaduct Athena (sm221_riktoi) is another sunny outdoor map, this time with the goal of making it across a broad viaduct. This is another map where tactical retreating makes all the difference, and I was able in particular to make very good use of the barricade across the middle of the bridge. My only real quibble is that it took me a long while to realise what had happened when I was told that the bull gate had opened. (It’s that the four pillars supporting the superstructure had all opened, giving access to wind-tunnel things that take you up on to the superstructure.) Nice.
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The pack is rounded out by You Shall Not Overpass (sm221_shades), a welcome change in genre as we find ourselves in a modern urban setting with the goal of reaching and crossing an overpass. I found most of this pretty enjoyable, though I could really have done without the three-spawn-in-front, three-spawns-behind ambush. My biggest regret is that the map doesn’t provide a way to get up on top of the overpass that passes over the overpass. But most enjoyable, nonetheless.
All of this means that the pack as a whole easily scores five stars, and HMC’s map would probably have been that alone were it not for the stupid bouncing shambler. A truly great speedmap pack, up there with plenty of the actual jams. What a time to be alive!
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