by peagle
wednesday november 2nd, 2005
It's been over a year since CS-Source launched, and yet the public beta seems only days ago whenever I find myself transported to poor de_dust. Ah yes, dust 24/7... for months! I recall it quite well indeed. For a week, we were captivated like Victorian children just by rolling a tire down the ramp, watching ragdolls spoon, and seeing for the first time, just how dusty dust was (83.4%). Then, like the inevitable restroom break after Taco Bell, simple pleasures turned to burning pain.
"Rush left.. for the love of god and all that is holy.. together.." was a radio command I began to sorely miss as each round began. On the CT side, a calming "ready to butcher the Terrorists, team?", would have worked equally well. Now, maps don't have to be balanced to be fun, but after four thousand rounds, players need to believe there are other routes and strategies that don't end with their brain juice on the wall.
[ad]And then.. November... Freedom. The SDK came out, the handcuffs came off, and like Rand McNally discovered meth we were flooded with maps. Many were — to be kind — so dreadfully constructed you wanted to find the maker, load up hammer, and then beat them to death with a hammer. But some.. some were.. special, they were playable, they took what was good and made it better, and some.. some were spectacular, completely new and original in design.
Now, a year later, there's a whole map-sack(TM) full of great custom maps out there, deserving of your attention and your playtime. To answer the call of that mighty sack comes CSN's new series of map review articles, where we appraise the best of the best, and in the coming weeks host them, should you be unwelcome anywhere else.
With this plethora of excellence however, came the problem of what to review first. Hostage or defuse? Fight yard or ..er.. surf? A ported custom from 1.6 or something entirely new? In the end, there was no right answer, so I picked one that reminded me of a vacation where I got lucky.
Created by Magikus & Stard00d
spawn points: 40
size: 26.5MB (uncompressed)
Bright. Very bright. That's probably the first thing you'll think when you spawn on Lost Temple. Of course, as almost everyone plays with the gamma correction set to supernova, you may want to revisit your settings before proceeding. Bright by design of course, because authors Magikus and StarD00d originally planned on a dust style map, before evolving the theme into something more tropical.
Set in an archeological site somewhere in South America, Lost Temple finds those crazy terrorists once more trying to blow up historic artifacts before the western school kids can get there and take rubbings. There may be more to the narrative than that, but given no one reads map plots anyway, I'll skip to the interesting stuff.
Once your eyes have adjusted, you'll be quickly taken in by how handsome this map is. Boasting 50 custom textures (about 70% of the total), every area of this map is a visual feast of Pavarottion magnitude. From Mayan etchings, sacred curses to Aztec calendars, there's always a pleasing cornucopia of ancient stonework to splatter your blood across. Ambient sounds too are well implemented (if mostly default), from the birds, insects and rushing water outside to the ominous breathing of the wind in the temples and tombs.
Truly it's a great map to take a stroll around, exploring the details and poking about the buildings. Unlike Aztec, which it will inevitably be compared with - thanks to the setting - you can access all the temples and even walk up the sides of them to a snipers delight. Of course, the map does indeed borrow from Narby's; the bridge is a descendant of the wooden version introduced in 1.6, and the swamp-like waterway is directly comparable to the source Aztec.
How is the map different from Aztec? Read on for more info and plenty of screenshots![ad]However, where this map differs from Aztec, and where it really shines, aside from beautiful textures and models, is in balanced design. Aztec is a formidable scrim map, but there can be no doubt in anyone's mind, that it's decidedly CT sided. Lost Temple is, above all things a map that strives at every corner to provide balance.
From either spawn, there are no dead ends, no points at which you're out of options, no definite kills. Without being overly complicated, there are always alternate routes, different choke points to attempt and places to defend. After hours of playtime, it is my humble opinion that neither side has the upper hand.
There's no magic behind creating a layout like this, the authors placed the emphasis on heavy play testing in early development, and it shows. Like any new map you may be lost at first, but thanks to thoughtful and creative design making every area easily identifiable, learning the map won't take more than an hour of playtime. Quite simply, it's a joy to play, over and over again. Indeed if Valve had led the beta with lost temple, I'd like to think I could still play it today, compared with the savage boredom spawning on dust now induces.
While we're talking playability and design, this is a very clean map. So clean in fact, it feels like a slice of Disneyland. Signposts to each site are clearly marked in fun font #9234, and there's no litter, indeed no extraneous props at all. While I could dedicate an entire article to the pros and cons of barrels and their physical ilk, this isn't the place. All that needs to be said is the authors decided to make a map with little clutter leaving the player to focus on the enemy rather than what might get thrown in their path.
| (http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/image.php?id=39480) image: http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/content/t_image_39480.jpg
Wait, this isn't the Wisconsin Dells!
| (http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/image.php?id=39481) image: http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/content/t_image_39481.jpg
Bombsite B, it's where the boxes are at.
| (http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/image.php?id=39482) image: http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/content/t_image_39482.jpg
Terrorists rush in, eager for a steamy bath.
|
| (http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/image.php?id=39483) image: http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/content/t_image_39483.jpg
Lost temple? More like found temple! Oh, I'm such a card.
| (http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/image.php?id=39484) image: http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/content/t_image_39484.jpg
A terrorist blowing up an Aztec calendar, as is his wont.
| (http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/image.php?id=39485) image: http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/content/t_image_39485.jpg
Fancy explosions won't save you now.
|
To summarize, what we have here is a wonderful map. A marriage of visual appeal and well planned layout that make it endlessly playable; welcome in any rotation. I recommend you terminate your BitTorrent clients and download this before the RIAA can complete the trace. But who am I to say, it's time to post your review (http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/comments.php?id=8084), comment box-style. Download the map from the link below!
related links- (http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/files/maps/de_losttemple.zip)Download map!
post comments @ http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/comments.php?id=8084
—peagle, send feedback to jimmyego@yahoo.com
Written for CS-Nation - http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.comall content ©1999-2004 by John 'rizzuh' Jensen, unless otherwise noted. all rights reserved.
