Episode 2 Geonosis

Description
The Battle of Geonosis was the first conflict of the Clone Wars, which erupted in Star Wars Episode II. The Republic deployed an army of Clone troopers to counter the threat of Dooku and his Confederacy of Independant Systems. This map, Episode II Geonosis, by Elfie911, is a recreation of that battle.

There's a lot of dust on the ground, which will likely cause a lot of lag for those with lower-end systems, but it does recreate the scenes from the movie very well. There's good object placement; I only noticed a couple of floating objects. And the terrain has been built excellently. You'll really feel like you're in the Episode II movie when you play this map.

When you first spawn as one of the sides, you'll either end up on the ground or in one of the capital ships floating above. It's hard to tell which one you're going to start at from the spawn screen. If you're playing the Republic, your [i]Venator[/i]-class capital ship (they didn't have those at Geonosis, did they?) is equipped with a handful of gunships you can use. Spawning on the ground, you'll notice an AT-TE (there may have been more than one, I don't remember) as well as some IFT-X hovertanks. If you choose to take control of the CIS, you can spawn in the [i]Invisible Hand[/i] (which wasn't supposed to be at Geonosis either) and fly droid vulture fighters or Geonosian fighters. On the ground, the only vehicles available to the droids are STAPs. I saw hailfires in the screenshots, but I couldn't find those when I played the map. *shrug* Maybe I just didn't look hard enough.

Elfie911 also created his own sides set-up, which included reskinned clone troopers and ARC troopers for the Republic and a variety of battle droids for the CIS. There's also some hero characters for each side. The Republic has a single saber Jedi and a double-bladed saber Jedi, as well as Episode II Anakin with a green lightsaber. (wait a minute, wasn't he off chasing Dooku during the battle?) Obi-Wan is unlockable through the standard hero rules. Then, on the CIS, you have Count Dooku (with his correct saber; thumbs-up for that) and an acklay. Jango Fett is unlockable as a hero. (but I thought he was already dead?)

Though I enjoyed this map for the most part, it did have some problems worth noting. Firstly, there seemed to be a few problems with planning; I noticed AI getting stuck on rocks, spires, and other objects on numerous occasions. Secondly, the hanger tended to be clumped with AI who couldn't go anywhere because all the ships had already taken off. I'm pretty sure there's an option somewhere in ZeroEdit where you can change the AI spawn weight, so you could put a limit on how many AI spawn in the hangers. Thirdly, the massive amounts of dust and large number of units will likely cause plenty o' lag for lower-end systems. Fourth, the usage of turrets is ridiculous. I'd say keep it to one or two to a Command Post, or less, and place them strategically, instead of just in a circle around the CP. Fifth is the canon-icity, although that doesn't matter as much as other areas. Maybe replace the [i]Invisble Hand[/i] with the [i]Lucrehulk[/i]-class ship, and the [i]Venator[/i] with an [i]Acclamator[/i]. (there's one on GT that has a hanger)

It's a good map, could use a couple of tweaks, but it's still fun to play and it really puts you into the battle shown in the movie. Give it a download if it sounds good or the screenshots entice you, and remember to leave feedback for the author if you download this file, it's how we can help others improve and grow as modders.

-Xavious