Geonosis: Battlefield

Description
Geonosis: Battlefield, by der_Nachtfalke, despite being [i]another[/i] one of the Geonosis maps we see so often, was certainly enough to pique my interest, in that it did have some interesting tidbits - although they were mostly unrelated to the map itself.

The actual "battlefield" of Geonosis: Battlefield is fairly bland, if not exactly what we've often come to expect from a large, open desert-type area. Complete with requisite Geonosis props, it will feel, pretty much, like at least four or five other maps with the more-or-less same take on the battle. It does have an interesting environmental particle effect, which, combined with the Geonosis dust, makes things look a bit different from normal.

However, most of what is to be found as interesting comes not in the map itself, but in the sides. The first thing you'll probably notice is that your units move differently - much more "sluggishly," although that word does bear a negative connotation which I'm not sure these sides are entirely deserving of. The sluggishness manifests in the units not being able to change direction immediately, and instead having tweaked movement values to the point where it feels like there's some real momentum in unit movement. It was an interesting change, to say the least.

The sides' weapons were a bit different, too. There's the more minimalist approach to sides here (a very simple and class-focused unit setup) which, while having been present in other maps before, is still nice to see every once in a while, simply because it is a bit different. You'll also notice a few different particle effects for the grenade trails and explosions (explosions of all sorts). They're nothing big, but they are a nice change.

Finally, on the more subtle side, you might notice a few sound changes. I noticed changes to the Geonosian's sonic blaster and to the Spider droid's beam weapon, as well as (possibly) the blaster for the Hailfire tank (I'm not sure about that one, though). It's always nice to see some sound work done, and I do like the sound used for the spider droid's beam, especially.

So even though this is a rehash of the same Geonosis battle we've seen before, it still could be worth a download. The map is tired, but there are some changes in the sides worth checking out. Give it a try.

-Mav