Saint Lo

Description
[b][u]Saint Lo[/u][/b] (2p)- ShizzlePizzle

A large 1v1 with a maze-like arrangement of hedgegrows, and the outskirts of a city in the east corner. The map is basically the antithesis to a chokepoint map.

[b]Technical[/b]

3 Victory points
4 Low Munitions
2 Medium Munitions
2 High Munitions
6 Low Fuel

62 Munitions
30 Fuel

This map is a bit low on resources in general. I believe the author was trying to promote more infantry use through the limited amount of fuel, but it's tough to even tech up as Axis with such low fuel.

As for the other tech aspects, there is no loading or save/replay picture included. There is an OOB, but it seems barren in some spots (Around the city area), while well done in others (Everywhere else). There is no horizon mesh present, making the map edge clearly visible. Finally, there are several chunks with more than three textures (Thankfully, there's never any with more than 4 IIRC).

[i]Technical[/i]- [b]6/10[/b]

[b]Balance[/b]

I can't say I could find anything especially detrimental to balance. There's no deviation in map style across the map, so there's no real potential for imbalance in that case. The map points themselves are 'mirrored', keeping the potetial for imbalance in that regard null. The low fuel might make it tough for Axis players to tech up, but that's more to do with the design of the Axis than of the map. All in all, no serious imbalances to report!

[i]Balance[/i]- [b]10/10[/b]

[b]Design/Quality[/b]

Absolutely gorgeous. I love how detailed this map is, as it fits right in with Relic level detailing. Plenty of splats & splines are present everywhere, with effective blending to make everything fit. The destroyed urban area also looks very nice. The atmosphere of the map is also very nice, with the area having a sort of 'dusty' feel to it. It actually kinda reminds me of Lyon in that respect. My only gripe here is how undetailed the OOB area around the city edge is; you'd expect it to lead into a thick, urban environment, but there are almost no buildings outside the playable area in that location, destroying the immersion if you pan the camera around that area. :(

[i]Design/Quality[/i]- [b]9/10[/b]

[b]Fun Factor[/b]

I found this map a blast to play. Some people might be turned off by the lack of chokepoints, but I actually found that to make the map very enjoyable, especially with heavy infantry use. Flanking becomes very important in the large, maze-like hedgegrows, making for some interesting infantry wars. Of course, the low fuel combined with the large map size & generally undirected map flow made the game last a bit longer than normal, and there seemed to be more focus on pockets of fighting than huge, epic battles, and the low fuel means that there are fewer tanks roaming around. Even so, I found the whole thing to be quite fun.

Shizzle is obviously a great mapmaker, and I'd love to see him release more maps with the anti-chokepoint theme. It makes for a fun, unique CoH experience. :)

[i]Fun Factor[/i]- [b]8/10[/b]

[b]OVERALL[/b]
6+10+9+8=33/4=

[b]8.25/10[/b]

[i]Reviewed by Finalizer0[/i]