Tatooine: Tuskencamp

Description
Color me impressed. Very impressed. Judging by name, Tatooine: Tuskencamp might sound like your generic Tatooine map. It isn't. Not only is the map's design phenomenal, it features cool game modes and lots of other goodies.

First off, the design of the map is nearly impeccable. Rather than sticking with the limited selection of Tatooine props the author decided to get creative and transformed some of the Kashyyyk huts with a simple yet effective retexturing, helping the Wookiee structures fit right into the Tatooine setting. The map is the perfect size: neither too big nor too small. The action stays centered in the middle of the map without spreading or clumping too much, and players don't have to run for miles to get to the battle. The rocks and other various props provide plenty of natural cover so that you aren't out in the open shooting at everything you can before inevitably getting gunned down by a flurry of laser fire. There are a total of four CP's, two per team, each of them well-placed and evenly spaced out. Buildings and other props are also placed perfectly and you can tell that some time and meticulous detailing went into this map. Now the reason that I say the map is nearly impeccable is simply because of some spots where the ground texture is a little patterned and the Republic CP's are a little harder to conquer than their Sith/CIS counterparts'. Other than this, the map is flawless.

Conquest features the KOTOR and CW era. The Tusken Raiders, for once, seem to work along with one of the teams: the Republic (in both eras). I'm not sure why they're cooperating with anyone but I was a bit too mesmerized by the map to care. The KOTOR sides aren't much different than what you've seen in other maps, though there might be some tweaks here and there. The CW sides are customized and feature some cool new skins and units. Two original heroes are included -- a Bothan Jedi and some sort of Sith Lord. Also included in both eras (and all game modes, I believe) are custom sounds as well as custom laser effects, which was a very nice touch. I suppose the only downside to that is that it fattens up the file size, but whatever. This map is worth it. Although for the most part I like the new lasers, sometimes they looked a little too thick and almost seemed cartoonish but that's just my opinion. Conquest is fun to play -- the new stuff makes it interesting and the map's ideal size and ticket count keeps the battles from dragging on or lasting only a few minutes. It's highly replayable, which is a huge plus for any map.

What really sealed the deal for me was the addition of some kinda "laser tag" mode. I didn't know what the title of the mode meant at first (I think it's in German or something...) but once it started up a large grin spread across my face. The game kicks off with some rock music as Tuskens and Magna Guards run into battle with some cool newly-modeled guns. I still didn't know what I was playing, but I knew I was going to like it. As soon as the first Magna Guard came into my sights I fired my gun and the droid was instantly obliterated by a single, fine laser. That's when it hit me... "Oh my God. This is laser tag. Oh my God!" The rest of the match was fun, but once I got the hang of it it became rather easy. However AI can only provide so much of a challenge, and I'd imagine that this game mode is intended to be played online against other human players. Ooh, that sounds fun!

All in all, this is an excellent map that I encourage everyone to download. It's always nice to see a high quality map, however what truly sets one apart from the others is when the author goes that extra mile to make it not only great, but one of a kind.

~Era