Thrakia: Oceanic Pass

Description
Thrakia: Oceanic Pass, by bobfinkl, is a large hilly map set nearby the ocean (as you may infer).

Game-play-wise, it bears many of the hallmarks of his recent past work - that is, a focus on high-damage weapons and more "realistic" survival rates. But before I embark on a diatribe against why I think this is a horrible, horrible mistake, I want to take some time to focus on the map itself, because it is a refreshing change of pace from the author's normal style of map.

As you can see from the screenshots, the author went for a decidedly tropical feel with this map. I am a big fan of this kind of scenery, because it lends itself well to being very colorful, and I like well-used color in maps. There's a nice strong contrast between the land, sky, and water. The author also added some tunnels into the map, a la Hoth (in fact they are Hoth tunnels), and while I would like to see something more original used, modelwise (especially since Hoth [i]everything[/i] was used in the tunnels - computer props, etc.), the setup was nice and the A-wing hangar was a fun addition. I'd like to see a little less tiling on the terrain, though - this could be fixed by smaller variations in height.

There were also a number of turrets set up around the island to auto-fire at enemies. It's a neat idea, but not executed well. First of all, it would have been better if the turrets' team changed with the owner of the CP it was by, but even failing that, some of the turrets didn't even [i]start[/i] on the same team as the CP they were by at the beginning of the match (a particularly egregious example were the Imperial-aligned turrets "defending" the Rebel hangar). They also had too generous a firing arc - they should have been adjusted to not fire down in some cases, because I can remember at least a couple turrets that spent the whole match firing into the ground a few meters from where they stood.

Now - the gameplay. First and foremost, I will admit that most of this is a matter of taste. However, before anyone who doesn't necessarily agree with my opinions writes this off as "oh silly Mav there he goes spouting nonsense," keep in mind that there are some underlying things that - even objectively - could be considered legitimate mistakes. (I will point out in advance of objection that I enjoy a challenge, but do not enjoy a task that is divorced from challenge vis a vis removing my control of the situation.)

I haven't made it a secret that I think adding "realism" to a large-team-based-shooter like this is foolhardy, and I stand by that here. Why? Because we don't play games to fail, and death/failure is inevitable in a shootout between two large groups of people with guns. I think the game industry at large would probably agree with me, which is why a majority of shooting games that use any degree of "realism" are focused on smaller squads of soldiers (or even single characters), and none of them take place in big 'ol fields.

Big 'ol fields is my second gripe here. I've mentioned this in a [url=http://starwarsbattlefront.filefront.com/file/Corra_Abyssal_Wasteland;103481]previous review[/url], and it's just as true then as it is now - modern infantry tactics (really anything that uses projectile weapons with any kind of accuracy) depend on not being in big groups of easy targets. This map does not adhere to that line of thinking. It's very open, with little cover, and no matter how much care you take, you can't get anything done (like capturing a CP) without dying multiple times. (See above, where "we don't play games to fail.") I don't mind being punished for making legitimate mistakes, but frankly it's just an exercise in frustration when I'm forced to turtle if I want to live ('Come with me if... no wait stay right where you are for the next half-hour if you want to live!")

Speaking of halves-of-an-hour, it may take in excess of that to play through, because in addition to all the fun of beating your head against a wall, you have in excess of a thousand enemy AI to get through before you can finish (or if you're lucky, only just less than 1000!). Why in the...? The battle moves at a snail's pace anyway, due to the large size of the map and the near-futility of trying to capture owned CPs; there's no reason to make it last that long by default. If I really wanted to play it for that long (and believe me, I didn't), I'd play it twice (I did - obligated to, though).

All that is not to simply bash the map. I think it's a nice design, and while I will never appreciate any kind of attempts at realism in a game like this, I understand some do enjoy it. However, even given that, there are some things that could be fixed. It ought to:

-Have cover
-Be smaller
-Have fewer reinforcements
-Have cover (argh the fields every time)

...and of course there are some mapping tweaks that could be made (e.g. the turrets). All in all, it's a decent map that you should try, I just can't recommend it as being any level of what I would call "fun." And after all, isn't fun what we're here for?

-Mav