UnrealSP.orgUSP-04, "Temple of Somana" by Drevlin and Frieza
Story
Not much of a story to get interested in here. We really had to check the few available translator messages to discover what we were supposed to be doing! You enter the temple of Somana finding humans that haven’t made it. You journey takes you to the Skaarj security outpost Thèta 2F, which guards the entrance to the valley of Shia’Dorle. I guess you know what to do?
Creatures and Items
Weapons acquired: DP Powerup, ASMD, Automag.
Enemies encountered: Tentacle, Devil Fish, Skaarj, Krall, Brute.
Architecture
The first two thirds of the map consist of classic Unreal temple architecture that stays very true to the original. It is all low poly, and makes for a smooth journey from a to b. The temple of Somana is well built, but I can’t help feeling that I’m playing a single player campaign in a temple originally designed for deathmatch. The surrounding mountain walls are average, and at times below that. Mountains are not now, nor will they ever be square! There is one wall close to the water just before you see the Skaarj facility that is just horribly cubic. Unfortunately that one sloppy build draws attention away from all the good ones. All in all the architecture is sound and is influenced by earlier original and custom Unreal temples. For some this is a good thing, since they’ll feel right at home, while others might want to see more groundbreaking stuff.
Score: 7
Texturing
Using the textures from Gen.Earth.utx mixed with Ancient.utx gives the outside/temple areas an authentic Unreal feeling. The Skaarj facility does the same, using textures from Skaarj.utx. The inside of the facility was perhaps the highlight of the map, as it seemed the mappers had used more detail here then anywhere else. There were no major flaws, but some misaligned textures inside the Skaarj facility, and the texturing of the running stream was not pulled of convincingly. It would have been easy to add a small dam of some sorts or some reservoirs to cover up the areas were different pans collided, and also were the stream starts and stops.
Score: 7
Lighting
It’s not hard to see that Drevlin has been doing the lighting. And that is meant as a compliment. Very good and clever use of coloured lights all over the map, and at times it oozes atmosphere. The temple has some eye-catching blue/purple lighting, and when you examine the ground, you’ll discover that the light keeps changing colour in subtle nuances. There are two lights in the running stream that does not appear to have any visible sources, but that is easily forgiven.
The only real complaint is with some of the lens flares inside the Skaarj facility. When you enter the first corridors it is too easy to spot the flares floating in the air.
Score: 8
Sound
Good use of ambient sounds both outdoors, and inside the temple ruins and the Skaarj facility. The outdoors comes to life trough the sound of wind, crickets, running water, burning torches etc. The Skaarj facility is a very hectic sound experience with industrial hi tech sounds that really adds to the feeling of being in deep, deep trouble. The map starts of with Chizra.umx, which just adds to the good old Unreal temple feeling. The ever popular Isotoxin marks the entrance to the Skaarj facility.
Score: 8½
Technical Execution
The map has one major error. When you stand in the ruins above the plasma bridge, you are actually able to look at the stars under the mountains in the skybox. It’s even worse if you jump on top of the structure above the plasma bridge, as the error becomes visible from three sides. This could easily have been avoided, and adds to the suspicion that this has been a work of haste. Other than that it seems like the authors are skilled using patrol points, pathnodes, movers and so on, and the technical side of the map is very good.
Score: 6
Gameplay
Fights are well balanced, and enemies have logical and strategic posts. This is the sort of map were you have to sneak around corners because you just know that something is waiting for you. The first temple area was perhaps too easy played on medium skill, since I found eight nalifruit plants in the first area alone. Even inexperienced players should be able to survive with 232 health points lying around (29health * 8 plants).
Like the rest of the maps in Deja Vu, the goal of the map is to get from point a to point b in one piece. You need to activate a plasma bridge, and open a closed door to do so, and all in all it provides for good challenge, and it’s easy to figure out what to do next.
Score: 7
Overall Effect
This map feels a bit out of place, and you might not even notice if you skipped it. I can not help feeling that this map has been rushed for a release, or that it has not been given enough attention. At times it’s absolutely magnificent, and at times it’s below average. Very sad indeed, as this could easily have been among the best maps in the pack if it didn’t feel so “beta”.
Map Score: 7¼