The terrain isn't perfect, but it gets the job done for the most part. It's a million times better than the previous maps I reviewed, so I guess I'm biased a bit.
I was requested to include this on my future reviews:
Letter Scores: Grades can be F, E, D, C, B, A, and S in order from worst to best. + and - modifiers indicate slightly better or slightly worse. An A is essentially a 5/5 while an F is similar to a 0/5, but the letter grades are purposefully meant to be ambiguous. I am aware that Europeans may be unfamiliar with letter-based grade systems, and I apologize for any confusion this may cause.
Replayability: Score ranges from 0 to 5 with + and - modifiers. It follows a logarithmic scale; the difference between 4 and 3 is much more than the difference between 2 and 1.
Review:
Foreword: Bounty_98 has come forward to me about some future plans for Haunted Temple that address several of the issues I will be bringing up. However, this review shall not change because he requested the review before putting said improvements into the map. I might give it a new score later on, if I feel like it, but we’re cool with a review as-is.
Everyone has their O face on. I can see why: that backdrop is great!
Haunted Temple is based off of a simple gameplay mechanic: hide from the killer. If you are the killer, you need to go around and check all of the unlikely hiding spots and secret areas for hidden, crouching, hapless civilians to ruthlessly murder. The killer can spawn seekers to help look for players, but searching every nook and cranny is the fool-proof method. On the other hand, if you are a civilian, hiding is just about all you do in this game. The killer is cloaked and is out for your blood. If you are found, someone is going to die. As such, you can’t run, but you can hide.
For obvious reasons, hiding is essentially the cornerstone of this map. It’s got to be meaningful and fun to hide from an unstoppable menace, so the killer has to be frightening and the environment must be interesting and immersive. I’ll talk about the environment first: Wow. Haunted Temple is a huge break from maps like Nexus Wars when it comes to the terrain. The atmosphere is foggy and thick, the lighting is stark and dramatic, and there are plenty of shadows to hide in. Better yet, the doodad usage is quite good, with a variety of mismatched environments ranging from a shopping plaza, to a freaky lab, to some kind of mining operation, to a whole bunch of other micro-environments that keep the variety and flavor of the map at a classy high level.
As far as the gameplay goes, the wide range of environments is essential for getting the players to realize where they are in the game. The first couple times, it will be confusing to get around the map, especially because the camera uses a third person perspective, but the map generally does well with having a number of landmarks that allow navigation. The fog and a few smatterings of bare areas and dead-ends disrupt the flow somewhat, but these are minor gripes that shouldn’t be high on the priority list for Haunted Temple.
Imported music is also present in Haunted Temple. It actually offers a lot of flavor and variety to the map, especially since the music apparently changes based on proximity to the killer. There are some stinger themes that play for important events, such as the death of a player, which also add a great deal to the environment. More importantly, however, it increases tension; music has a psychological effect on the player that can be manipulated to amplify various emotions – in this case, unease – for the betterment of the game environment. Since the theme of the map is hiding, tension directly increases the thrill of the game. After all, at any moment you could be- AAAUGH AHH GRAH-. … …
What a view! Also, you can’t see it in this picture, but those marine statues are pissing waterfalls.
I find it appropriate to abruptly shift the tone of this review at this point. I’ll start with the basics: hiding. For a map that is all about running from the killer and hiding like a sissy, Haunted Temple manages to be pretty damn fun for what it is. The problem is it could be so much more.
Hiding is an inherently passive gameplay mechanic. Running away and throwing yourself behind an object can only get the game so far before it needs some spicing up. As it stands, the civilians cannot do anything except walk, sprint, and crouch. The game causes the players to inexorably lose interest over time because there are very few actions that can be taken. The most direct approach to this is to simply add an action button for the civilians to interact with the environment and do various things. Operate lights, change the fog, flood an area, grab a crowbar, open a door, etc. There are so many possibilities that would make this map truly wonderful through some clever application of player and author ingenuity. The tactical possibilities become endless; instead of just hiding, a player could be able to actually work against the killer. The player doesn’t even need to be able to attack; just slowing the killer down or confusing it would be a way for players to constantly think of new ways to mess with people and survive. Replayability thus increases exponentially and the game becomes a lot more interesting. By filling the game with various environmental gimmicks, Haunted Temple’s issue of being essentially barren of content beyond the volume of terrain and number of hiding spots disappears almost entirely.
Right now, Haunted Temple is remarkably empty. All of the civilians are the same as far as the gameplay goes and the killer is only marginally better equipped. This not only makes the game less interesting, it also limits the effective actions that a player is able to carry out. In other words, variety is diminished and the gameplay suffers accordingly.
When I’m dead, I can climb walls and exit the map. I get a nice view, though. Also, the ghosts have health bars, which is really annoying.
Sometimes I feel that the player is not given enough information. We learn the controls and the goal of the map, but we are not informed of some basic information like what the killer looks like or how quickly she will kill you. The players are also left uninformed of the existence of seekers until… too late. Knowing what to look for is extremely important. My first time, I didn’t know what the killer looked like, so I was freaked out at the ripples that the ghost unit made. I only caught a short glimpse of the Kerrigan model’s outline before running like mad and eventually exploding in blood.
On a related note, I feel it needs to be said that the killer needs to be a more visible threat. It’s very heart-pumping and dramatic to be running from some kind of dark beast that tears you to pieces when it catches you. Unfortunately for Haunted Temple, it’s not very frightening or interesting when you can’t even see the killer as it’s chasing you. All you hear is the weaksauce attack sound being spammed and eventually you explode in a shower of blood when the killer’s wavy outline runs through you while attacking. It’s almost like an intangible evil detached from the players. The killer should be much more visible to the player it’s giving chase to, perhaps spewing evil sounds of impending doom to raise the player’s blood pressure. In short, the distorted-air look of the cloaking effect isn’t frightening. Just about anything else would be better; uncloaking in short proximity to a player, for instance, would help. If you want the killer to remain invisible, you could make it suspenseful and truly frightening by making the killer completely invisible, the only indication of presence would be marked by a general dimming of the lights and a large, gradient shadow surrounding its presence. The player wouldn’t know if he was next or was going to be passed by; it’s the kind of encounter that lets the player count their heartbeats. A scream, perhaps, when the player dies would be cool, too.
In general, Haunted Temple is a map that’s got a solid foundation and competent direction, but needs some improvements, especially some more real substance to keep it going. I’d love to see this map improve and evolve to something greater as time goes on.
RATING:
Silver: This map is not perfect, but is entertaining and of good quality.
@Bounty_98: Go
And you think that's an excuse to stop working on the map?
The terrain isn't perfect, but it gets the job done for the most part. It's a million times better than the previous maps I reviewed, so I guess I'm biased a bit.
@tigerija: Go
I am specifically avoiding a number rating. Also, the text below the rating serves as the Final Note.
Man, I'm on a roll.
I was requested to include this on my future reviews:
Letter Scores: Grades can be F, E, D, C, B, A, and S in order from worst to best. + and - modifiers indicate slightly better or slightly worse. An A is essentially a 5/5 while an F is similar to a 0/5, but the letter grades are purposefully meant to be ambiguous. I am aware that Europeans may be unfamiliar with letter-based grade systems, and I apologize for any confusion this may cause.
Replayability: Score ranges from 0 to 5 with + and - modifiers. It follows a logarithmic scale; the difference between 4 and 3 is much more than the difference between 2 and 1.
Haunted Temple by Bounty_98
Fun (Enjoyability, Thrill) - (B-)
Gameplay (Balance, Dynamics) - (C+)
Content (Completeness, Assets) - (D+)
Polish (Bugginess, Presentation) - (B+)
Flavor (Style, Charm) - (A)
Replayability - [2+]
Failures
Ghost Bugs - [-]
Missing Instruction - [-]
Bonuses
Cool Terrain - [+ +]
Music - [+]
Tense - [+]
Review:
Foreword: Bounty_98 has come forward to me about some future plans for Haunted Temple that address several of the issues I will be bringing up. However, this review shall not change because he requested the review before putting said improvements into the map. I might give it a new score later on, if I feel like it, but we’re cool with a review as-is.
Everyone has their O face on. I can see why: that backdrop is great!
Haunted Temple is based off of a simple gameplay mechanic: hide from the killer. If you are the killer, you need to go around and check all of the unlikely hiding spots and secret areas for hidden, crouching, hapless civilians to ruthlessly murder. The killer can spawn seekers to help look for players, but searching every nook and cranny is the fool-proof method. On the other hand, if you are a civilian, hiding is just about all you do in this game. The killer is cloaked and is out for your blood. If you are found, someone is going to die. As such, you can’t run, but you can hide.
For obvious reasons, hiding is essentially the cornerstone of this map. It’s got to be meaningful and fun to hide from an unstoppable menace, so the killer has to be frightening and the environment must be interesting and immersive. I’ll talk about the environment first: Wow. Haunted Temple is a huge break from maps like Nexus Wars when it comes to the terrain. The atmosphere is foggy and thick, the lighting is stark and dramatic, and there are plenty of shadows to hide in. Better yet, the doodad usage is quite good, with a variety of mismatched environments ranging from a shopping plaza, to a freaky lab, to some kind of mining operation, to a whole bunch of other micro-environments that keep the variety and flavor of the map at a classy high level.
As far as the gameplay goes, the wide range of environments is essential for getting the players to realize where they are in the game. The first couple times, it will be confusing to get around the map, especially because the camera uses a third person perspective, but the map generally does well with having a number of landmarks that allow navigation. The fog and a few smatterings of bare areas and dead-ends disrupt the flow somewhat, but these are minor gripes that shouldn’t be high on the priority list for Haunted Temple.
Imported music is also present in Haunted Temple. It actually offers a lot of flavor and variety to the map, especially since the music apparently changes based on proximity to the killer. There are some stinger themes that play for important events, such as the death of a player, which also add a great deal to the environment. More importantly, however, it increases tension; music has a psychological effect on the player that can be manipulated to amplify various emotions – in this case, unease – for the betterment of the game environment. Since the theme of the map is hiding, tension directly increases the thrill of the game. After all, at any moment you could be- AAAUGH AHH GRAH-. … …
What a view! Also, you can’t see it in this picture, but those marine statues are pissing waterfalls.
I find it appropriate to abruptly shift the tone of this review at this point. I’ll start with the basics: hiding. For a map that is all about running from the killer and hiding like a sissy, Haunted Temple manages to be pretty damn fun for what it is. The problem is it could be so much more.
Hiding is an inherently passive gameplay mechanic. Running away and throwing yourself behind an object can only get the game so far before it needs some spicing up. As it stands, the civilians cannot do anything except walk, sprint, and crouch. The game causes the players to inexorably lose interest over time because there are very few actions that can be taken. The most direct approach to this is to simply add an action button for the civilians to interact with the environment and do various things. Operate lights, change the fog, flood an area, grab a crowbar, open a door, etc. There are so many possibilities that would make this map truly wonderful through some clever application of player and author ingenuity. The tactical possibilities become endless; instead of just hiding, a player could be able to actually work against the killer. The player doesn’t even need to be able to attack; just slowing the killer down or confusing it would be a way for players to constantly think of new ways to mess with people and survive. Replayability thus increases exponentially and the game becomes a lot more interesting. By filling the game with various environmental gimmicks, Haunted Temple’s issue of being essentially barren of content beyond the volume of terrain and number of hiding spots disappears almost entirely.
Right now, Haunted Temple is remarkably empty. All of the civilians are the same as far as the gameplay goes and the killer is only marginally better equipped. This not only makes the game less interesting, it also limits the effective actions that a player is able to carry out. In other words, variety is diminished and the gameplay suffers accordingly.
When I’m dead, I can climb walls and exit the map. I get a nice view, though. Also, the ghosts have health bars, which is really annoying.
Sometimes I feel that the player is not given enough information. We learn the controls and the goal of the map, but we are not informed of some basic information like what the killer looks like or how quickly she will kill you. The players are also left uninformed of the existence of seekers until… too late. Knowing what to look for is extremely important. My first time, I didn’t know what the killer looked like, so I was freaked out at the ripples that the ghost unit made. I only caught a short glimpse of the Kerrigan model’s outline before running like mad and eventually exploding in blood.
On a related note, I feel it needs to be said that the killer needs to be a more visible threat. It’s very heart-pumping and dramatic to be running from some kind of dark beast that tears you to pieces when it catches you. Unfortunately for Haunted Temple, it’s not very frightening or interesting when you can’t even see the killer as it’s chasing you. All you hear is the weaksauce attack sound being spammed and eventually you explode in a shower of blood when the killer’s wavy outline runs through you while attacking. It’s almost like an intangible evil detached from the players. The killer should be much more visible to the player it’s giving chase to, perhaps spewing evil sounds of impending doom to raise the player’s blood pressure. In short, the distorted-air look of the cloaking effect isn’t frightening. Just about anything else would be better; uncloaking in short proximity to a player, for instance, would help. If you want the killer to remain invisible, you could make it suspenseful and truly frightening by making the killer completely invisible, the only indication of presence would be marked by a general dimming of the lights and a large, gradient shadow surrounding its presence. The player wouldn’t know if he was next or was going to be passed by; it’s the kind of encounter that lets the player count their heartbeats. A scream, perhaps, when the player dies would be cool, too.
In general, Haunted Temple is a map that’s got a solid foundation and competent direction, but needs some improvements, especially some more real substance to keep it going. I’d love to see this map improve and evolve to something greater as time goes on.
RATING:
Silver: This map is not perfect, but is entertaining and of good quality.