The Off Topic Gamer's Podcast Forgehub Map Reviews

Endurocross 3 by The Offroad Dude- This map was a cluttered mess. As soon as you go through the first tunnel, you immediately run into rooms that are full of obstacles that either flip your mongoose, or get your mongoose stuck. Every player in the room that I was in got their mongoose stuck on a barrier and had to melee it off to move on. I was unable to finish the race, and the people in my party didn't finish, either. If a race starts, and no one finishes, did a race actually happen?

Grade- D

Speedway, by C U L8er- Times like this, I wish I had a red turtle shell. This map reminded me of the Baby Race on Super Mario Kart: Double Dash, except without anything in it. The only things that this map has in it are the barriers to keep you on track. Adding a hill, an obstacle, or anything of variance would have boosted this maps score considerably. As it is…

Grade- C

New York City- NEW YORK CITY! GET THE ROPE! Sorry about that. Whenever I think of New York City, I always thought of Pace Picante sauce. No longer. This map is dark and gritty. It is grimy and grungy. The object of this map and gametype, Undercover Mafia, is a variant of Team Swat. You don't know who your teammates are, because you are all invisible, and no one has a waypoint above their heads. Even if someone shoots, revealing them, you still can't tell your teammates apart from the rest, because everyone is the same color armor. Black. I spent many games just skulking around maps, following people until I tired of it and killed them. In the middle of the map, there is a yellow custom power-up that bestows the person who obtained it a 10 second radar, and a waypoint so that their teammates know where they are. It is also noted that you only have 2 lives, so you need to be sure to not just go in pistols blazing, because not only will betrayals happen often, but you WILL die.

Everyone in the parties I was in raved about this game, and loved every single nuance of it. In fact, so many people asked who made it that I almost was tempted to take credit for it. I didn't, but I was tempted. Aquablade, take a bow. You have just created a masterpiece. I will be playing this one for months to come.

Grade- A

A couple of featured maps that I played and have to give props to were Kentucky Tango, by Furious D 18, Tie Hangar V2, by Rusty Eagle, and H3 Foundation, by Shock Theta.

I generally want to review the more obscure maps on the forums, but these were sublime.

Kentucky Tango was a map that the folks from 2o2p really enjoyed. They said that the balance of the map was well done, and that the accessibility was good. I enjoyed the pleasure I got from getting on top of the suspension bridge for the first time. I didn't enjoy the target that was placed on my back once I got there. This map has the qualities of a champion. I place it in very high regard.

Tie Hangar V2 was aesthetically pleasing to me, and I was actually staggered when I first glimpsed the Tie Fighter on the map. I don't even want to venture a guess of how long it took to get that put together. Once inside the Fighter, though, you are pretty much screwed because once you are in there, you have small areas with big weapons, like the rocket launcher. Big weapons + small areas = large explosions. Large explosions + small areas = everyone dies. Including the holder of the weapon. I really would like to try the map with a neutral capture the flag game, with the flag in the middle section of the inside of the Tie Fighter. Rusty Eagle, get at me about that.

H3 Foundation: I'm taking it back to the old school, cause I'm an old fool who's so cool… Sorry about that. Shots out to Tag Team. I see you.  I love this map. Period. I loved it on Halo 2, and I love it now. The simple nostalgia that you will feel at the beginning of the game alone makes this map worth downloading. The ONLY thing that anyone in my party said about this map that was critical is that we would widen out the corner spawn point areas. They were a bit cramped.  Shock Theta, great job. I had a blast on this one, and if you can ever do Ascension, I would give you an autographed copy of my right kidney.