|
Review:
Tranquility Base has many unique qualities that make it stand out. It has transparent computer screens, unique looking base walls, and a vehicle-friendly forcefield for each base. These unique additions, as well as a fantastic looking landscape and lowered gravity, contribute greatly to the gameplay of the map.
The map consists of two opposing bases and three objectives. Each team starts with an objective in the corner counterclockwise from their base. The middle is initially unclaimed.
The landscape is very well suited to the moon theme. Multiple small and large craters spot the terrain. The environment, the sky (complete with Earth and the Sun), and even the bases all contribute a “moon-like” feel to the map.
The main bases are large and fairly heavily defended. There are 3 plasma turrets with two large sensors guarding the complex. Each entrance to the main base has a forcefield. The center entrance has a vehicle pad behind a vehicle-friendly forcefield. You can spawn a vehicle of your choice, move through the forcefield, and be on your merry way. This forcefield is team-only as opposed to the side entrances’ forcefields through which anyone may pass. Two generators located deep inside the bases provide power.
The three objectives have powerful assets that will make them valued by each team. Each comes with two rocket turrets, two AA turrets, one large sensor, two inventory stations, and two generators to power them. The two AA and two rocket turrets are located on the top of a tall tower giving them a very long range. Objectives also have interesting looking “chain-link” forcefields that line their perimeters. The objectives in the corners cannot be taken from the team they are initially assigned to, only the center objective can be claimed. However, the generators that power the corner objectives can be destroyed thus making them useless until they are repaired. The center objective has a MPB within its perimeter for use by anyone that gets in the driver's seat.
The flags are located deep inside the main bases. A team will have to infiltrate the main base through one of the side forcefields (guarded by plasma turrets), grab the flag, get out via one of the side entrances, and make it back to their base in one piece. The flag stand in of itself is interesting with a kind of electricity running under it.
Movement on this map is unique and thus affects strategy. A light can jet up to the flight ceiling rather quickly due to the low gravity. Heavies can get major hang time in the air while firing mortars at targets of opportunity. However, jetting around high off the ground is not recommended. The high visibility of the map presents snipers with numerous opportunities to score headshots. The objectives also have nasty anti-aircraft assets on them. It is recommended you keep your head down whenever possible.
As with most maps, this map has its problems. The terrain, while impressive to look at, also is riddled with “holes” around the main bases. Occasionally, I fell through these holes while farming around the base and it got frustrating. Also, the forcefields on this map tend to cause some nasty fps problems. I heard numerous complaints about not being able to move (people with high-end systems). Sometimes the movement gets extremely choppy for no reason on the map but this passes after a few seconds. The visible distance did not seem to be much of a factor concerning fps on this map. The last thing I noticed was that the flags are very hard to reach, much less capture. This was without anyone on the other team farming and with the default plasma turrets. Teamwork will be a necessity if you want to capture at all on this map. I suspect there will be many low scoring games.
Despite the qualms I have, I still had fun on this map. The visuals and landscape are truly impressive. People looking for eye-candy and fun gameplay will like this map. People looking for fast, high scoring games should look elsewhere.
To see the rest of the map details, including the map author's
description of the map, and user-submitted comments, go to the
map detail page.
To see all reviews from Star, go to Star's bio page.
|
