Tribes2Maps.com - Review of "DeathRow" by Star

Review:
We have all seen maps that introduce something new whether it be a concept or a revolutionary structure. These are primarily on CTF maps since the majority of maps released are CTF. DeathRow is a siege map that introduces something radically new that makes it a blast to play.

DeathRow is the first siege map to introduce the idea of the attacking team not attacking as its primary goal. Instead, the attackers are inmates within a prison. They spawn in a “cell” (a room surrounded by red team-only forcefields) with two inventory stations. They have to fight the prison security systems in their attempts to escape. These systems vary from sentry turrets to rocket turrets. The defending team is the guards. They try to prevent the inmates from escaping the facility by any means possible.

The mission area itself is one big prison. The inmates spawn underground in their cell while the prison guards spawn on the surface. Huge walls surround the facility. There are two gates that lead through the walls to the outside world. These gates are sealed with team-only forcefields that only let the guards pass through.

A prisoner has to escape the underground facility by either scaling one of the walls or by passing through a wall via one of the gates. They can also leave through the walls using a route that is guarded by a sentry per route. Once outside, they must attempt to reach one of the four switches. These switches are “escape routes” and, once touched, will signify that an inmate escaped and therefore the match is won for the inmate’s team. Only one of the four switches must be touched to win. However, once an inmate leaves the prison, their “pain collar” is activated and they being taking damage. They must hurry to one of the switches before they die. In the event a switch is touched, the sides are switched and the process continues like a regular siege map. If a guard leaves the prison, it is noted that they have authorization to leave and therefore do not take damage.

The following is a breakdown of the sides. As noted earlier, the defenders are guards. They attempt to prevent the attackers (inmates) from leaving the facility. Since it is their prison, they have the advantage. Their sensor coverage is immense consisting of one large and six medium sensors. These effectively cover the entire map area for the guards. They have six rocket turrets that shoot at anyone that tries to jet over the prison’s walls. They have seven sentry turrets total, five of which are underground near the inmates’ cell. They have five generators total. Four of these are underground and power various forcefields. The inmates must destroy those four in order to reach the surface. The fifth generator powers all of the turrets, sensors, inventories (except for two inventories underground), and gate forcefields. It is backed up by one solar panel.

As noted earlier, the attackers are the inmates trying to escape the facility. They all spawn in an area enclosed by a team-only forcefield. They are provided two inventory stations. Their goal is to escape the prison and touch one of the four "escape point” switches before their pain collar kills them.

There are also little extras on this map worth noting. There is a shower for the inmates north of their cell. There is also a smoking electric chair west of their cell. The spotlights on the surface are an excellent addition to the atmosphere as well.

There are a few issues I found on this map. One is that if the yard generator (owned by the guards) is destroyed along with its assisting solar panel, all the team’s assets go down. The only repair pack I could find was near the inmate’s cell by the two guard’s inventories. Those are the only inventories that stay up for the guards if the yard generator and solar panel are taken out. This makes it very difficult to make a comeback if those two assets are destroyed. A related issue I found is that this map is very challenging for the guards. There are so many options for escape that it is difficult to keep every inmate from leaving the facility. However, challenge is always welcome in a siege map.

It is also worth noting that once you reach the surface, your fps will get a hit due to the immense walls. My fps only went down about five, but that varies depending on the system. It does NOT harm fps enough to seriously hamper gameplay.

This map was in beta for months. It was worked on and commented by numerous people. These are all mentioned in the map details and I encourage you to check it out since they all worked very hard on this map. This map was a blast when I played on it with around 15 people. Anyone looking for a spin-off on a siege map or a just plain fun map should give this map a try. It is serverside so no download is required.

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.