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Review:
Ever since Zear’s “Fountains of Paradise”, there have been maps with new ideas. These ideas have ranged from “bouncy” water to oil slicks. Some maps use ideas from previous maps but add their own world around it. LuCiD’s Operation Drop Zone does just that.
The map is set up not unlike “Fountains of Paradise”. There are two opposing bases. Each base is twofold; one part is in the air and one is on the surface. An anti-gravity or “transfer field” connects the bases allowing easy transportation from one to the other. There is an objective in the middle of the map. The landscape is desert with shallow water covering most of the map. There are scattered islands with connecting bridges in between.
The bases themselves come fully equipped with everything you will ever need. The surface portion of the base comes with five inventory stations and three generators. Two of these power the base forcefields and assets while the other is the “blocker” generator, which is explained later. It also comes with a vehicle station and two sentry turrets that guard entrance to the base. There is also one AA turret, one rocket turret, and one sensor on the roof of the surface base. An additional sensor is added below the base but above the vehicle pad. The vehicle station on the surface comes with all vehicles excluding the bomber.
The air base comes with four generators. Two power the assets, one is a “shared” blocker generator, and one powers the transfer field itself. There is a vehicle pad in the air base as well that comes with scout fliers and bombers only. There are four solar collectors on the roof that power the forcefield around the flag. There are two sensors, one rocket turret, and one AA turret on the roof. There is also a plasma and a sentry turret in the vehicle bay room. Finally, there is a small teleporter in the vehicle bay room that teleports you to the roof of the air base. Considering all the forcefields in the air base, this is a welcome addition. It is team-only and is always active; power or not.
The objective is a mining rig in the center of the map. It comes with four inventory stations and a sensor with two AA turrets on the roof portion. A lone generator powers everything.
The transfer field is an improvement over Zear’s version. It has been streamlined so that no work is required on the player’s part to use it correctly. Upon jumping into the field, a popup appears saying “transfering” [sic] and you are put right in the middle of the field on your merry way up or down at the soothing speed of 288 kph. When you reach your destination of either the surface base or the air base, the field automatically places you off to the side to allow others to make use of the field. It should be noted that nothing is stopping you from moving out of the field before you reach your destination. However, this will most likely seal your fate as a pancake in the shallow waters on the surface somewhere. The “blocker” generator(s) power a forcefield that effectively stops enemies from using your field. Enemies can use your team’s field but the forcefield is placed so that they will strike it going the 288 kph speed mentioned above. You will not die on impact, rather you will suffer a slow death worthy of an enemy of the tribe =). These generators are “shared” in that the damage suffered by one automatically affects the other. Both of them together power the forcefield but destroying one will destroy the other thus bringing down the forcefield. This is useful because one generator is in the air base and one is in the surface base. It is easier to deal with the forcefield by destroying one rather than taking on the almost impossible task of destroying both and keeping them down. By the way, the location of the blocker forcefield is near the start of the transfer field (roof) in the surface base.
Gameplay was both fun and mildly frustrating. Bringing down the four solar collectors to allow access to the flag is more difficult than it appears. The anti-aircraft turrets give aircraft a hard time around either portion of the base. The best option is to sneak in below the airbase and eject in order to fly to the roof of the air base. You can then destroy the solar collectors, grab the flag, jump back in your aircraft, and be on your merry way. People who choose to assault the ground base will find it very difficult if there are guards around. The sentry turrets are murder on anyone trying to enter the base through the bottom entrance. However, it is possible to beat them without bringing satchels or mortars…anyone who does manage to get inside can really wreak havoc. The objective’s use is limited. It is out of the way and does not provide a whole lot for your team. The sensor coverage is far too small to be of much use and the inventories are not all that helpful anyway considering their location. It comes with AA turrets but most aircraft are going to be flying much too high to be picked up on radar by them. Another compliant I have is with the lack of a repair pack in the air base. If someone slaughters all the assets in the air base, including the transfer field generator, you will have to grab a repair pack from the bottom base and use a vehicle to fly up to the air base to repair anything. It is unlikely someone will be able to destroy all the assets in the air base considering the amount of defense but it happened when I played on it. I was also annoyed that when the transfer field was down you still could not fly through it. Once I was carrying a repair pack up to the air base and unknowingly flew through the nonexistent field. My vehicle shattered and I fell to my oh-so-glorious death.
I had fun playing on this map. It was gratifying to hear screams of dismay from the opposing team when we would slaughter their assets. The map shows true signs of effort and scripting knowledge. These come together to make a fun if sometimes mildly frustrating map.
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.
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