Tribes2Maps.com - Review of "Ghosts Of Ymir" by DrPimento

Review:
Ghosts of Ymir brings together atmosphere, a functional terrain, great construction and a download-less Server Side map into a single, cohesive package.

It's a very, very well done map, with "time spent" practically stamped on every facet of it. Ghosts of Ymir is aptly named: it has a ghostly look that you can almost feel as soon as you boot up.

The sky is relatively clear, but as you decend into the lower grounds, your vision is soon eaten up by an increasingly thick fog. Soon, if you take the low road for long, you are bound to encounter ruined buildings, sunken into the ground at impossible angles, shrouded in the haze: exploration shows many of the doorways to be blocked up, but sometimes you are surprised by an inventory station or two, if you're near your home base. Bridges, too, occupy the floor of the mission, sticking up at crazy intervals like the broken teeth of some undead wraith.

While that's probly going to sound a bit too poetic for most of you, I assure you: this is a ride, visually. (It reminds me a lot of the feel I was going for with a map of mine)

The Playability of this map is extremely high. From the skiiable, snow-covered terrain to the precise placement of the buildings, you'll find transportation is not a problem, even if you can't use the various and sundry vehicles provided. The low-vis fog and the several structures scattered around not only serve as great eye candy, but are practical as well: little chance of getting bombed by a surprise enemy encounter: just duck and cover, and there's no way they can find you. The distance between flags is 1400, while the main bases are more lik 1500-1600, but you really won't find that an issue, with not only vehicles at your command, but also the very skiiable terrain available to the foot soldiers.

Attention to Detail deserves nothing less than a perfect 100: the inventory stations are all flush, the turrets are placed precisely, and every single structure shows an incredible eye for exactness. While the objects (turrets, inventories, etc) aren't named, per se, they have merely had their Name tag deleted, so you won't be seeing any "Turret 6574" monstrosities, thank Heavens.

Balance is given up, just slightly to the Offense. Defense will have a bit hard time covering the flag in the area it's in, and while doing so they are open to all sorts of ordinance spamming. The Offense, on the other hand, has the advantage of only having to deal with AA turrets (if the Defense doesn't change out the barrels), and the incredible ability to hide at will, even under the Defense's collective noses, cloaked by the fog.

Item Placement on Ymir seems to be a bit conglomerative: you'll find Diamond Sword and Blood Eagle constructions scattered here and there, but then again, you don't really notice because of one of the strokes of genius this map has: The lighting has been tweaked to a fine point. It's not dim, yet the map just exudes a "dark" feel. You won't have trouble seeing, but the details of the structures seem to almost melt away to where you don't even notice that the main bases are from Diamond Sword, and that bunker down in the fog is from Blood Eagle. Building types aside (which I have no problems with), the inventories are in such location that you will have no problem finding one when you need it. There's even a duo of them on the V-Pad, a touch which I personally am very partial to. Turrets seem to have a decent coverage of the flag, with the exception of back-door: I can see a Shriker-Capper doing a Katabatic trick here: fly in fast and hard, bail, grab and then ski home. A coordinated Defense should be able to stop that from happening, tho'.

The Mechanics of this map work. There is a multitude of different strategies available, and whatever your niche is, you'll find a job here. I love the way that Ghosts of Ymir is completely inclusive: it doesn't prohibit anyone's playing style, from Base D to Flag Runner.. Cloaked Lancer to Heavy Offense, everyone will find a spot and play it.

Final Word: A+ map. You need to give this a try, even just by yourself. It's a visual accomplishment, and you'll feel this just skiing/flying/walking over it. Would that it had bot support! (don't worry, I took nothing off the score for no bots)

Easy to reccomend to anyone, no matter what their style, and it's safe to load to servers, too, since it's completely constructed out of SS buildings. Have fun with this one!

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.