The /newstuff Chronicles #398

Seeing the divided opinions on High Tension I figured I'd check it out for myself. "Oldschool" is a good word to describe it, but perhaps not in the way that killer2 meant. If you ignore all the non-functional, decorative architecture beyond the bounds of the gameplay area, and look only at the architecture that actually affects play, then there's really nothing to this map but flat rectangular rooms and long, wide corridors that meet at right angles. Add to this the disorganized gameplay and mindless ammo placement and you have a map straight from '94. Standing to fight the hordes of monsters is usually far more dangerous than simply running past them, so the gameplay of this map is extremely unrewarding if feel you must commit total genocide before hitting the exit switch, but dodging monsters and their fire while they fight amongst themselves can be fun so this is a decent map if that's what you're looking for.

killer2 said:

At last someone who thinks the same. Thanks for the support 40oz.

We need review reviews!

For those curious, you can now watch a UV max speedrun of PHOBOSPHERE here:

Creaphis said:

Seeing the divided opinions on High Tension I figured I'd check it out for myself. "Oldschool" is a good word to describe it, but perhaps not in the way that killer2 meant. If you ignore all the non-functional, decorative architecture beyond the bounds of the gameplay area, and look only at the architecture that actually affects play, then there's really nothing to this map but flat rectangular rooms and long, wide corridors that meet at right angles. Add to this the disorganized gameplay and mindless ammo placement and you have a map straight from '94. Standing to fight the hordes of monsters is usually far more dangerous than simply running past them, so the gameplay of this map is extremely unrewarding if feel you must commit total genocide before hitting the exit switch, but dodging monsters and their fire while they fight amongst themselves can be fun so this is a decent map if that's what you're looking for.

Yeah, High Tension is crap, just not for any of the reasons listed in the review. Overdetail and lots of boring level layout plus the most tedious monster clean-up gameplay I've ever experienced.

Seriously, how many times do I need to chaingun snipe Revenants off the same fucking towers? And to get the damn rockets off you have to run the fuck away and wait for them to run into somehing. The map is oppressively tedious to the point I found myself bored the entire way through it. Bleh.

The trap with the Revenants and Mastermind is so easy to avoid, it's almost a joke. As soon as shit starts teleporting in, run the fuck away.

The final area picks up a bit, but it's too little too late. Plus the same tactics of infighting and run away still work and it's still generally boring, just a bit less so.