Mostwanted - Dunkelschwamm
After Gordon Freeman finishes up his work at Black Mesa he goes home to his rental. His neighborhood is quite terrible and mobs of police, alien, and criminal wake him up.
Author: Mr_InSaNe
Date of final release: 2002
Maps in package: 1
Map review of Mostwanted
(originally posted on SCMapDB)
by dunkelschwamm | January 23, 2022 | 3872 characters
Most Wanted is an older map going back roughly 20 years ago. It features a small city block where Gordon lives in a crummy rental place when everything attacks.
I can't tell if my comrade and I finished this map or not. We certainly did everything that we can tell we can interact with and killed enemies until they stopped respawning. Best we can figure the map is just kinda over at some point but never actually ends. We spent a long time chasing wild geese if that's the case, and I'm compelled to believe that it is the case.
The crux of the map is built on pushing against respawning hordes of enemies, both enemies and aliens, in a constant battle. By pushing out from the house the player can make progress to different areas of the map. There's a truck repair stop where the player can explode a gas tank to gain ground. There's a truck which can be turned on to break through parts of the map, opening it up and killing enemies. Some structures around the map can be used for cover and high ground, and are full of weapons, equipment, and some enemy spawn points. A bank in the far corner of the map has a vault which can be opened by breaking a generator on the roof. There's a security keycard and a scientist who mentions this keycard. As far as we can tell, neither of these do anything at all in the map. There's also a water tower, some vegetation, and a shack which can be entered through a back window.
That's the map. There's scant few places you can reliably take cover. I recommend leaving through the second story with the revolver next to the bed, and make your way onto the nearby ruins. There's a sniper's nest with lots of equipment which will help the player make progress. From this point the player can explode the tank next to the truck repair, and then make their way in that direction to turn on the truck. Once the truck is turned on, you can make your way into the bank and do what I assume is the last of the mission.
In a way, it's like a puzzle game set in a horde mode. You have to surf through tons of enemies who can kill you quickly if you don't obtain some HEV first, and have to plot a course through the thickest enemy densities to the next section. Just don't expect any closure at the end of it.
Overall, this is an early map and it feels like it. The brushwork is blocky and mostly evokes nonfunctional structures. Some of the stairs are really wonky looking, and some windows look pretty bad. That said, there's lots of really nice details, and I like the drivable truck and the attempts at vegetation. You can tell what the map is meant to be or what it could be meant to be, even if you're constantly aware that you're looking at blocky brushwork. The lighting is also all over the place, with some really intense colored lighting here and there in ways that I think are meant to evoke police lights but just look like rave lights.
If you're looking to kill a bunch of enemies with friends senselessly, this is a pretty good map for it. I would not recommend it for server rotations because you'll just end up in an empty map for like two hours after you've killed everyone.
Pros:
- Pretty decent action
- I liked the idea of solving little puzzles across a town during a fight
- Lots of weapons
- The truck is a lot of fun
- Fair number of spots to explore
Cons:
- Kind of hard to navigate some clunkily brushed areas, including the starting area
- Getting shot by a million Barneys and Snipers is not great
- No concrete end to the map that we know of
- It's not clear what the objective is. I mean, it's not clear that there is an objective. See the previous con.
- Some of the map is pretty ugly
Score: 4.5 / 10
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