POW in the Year 3910 - GrandmasterJ

 


    POW is a bombastic map, from the crazy map description to the crazy above screenshot. POW is an action packed prison break map with some good looking set pieces. 

SCMapDB page

Author: Necromancer

Date of final release: 2012

Maps in package: 1

Map review of POW in the Year 3910

(originally posted on SCMapDB) 

by GrandmasterJ | December 11, 2021 | 3402 characters

    This map starts off with a MotD storyline that sounds like something I wrote in high school. It's a story about friends breaking out of prison together which did indeed set the mood for my friend and I to break out of prison together.

    The map is brutal. We both died once before getting out of our cell. There are a lot of enemies and they whittle your health down to nothing fast. There is no health, medkits, or any kind of HEV.

    The author really did a good job with updating checkpoints. Dying a lot would be a thousand times more annoying if we had to keep walking long distances. The checkpoint updated very frequently and it was usually a pleasant surprise when we found ourselves in a new room. Usually pleasant.

    The most baffling design choice about this map is how weapon pickups will turn off or get locked away after a checkpoint updates. We would find a SAW, grab it, die, and come back closer to the action and the SAW would not respawn anymore. The same thing happened with a room with a rocket launcher and a SAW. Since I barely got to use the SAW I was excited to get it back, but the next checkpoint saw that room's door close permanently. There are usually small arms at the new checkpoints, but closing off old weapons is a slap in the face. The high attrition rate for players gives us shorter time with the weapons and then the weapons are gone forever.

    The difficulty and dying a lot aren't really gripes, I expect a bit of unfair difficulty from Sven due to its cooperative online focus. But entwining a reward like an updated checkpoint with a punishment like losing a rocket launcher forever makes me wish the checkpoint had never updated.

    The worst part of this map is a laser section where you have to watch the laser patterns before rushing through. The lasers are instant death. Its not fun and I am so glad there were only two sections of it.

    The map used some great models. There were some cool giant mechs with flamethrowers that showed up a lot. The atmosphere in general was pretty good. In the beginning the guns were enough to gib every enemy on death, so we felt like badasses. There was also a part where a gate blows up and a tower falls over. It's neat and I really appreciate the effort even if it is a very stiff animation. There was a part where you have to retrieve a replacement engine. You do not have to drag it back, just go up to the plane and it appears.

    After the map was over, we were dropped into a room with our Achievements listed. This was a really nice touch. I'm not sure I'm going to go back to get all the achievements, mostly due to the fact that the achievements don't have descriptions so I wouldn't know what to do, but it really speaks to how much care and effort went into this map.

    Overall I had a real good time.

Pros:

  • lots of enemies to kill
  • Updating checkpoints at very frequent intervals
  • Nice enemy models
  • straightforward objective, the one quest (get engine) is clearly spelled out.
  • achievement room was very nice if a bit vague

Cons:

  • Weapons locked off forever on checkpoint update.
  • Dying before actually using a weapon and then the checkpoint updates locking it away
  • Laser grid

Score: 8.5 / 10

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