Mega Monster Massacre - GrandmasterJ

 

    Mega Monster Massacre is a monster hunt type of map where the monsters have weird custom models and weird names. This map was one of, if not the, first map to implement the gameplay of having a large wide open area and only a handful of high-powered monsters.

SCMapDB page

Author: DeathBog

Date of final release: 2008

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Mega Monster Massacre

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by GrandmasterJ | February 19, 2022 | 3639 characters

    This is a map that I played a long time ago and I remember not liking it. I'm pleasantly surprised to say this impression is completely wrong and I had a great time playing it again.

    The goal of the map is simple, kill monsters. Areas are blocked off and as monsters are killed the areas open up. The monsters are weird looking and have a ton of health while also dealing a ton of damage. If you get hit once you will explode. Monsters are usually very fast too, so a lot of the time the best option is to run backwards shooting constantly until you slip up and get splattered.

    Despite dying a lot I never felt frustrated. Spawn leads directly to a central arena and all other gameplay areas are arranged around this arena. Players will also retreat from triggering a new wave of monsters out of a new area and into the arena. This means players can walk out of spawn and start fighting right away with little delay. Guns and ammo are on the way out the door and they respawn instantly meaning everybody will be fully equipped without waiting around for respawning supplies.

    The enemies look ridiculous. There are these brown things that act like headcrabs, tall yellow armless monsters that work like zombies, a big tailless and lipless bullsquid, some weird tall lizards that use vortigaunt electricity, and alien grunts that are normal except some high health. The yellow armless monsters are especially weird looking, in game they are called bulbous banana bruisers.

    The map design and aesthetic was really nice. The spawn area is especially fun, each player spawns on a conveyor belt, conveyed off a platform between two twitching, sparking arms. There are different arms on other fabricators, giving a nice variety. It's really fun and gave me the impression I was built without reading that in the description first. It's real good environmental storytelling and it looks great. The rest of the level design is good too, but the spawn area is the most impressive.

    As the last area opens up and players massacre the monsters that emerge a whole mess of monsters spawn in the central arena. This is the final challenge of the map. After that a timer starts counting down, only ten seconds. If you run to the last section of the central area to be opened you should see a spaceship with a long ramp. Climb in and take off, fly around the map, then the map ends. It's a fun ending because even if you don't make it to the spaceship there is very little penalty, some maps would say the players have lost for missing their ride out.

    I had a lot of fun. It wasn't as annoying as I remembered, dying wasn't that big of a hassle, the level design kept the pace up, we never ran out of ammo, and massacring the monsters was fun. A big fear was that enemies would run into spawn, but that never happened. When the map was over, I felt like I like I wanted to play more.

Pros:

• Level is designed around players running directly out of spawn and being in the action
• ammo respawns instantly and is directly in the path of respawning players
• progression is simple, intuitive, and also announced
• level design and aesthetic came together to make a fun environment
• custom enemy models are really weird and fun
• The ending was real fun, I'm glad I don't lose if I miss the spaceship's sudden and short timer

Cons:

• The mp5 and shotgun have custom weapon model that they share, making them visually identical

Score: 9 / 10