Arcad - Dunkelschwamm

  

    Let me just say right off the bat that this map has nothing to do with arcades. It's really just another Black Mesa map style-wise and a scavenger hunt gameplay-wise. 

SCMapDB page

Authors: Streamfox and RNG

Date of final release: 2010

Maps in package: 2

Map review of Arcad

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by dunkelschwamm | May 14, 2022 | 2976 characters

    Arcad is a couple of maps by Streamfox and RNG. The first sees players fight their way through a military base lightly peppered with alien invaders, followed up by a pretty straightforward romp through an alien-infested bunker/engineering facility.

    The first map struggles to form much of an identity outside of cargo holds and hallways. Most of the map felt samey, but featured fun (if easy) combat with lots of ammo and an ever-expanding arsenal. I think its most memorable bits are point-and-click reminiscent puzzles featuring finding parts to build explosives, repairing broken door engines, and driving forklifts through windows. It's cute, though at times the puzzles are a bit obtuse and don't work on consistent logic (especially regarding when something is or isn't destructible) but overall I think they're pretty effective and carry the map forward through a dull environment.

    The second map has much of the same, but adds in a very RNG-style dark industrial environment which splashes everything with style. This map is far more alien-heavy, relying much more on zombies, shock troopers, and pit drones. The combat is a bit more action-packed as a result, but it still isn't terribly challenging. The lighting is far more dramatic and the environments more varied this time around. The puzzles this time around felt like they solved themselves, with us just mashing "use" on every interactable as we went and the problems solved themselves as we went. Aside from a couple fun on-tracks moments, this was also fairly straight forward.

    It's worth mentioning that there's some bona fide wizardry going on in these maps. Doorknobs turn and swing with doors, a giant powerdrill spins and lowers into the ground- great stuff. The thing is, most of it is the type of impressive you wouldn't notice unless you were a mapper. As a player, some of the superfluous detail draws the eyes away from real puzzle solutions and misleads the player about what is interactable.

    I think these maps offer solid, fun, but very easy and mostly forgettable experiences. I think the first suffers a bit from the puzzles being a bit obtuse in places, but overall they're both fun and I don't feel like I wasted my time on them. Would recommend.

Pros:

• Some crazy impressive small details
• Fun combat and players feel well equipped throughout
• Fun puzzles
• Some of the setpieces and scenery, especially in the second map, are really great

Cons:

• The combat is a bit easy
• Some of the puzzles, especially in the first map, are a bit obtuse
• The first map's visuals are kind of bland throughout
• The overdrawn detail in the first map makes it hard to discern interactables, and since so many details are non-interactable it discourages exploratory interaction

Score: 6.8 / 10