Rave Disco - Dunkelschwamm

 


    When a rave and a disco combine the result is this map. There is no party, just some twisting paths, weird rooms, and caged boids.

SCMapDB page

Author: Robootto

Date of final release: 2003

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Rave Disco

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by dunkelschwamm | August 14, 2022 | 2099 characters

    Rave-Disco is a robootto map. There's really no point, and there is no end, so if you want to put this on your server then prepare for it to jam a cork in your rotation.

    I think the best way to put this is that Rave-Disco is a funhouse map. There's winding corridors, funky rooms full of wacky interactables, trick walls which players can walk right through, buttons which do nothing, crazy colorful lights, and nonsense progression. To Rave-Disco's credit, many stops are pulled with heavy use of boids, some crazy combat segments, and heavy armaments given to actually provide some fun to the map.

    Less to Rave-Disco's credit is the atmosphere. The funhouse approach is very playful and flamboyant, but the textures and soundscape tell a different story. The derelict compound textures which make up most of the map make it feel profoundly alone, and this is multiplied by the murmuring echoes of the boids. The way the garish colored lights play off of this absolutely rundown atmosphere creates a dreadful sense of dissonance that's almost hypnotic.

    The map takes players down a few mostly linear paths. Once these paths are complete, the map is essentially over. In one of them you fight a gonarch, and in another one you stumble on a bunch of boids above a wood mesh. Wonders abound.

    If I were to think of this map as some sort of art exhibit, I think it'd be worth checking out very briefly and then moving on. Don't put it on a server rotation, though, as it has no ending.

Pros:

  • Some interesting attempts at zany visuals
  • Some coherent vignettes as far as robootto maps go
  • Lots of good weapons
  • Some decent action setpieces
  • I like the boids

Cons:

  • The overall atmosphere was grim and sickly in an awful way
  • The map is pointless
  • The map has no end
  • Most of the funny little haha gimmicks are just contrivances and annoyances
  • It's overall pretty ugly and janky

Score: 4.5 / 10

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