Robo's Castle Wars - GrandmasterJ

 


    There are two castles in separate rooms joined by a catwalk at the very tops of the castles' towers. Cramped and slow elevators allow access to the tops of the towers, enemies pack the corridors below.

SCMapDB page

Author: Robootto

Date of final release: 2005

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Robo's Castle Wars

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by GrandmasterJ | October 2, 2022 | 2543 characters

    This map has some colored lighting that gives the whole thing a surreal feeling. The texturing is pretty bad and very flat but that adds to the somewhat disorienting experience of playing this map. Half the time I was playing I was intrigued by the level design and aesthetic but the other half I was annoyed at the elevators and respawning headcrabs.

    Players spawn in a long shaft headed down. Players of Nuclear Poison by the same author will recognize this shaft as being the entire map of Nuclear Poison pasted right in. At the bottom of the long fall is a teleport that puts players in the actual gameplay area, a hall with weapons and some ammo with a door at the end that leads to side passage and access to the castle. Here players are hit with vortigaunts and gonomes in large quantities, my teammate and I died many times here. After clearing out this area the map is fairly peaceful beyond some respawning headcrabs at the top of the castle elevators and the odd zombie roaming the corridors.

    The map has two castles, connected by a ramp at the top of a central tower accessible only by a tiny and cramped slow moving elevator. There are also headcrab spawners at the top of the elevator and if they jump on your head they can block your movement and cause the elevator to start going back down. This map has a bad elevator and respawning enemy combination. On one castle rampart high in the air is a path to another room. It's got a pool of water that has a hallway at the bottom allowing access to the room. There is a teleport hidden away that puts players in a credits room.

    I liked exploring this map, it gave off a liminal space type of feel and that was a pretty cool vibe. The colored lights really helped here. The combat was ok, really ham fisted but the worst part was falling down the nuclear poison shaft every time we respawned, it was annoying. The headcrab and elevator combination was very bad as well. The map is strongest when we just explore it's weird look and layout.

Pros:

  • Weird vibe that is fun to explore
  • good weapon selection
  • hidden room, the map invited looking for secrets and then rewarded me with a secret

Cons:

  • Bad elevators
  • poorly planned out enemy spawners, specifically the headcrabs
  • the respawn fall down the shaft got old real fast

Score: 5.5 / 10

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