Castle Defence - Dunkelschwamm
Defend a castle! This is one of those times where the map name absolute describes exactly what is happening here. Defend a nuke for a set amount of time, which is apparently broken so just go until enemies stop appearing.
Author: generic
Date of release: 2010
Maps in package: 1
Map review of Castle Defence
(originally posted on SCMapDB)
by dunkelschwamm | July 10, 2023 | 3488 characters
Castle Defense is a hoard map with a veritable multitool of a player defense area. The "castle" is a rather large fortress fit with gates, retractable turrets, mounted guns, SAMs, multiple armories, a barracks, and a goddamned nuke. That last thing is what you'll be spending the map defending against waves and waves and waves of HECU.
The enemies assaulting the player come in your standard HECU flavors, but come in large numbers wielding RPGs. There's also a heavy helping of heavy weapons grunts, and some supporting apaches. Of particular note is an osprey which will continuously drop troops on the fort's roof until the players take it down. This is crucial, as the roof is host to a bunch of goodies like mounted guns for mowing down oncoming enemies from afar. Really, though, of the enemies, you gotta look out for the RPG grunts the most.
Defending the nuke is a chore. Early that's alleviated with the starting deagle and uzi (and medkit :v). You can also find a wrench, which is great for repairing the friendly turrets which litter the base on every floor (but mostly the ones which flank the ground floor). Then the armory opens up, and you become so armed to the teeth you'll be spoiled for choices. The deagle already one-shotted many grunts, so the SAW and Sniper are just spoiling us. There's even an additional armory you can unlock through a funny puzzle with an RPG. You can also unlock all sorts of great support features, like a bunch of friendly massns, or an air strike.
Visually, it's a pretty decent map. There's no grand theme to the architecture or atmosphere- it's just sort of a generic Black Mesa-textured fortress in the middle of a desert. There is a great deal of functionality though- buttons are clearly labeled, the stairs are accessible, the spawn safely between the battle zones, and players on the roof can quickly jump to defend the nuke by leaping into the moat.
In our time playing, we noticed a lot of enemies spawning across from us had free reign to fire upon our nuke. This didn't end up being that much of a problem, even as they got a ton of shots off. Once I had the airborne foes taken care of, I could fire the roof-mounted gun directly into that tunnel and get tons of gibs from the respawning grunts.
Eventually the grunts just stop, and you're left in a dead map to idk jerk off in I guess.
Overall, I think this was one of the better hoard maps I've played. I really like all of the features of the fortress, and I really like how the fortress itself is lain out. I like that we had a thing to defend, but with two players we could easily keep it under control. I liked that it just kept unfolding into better equipment and support features. I like that there were benefits to exploring in the dangerous battlefield. I liked how the turrets were set up. It was a lot of fun.
Pros:
- Well lain-out fortress with easy navigation
- Good unfolding map full of exploration and unlocking features
- Tons of support features and weapons
- Loved the turret repair bay
- Really solid opposing force
Cons:
- Map didn't have much distinct visual personality or memorable ambiance
- Map just sorta stops continuing. It doesn't even end
- RPG guys just have a straight shot to the objective in one of the spawns
Score: 7.4 / 10
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