Map created by HitmanVere.

I loved this action shot too much not to use it.


After way too much time and way too many issues, one of the community's most anticipated maps finally sees its release. Long story short – it's good. I didn't expect being liquefied by a massive motherfucker with a hammer could be my Tuesday night entertainment, but I've come to terms with the strange realities that exist here.

With the sheer amount of time put into this project, I had high expectations. It's technically a remake of 2 CoD4 maps, but it doesn't feel like it at all. Remakes don't have to be completely different to their originals when it's new content the community hasn't seen before, but with CoD4 multiplayer it's an environment which we all (hopefully) know like the back of our hand. Hitman's done an awesome job of making it feel like a completely different environment while maintaining the respect that Vacant deserves. Multiplayer maps have a wholly different gameplay style to Zombie mode, and it takes more than adding a couple of spawners to do justice to MP maps, as we've all seen from disasters like Hijacked.

Of course, it's not perfect. No map is. Some rooms or barriers serve literally no purpose other than to exist, or give the player another price tag to train zombies for. When you clear a debris for 1000 points, it pisses me off when it leads to nothing but another debris or door. What pisses me off even more is when it leads to an empty room. Why are these necessary!? Why bother making any area that no player is going to return to?

I'd say I found the map hard. When a zombies map is difficult, it gets mixed opinions on the gameplay that actually makes it difficult. With some maps, it's the absurd number of bosses you face in early rounds, which gets marvellous comments like “this is to hard i die round 2 pls nerf panzers”. With others it's the progression of the weapons, and how well you can defend yourself once shit hits the fan. Project Contamination manages to strike a balance somewhere in that ground; difficult enough that you have to think, but not so absurd that it makes you rage quit. Difficult enough that you're not mindlessly training, but steady enough that it lets you prepare yourself for the horrors it unleashes.

In addition to all of this, there are FOUR game modes to choose from! I love it when maps have more than just classic mode, because it means players are given a choice. I don't like any non-story based game that dictates what I do and how I do it. Zombie mode has always been about letting the player choose how they play their game, not forcing them into some specific strategy that everyone then uses. Where's the fun in that? Project Contamination not only has the game modes to add to player experience, but its layout inherited from multiplayer means it's already designed around player choice, rather than story dictation like single-player environments. Don't get me wrong, I live for good stories - but who the fuck plays zombies for the story?

In summary, it's fantastic. Grade-A gore.

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Arbitrary yet mandatory scores section:

Level of Detail: 9/10
Custom Content: 10/10
Fun Scale: 8/10
Replayability: 8/10

Overall Score: 35/40

Download link: http://ugx-mods.com/forum/index.php/topic,9927.0.html

10/10, would read for third time, lol

Really great review Koan, well done. It's hard to capture this map, and desceibe it well enough in just one post, but you pulled it off greatly. Personally I'd given the map 40/40, but that might be why I'm not a Custom Map Reviewer.

sweet these threads make me want to finish my map. nice review btw

but who the fuck plays zombies for the story?

me


lol good review tho

Good review, but I like your earlier ones (with the pros/cons lists) much better. I don't know, I just feel like this review doesn't really give me a good picture of what's actually -in- the map. I understand that the map is good, as it probably should be after a healthy development time, but I don't really know what makes it work after reading this.

Good review, but I like your earlier ones (with the pros/cons lists) much better. I don't know, I just feel like this review doesn't really give me a good picture of what's actually -in- the map. I understand that the map is good, as it probably should be after a healthy development time, but I don't really know what makes it work after reading this.

I just wanted to try something different, that allowed me to express the content more freely. Maybe I'll go back to pros/cons, maybe I'll do this again, who knows? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

To be honest, this is my favorite custom map of all time so far. The replay value of this map is extraordinary with the 4 game modes, weapons, bosses, easter eggs, perks, etc. Although, in the moderators' review, they did point out a few problems.

Pointless doors. 'Nuff said.

Another problem I noticed, well for me at least, was how the max ammo drop dropped too often! I had no problem with this at first, but when I PAP'd the PPSH-ish gun, I never ran out of ammo and the game got FAR to easy But, other than that, this map is amazing!

Custom Content: 20 Rares
Personal Rating: 20 Rares
Replayability: 19 Rares
Detail: 19 Rares
Fun: 20 Rares

TOTAL SCORE: 98/100 Rares

To be honest, this is my favorite custom map of all time so far. The replay value of this map is extraordinary with the 4 game modes, weapons, bosses, easter eggs, perks, etc. Although, in the moderators' review, they did point out a few problems.

Pointless doors. 'Nuff said.

Another problem I noticed, well for me at least, was how the max ammo drop dropped too often! I had no problem with this at first, but when I PAP'd the PPSH-ish gun, I never ran out of ammo and the game got FAR to easy But, other than that, this map is amazing!

Custom Content: 20 Rares
Personal Rating: 20 Rares
Replayability: 19 Rares
Detail: 19 Rares
Fun: 20 Rares

TOTAL SCORE: 98/100 Rares

A review inside of a review? Noice.