Industrial Estate is a bit of a letdown.
I had just noticed a brand-spanking-new map -- Industrial Estate! I thought to myself
“Wow! I bet this one will be really nice! An estate, imagine that. Perhaps a rich, nineteenth-century industrialist’s luxurious manor? Hell, with a name like that it’s GOT to be lovely. I’m so tired of having to kill zombies in dark dungeons, filthy factories, and blown-out bunkers. It’s time I got to go somewheres nice for a change!”
I immediately downloaded without so much as a second thought or a mere glance at the thread.
Booting the map up I was absolutely crushed. There was no beautiful estate. No dark hardwood floors, no crackling fireplace, no impoverished servants at my beck-and-call.
Instead I was greeted with a gritty view of a rust-belt factory. Rotting bricks, cold concrete floors, and graffiti swam through my eyes. Godammit, if I wanted THIS I could just take the local AMTRAC down to East Cleveland! Why, why do I never get to have nice things?!
DETAIL [7/10]
Alright, the map DOES look pretty good. For a piece of urban refuse, that is. The facility gives off a convincing aura of ruin, of a downward spiral -- much like M. Night Shyamalan's film career after The Sixth Sense.
You can tell that a lot of attention was given to every area of the map -- wooden planks, rusty tools, and plastic bottles are layered on thicker than Bruce (sorry, I mean Caitlyn) Jenner’s makeup.
However, the lighting is a massive disappointment. It’s just the usual WAW fullbright. Boooooring. Like any abandoned building, the factory has an inherent “creepy” factor that could’ve been brought out with a nighttime sky. Instead, a sunny afternoon kills any sense of dread you may have harbored.
So, I shall ruthlessly deduct 3 points for “Failure to Properly Light Map”, and I will continue to do so for EVERY map that presents such insolence.
CUSTOM CONTENT [9/10]
Spinning the box for the first time is like running dick-first into a brick wall.
Erm, wait, wrong simile.
Spinning the box for the first time is like diving head-first into a pool of Jell-O. There are just so many previously-unknown sensations engulfing you, it’s hard not to get dizzy. Watching fantastically ported guns from uncharted territory, such as AW and Ghosts, whirling by will fill you with absolute giddiness -- and that’s before you even pull your prize out!
The map also features a wide variety of enemies -- super-sprinters, nova crawlers in two flavors, and even freaking juggernauts (again, in two flavors!)
All of the new enemies are well thought-out, and serve as delightful targets for the absurdly powerful weaponry you’ll be wielding.
This is all rounded out by two buildables, an Ammo-Matic perk machine, and the Zombie Blood powerup.
So, why am I docking a point? Well, all of this stuff is very, very nice…
But the map ITSELF lacks any custom features. No traps, no transportation, no custom tweaks to gameplay. It’s just your standard “Buy doors, get to PaP” layout, and that really hurts it.
Also, the PaP camo is absolutely horrific. Please, if you’re gonna use something that bad just stick with the default WAW one instead.
FUN SCALE [7/10]
Unfortunately, the map is tipsier than a white girl at a bachelorette party. The difficulty swings bizarrely -- the map starts out easy, with the starting wallbuys quickly dispatching zombies. Then, in the mid-game, it spikes up suddenly as sprinters, novas, and juggernauts are introduced. Lastly, we see the challenge fade as you acquire super-powerful guns and tear shit up.
This uneven curve is the result of a couple of factors. The prime culprits are the buildables and the map’s small size.
Since there’s relatively few blockers, the entire map can be opened up very quickly. What does this mean? Well, it means that you can get yourself a Sliquifier and zombie shield really damn fast, that’s what! And that right there is the problem with buildables -- they give you something for nothing. Reward players not for their skill, but for the amount of time they spend running around looking for tiny parts.
So, you can open up the map quite quickly, carried by the strength of your starting weapon. So, you get Jug and your buildables before the zombies are able to effectively cope with such strength.
Then the novas, juggernauts, and sprinters hit you like a ten-ton truck. I had several attempts that featured a very strong early-game with a ton of points and all of the barriers open, only to end instantly as I was bombarded by these enemies while still trying to learn my training spot.
But that’s ok -- I love a challenge! I feel like more maps should punish you, force you into attempting them multiple times. Hopefully I don’t sound too much like some sort of masochist yet. Anyway, the issue is that the early game isn’t as hard as what you’ll run into here, and neither is the late game.
If you weather the shitstorm of brutal enemies, you’ll get enough points to spin the box, PaP, and grab more perks. It’s then you realize just how easy the map really is -- you’ll be melting zombies like marshmallows stuck in microwaves. The juggernauts quickly become a source of free Max Ammos and Death Machines, and I ended up being more grateful for their arrival than anything else.
In closing: this map goes from soft to hard to flaccid waaay too quickly, much like an old man wi…
Uh, let’s just drop that comparison now.
REPLAYABILITY [7/10]
The map’s small size lends itself to many fast, simple playthroughs. You can just fire it up, play it to Round 20, and be done with it. It’s like a one-night stand that doesn’t end with your partner getting pregnant.
Unfortunately, the buildables and linear path through the map lead to very limited player choice, so if you give it another go, expect to do it the srem way you did it the first time.
In closing, Industrial Estate is a great map. It’s a bit too small and erratic, like a bipolar midget, but it does its job nicely and will provide several hours of quality entertainment.
DETAIL [7/10]
CUSTOM CONTENT [9/10]
FUN SCALE [7/10]
REPLAYABILITY [7/10]
OVERALL [30/40] -- Give it a go!
Link:
http://ugx-mods.com/forum/index.php/topic,7842.0.html