For some reason, my mouse started acting up. It isn't that noticeable, but at certain points in the video I do suddenly turn 360 degrees. It is quite possible that I was just having bad luck with holding the mouse steady (I keep the sensitivity very high so I can turn 360 degrees, meaning I have to move it very slowly to keep from making the video seem too disorienting). Everything is still shown and there is no massive detriment (or I would have rerecorded), but it was something I noticed during the recording process.
I wonder if this is the earliest example of a "King of the Hill" style of gameplay. Basically, the goal of that Game Mode is to avoid getting ganged up by other players while having a good advantage that makes you such a desired target. I am not exactly sure when it was introduced to FPS games, though I do know it existed in the original Unreal (which of course meant it was popularized in Unreal Tournament). You know, I am starting to wonder if Unreal features were inspired by Quake (wouldn't be surprising, they did delay the game and therefore had time to possibly add such features). As this is a regular Deathmatch map, this isn't really a good King of the Hill example, but the title and primary feature of the level give a good amount of evidence that supports that this existed back in 1996 in some form.
As usual, I am not too big on one room maps. Still, I find this one more appealing than something like DMAS04, mainly as I couldn't find any geometry to get stuck on. The biggest flaw with the map is that this game doesn't have a proper King of the Hill mode. I can imagine a Deathmatch level going poorly in comparison to the concept (which is pretty awesome). If it is a standard Deathmatch, players would just fight among each other on the lower level while being decimated by the player above. If it is a Team Deathmatch, the teammates would still be combating with each other on the lower level unless it was specially made in a King of the Hill fashion (some versions have it where all but one are on the same team). I just can't imagine people cooperating to take down the person on the top platform, meaning they would dominate the map.
Even if the people cooperated, there are a few flaws with the design. There are two ways to get to the top platform, a Water tunnel and a series of platforms. As they are on opposite sides of the map, this means the player has to be constantly watching their back. Of course, all the weapons are practically viewable if you look towards the Water tunnel, making it pretty easy to determine if someone has a deadly weapon when facing that direction. I just don't see much threat if someone tries charging up the platforms with a Shotgun.
Of course, to get to all weapons but the Nailgun, the player must get to the second floor (almost all spawn points are on the wooden platform) before dropping to the structures below. As stated before, the Weapons are visible from the top structure as well as the Water tunnel, meaning the player can know the route the player has chosen before they are a threat. I guess you just have to hope for the combat to get disorienting, which is pretty hard when you are racking up a bunch of kills with little opposition.
The one thing I have to say about this map is that it was intelligently designed. Though the player has the power on the top if they can get the Rocket Launcher before racing to the top platform, they still can have their Health lowered by Shotgun blasts. As there is no Health at the vantage point, this means the player must leave their pedestal to reach the 25 Health on the floor below.
Not exactly my favorite map of the series, but it does have a few redeeming points which save it from being a total loss. I can't say I dislike this map like I can some others, yet there are others that I would prefer to play.
