Detain | Single | Author: Maisth | Download
The Review: Duke is trying to put a stop to the aliens' plan of obliterating the Earth with a man-made nuke. To fulfill his objective he has to cause all kinds of mayhem and carnage within the walls of an EDF base. Detain is a refreshing map in the sense that it presents you with a clear objective from the get-go; these used to be popular type of maps back in the day, but to my disappointment I realized not many maps bother with objectives these days. The map's speed, fun and "cinematic feel" are comparable to the likes of Devastation and Spacetrap, an impression only enhanced (and in no small amount) by the map's fantastic soundtrack. There's a good balance between the different alien varieties and no overreliance on respawns to fill the map's corridors. There are plenty of explosions but also ample room for Duke to move around and kill things. But no factor shines quite as brightly as lighting; the map just loves to play with sharp contrasts, sloped shadows (a bit of a pain to make but the results are always worth it), colored lighting and even some cycler effects. Together these really work wonders to enliven the map. The only downsides I can think of are that some of the earlier areas could have used a little bit more work and there's a bit of sloppiness going around. As a whole the map is very fun to play thanks to its solid gunplay, cinematic setpieces and objective-based gameplay, and it has some of the best lighting effects I've come across in a long time. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long for the sequel.
Rating: 94
