The good thing about revising for MLG is that it frees up more objects because almost half of the weapons on the map will be removed and simplified along with the equipment and 3rd/4th team start spawns(although, multi-team MLG sounds interesting). So I could definitely add more cover.
Trying my hardest not to Gravedig here, but this truly is a masterpiece. After playing four games on this simply mind-blowing map, it's earnt a permanent spot on my Hard drive, which to put quite frankly, is rather rare for some of my own maps. I always wanted to replicate a forerunner structure but my mind simply isn't artistic enough to pull off something as great as this and to be honest, I'm glad you did this and not me. Whilst I could be simply adoring a woman's petite behind, this maps beautiful appeal could draw my attention straight off it and slap my face silly, and the appearance of the map is exceeded by the gameplay. Whilst I was an unbelievably keen Halo: CE gamer, this map brings back some great memories of the classic game and gives it the new Halo 3 feel. With an amazing atmosphere, the fights that broke out were often enough and nicely spaced out. I never managed to get a full 2v2v2v2 brewing but I hope to do in the future. The whole field of view in the map allows you to see great things but not too much. The lines of sight are divided in the right places. The weapon placement is extremely balanced with each team able to get to everything at the right times and the whole map flows incredibly smooth. I hardly ever vote for maps to be featured or to be put in Forgehub Favourites because in all honesty I only ever feel the need to vote if I truly think's it deserves a spot. I can safely say this map should be a feature and should without a shadow of a doubt, be on ANY halo 3 players hard drive. For once ever, I couldnt name one thing wrong with this map, you get a solid 10/10 from me.
Thanks for the bump, and the review steve. It's great to get high marks from someone who doesn't hand them out easily. I really enjoy my efforts when someone not only loves the map, but makes it a point to tell me about it, especially with examples to their opinions. Thanks again.
Unofficial Review Hub Review Xenolith Review Enjoyment As a whole this map has great replay value, it's very apparent that you've kept players wanting more. From what I recall from the handful of games I've played, everyone seemed to enjoy it. You can tell when a party is having a good time, and this map seemed to keep everyone pleased throughout the course of the game. And while a good portion of my time (probably 10% of it at least) was spent respawning, (due to my elite halo skills) I kept my head up and wanted to get right back at it, four six shotting an opposing team member right in their ugly-bug-shaped-EVA-dome, placing myself as the rightful victor. (Rare those plans actually work however.) "...Cool story bro, where are you going with all this somewhat pointless banter?" You may find yourself saying, well, for me, when I'm playing on (insert any bland map name here), when I'm killed, spawned, killed, spawned, and killed more, I just end up getting frustrated. However, your spawn system and the overall layout of this map go hand in hand together very well and kept those distasteful feelings from making themselves apparent. That right there is one of the major deciding factors behind whether or not a map stays on my HDD, and Xenolith has definitely earned a place safe within, nestled right near the center of my time-line sorted Sandbox list. There are, however, a few flaws which I shall get to below. ~Rating: 7/10 Balance Primarily this map has been set up for multi-team games, four teams of two being its prime. The radial symmetry of the map boasts just how closely you paid close attention to all the fine details, lining up various blocks, walkways and other aspects that are more than likely overlooked to anyone who isn't the creator. Symmetric maps are difficult to mess up in terms of balance, because everything is supposed to be equal. However, not all symmetric maps pull this off well, due to an author's lack of patience and ingenuity. Those maps are not this map though, this map had an author who knew what he wanted the map to look and play like in the end. This map pulls off the balance aspect very well. However, balance in terms of how different portions of the map actually play is a separate matter. I feel that the center structure is often avoided, or, well, at least I avoided it consistently. The remarkable beauty of the center is insane, but we'll touch on that later, however, I felt that after the initial "wow" factor of it I found myself more often than not going in and not getting back out. The raised area around the perimeter of the map rules over the center structure with an iron fist. (...Iron may be too strong of a metal, more like a mercury fist.) Sure there is cover, but it's not structural cover, rather, a various aesthetically pleasing combination of blocks to hide behind as you hope you're able to stay out of sight long enough for your shields to recharge. The Rockets being placed in the center adds a nice RvR aspect, however, I found the risk greatly outweighed the reward, rarely did I manage to escape the center alive claiming my prize. ~Rating: 7/10 Durability: To my knowledge, the map isn't breakable, and even if it is by some random and insane series of difficult jumps, it shouldn't really break the game, simply elevating a player onto a few vertical huge blocks where they'll meet there certain and well deserved demise shortly after obtaining this not-so sought after position. The only time I could actually see this being a problem is if the player not only manages to do these jumps, but he also possess the sniper rifle. Again, this is sure not to happen in any regular gametype with serious players, so I'm not going to deduct any points for that. If, by some miracle you do manage to get to the top of this map, you probably had a game with 16 players, all of which were probably making a pyramid structure at the bottom out of spartans for you to climb. </end tangent> Looking around the map all the pieces seem to be nicely interlocked and geomerged so no loss of grenades should occur. There also doesn't seem to be any places with a single route to get to, thus camping isn't a problem. I don't recall having any spawning issues or anything that annoyed me greatly either. Honestly, the only problem in this category I can see is the flicker from the map being insanely budget glitched. It's terrible that this creation went over Bungie's initial limitations so drastically. However, you have to keep it in mind, if a player with bad connectivity is in the game, you may as well kiss your session goodbye, he's going to crash it. Again, this isn't really your fault, but you could have cut back on a few aesthetics here and there to make this not as noticeable of a problem. If we see a re-imagination of this pop up in Halo: Reach, this will sure as well not be a problem. ~Rating: 8/10 Aesthetics: Alright, so basically anyone who has ever attempted to make a map look utterly forerunner, is sub-par to your aesthetics, the center structure is just damn-beautiful, I mean, have you seen it?! (Rhetorical) I remember the first time I ever laid eyes upon it way back in an old map preview located in the skybubble, completely awestruck I could not wait to be able to check it out for myself. To my great pleasure, the first time I was able to witness it, it took my breath away as much, if not more than it did a few months prior. However, as forerunner-tastic as the center is, the exterior of the map seems to break away from the theme in my opinion. At times the call outs didn't really make themselves apparent either, I actually just noticed the colored columns within the tube corners tonight when I loaded the map to check something out. Maybe in the future make sure these kind of callouts are more distinct for players to get their bearings straight upon spawning. ~Rating 8/10 Originality: So a forerunner themed map isn't the most original idea in the world, we've seen a million other people make forerunner maps. And, I'll give it to you, making a competitive map is damn near impossible to make unique at this point in Halo 3's life cycle. However, it can be done. While this map does play pretty well and the aesthetics are great, it doesn't really stand out in terms of originality unfortunately. Again, I keep blaming this on the OLN and budget limitations, however, with some sacrifices you could have easily made some changes to make it 'pop' a bit more. ~Rating: 5/10 Summary: To anyone reading this who is still interested in Halo 3, download it, it's definitely worth a space on your harddrive. Hopefully we'll see a revamped version of it somewhere in the short future. It'll be interesting to see just what changes you'll be able to make to it with Reach's sandbox, and I'm sure it'll play even better than this already does. (One change I'll be happy about is the forced exclusion of equipment, they all fail so damn hard.) I can honestly say that I'm excited to see what you'll be able to create with Reach, Hadoken. (If you're still forging, which, you had better be.) Enjoyment: 7/10 Balance: 7/10 Durability: 8/10 Aesthetics: 8/10 Originality: 5/10 35./50 Overall: 7/10