This one is actually on Monday! Well, I started it on Monday, at least. Welcome to Tuesday: it’s like Monday, but later.

This week’s map: smbcastle2

A small, fun, fairly ridiculous attack-defend CP map, notable for the twin catapults the offense uses to fling themselves into the castle.

There are three points to capture inside the castle walls. The first is at the top of a tall tower (marked with a large I), the second just inside a small chamber just inside the castle wall (II), and the third is in a rear chamber close the the defender’s spawn.

There’s a one-minute set-up clock when the match begins, and then a large chain-link fence separating the attackers from the castle ascends into heaven, allowing the teams to begin killing each other (though I’ve gotten over the fence from the defender’s side with a double-sticky jump and about 3 HP remaining). Once the fence is up, there are a few ways to invade the castle.

The best way, naturally, is to run onto one of the two catapults — they each will fling you into, or nearly into, the top of the two towers inside the castle walls (enjoyably, the map is coded to make your character issue a battle cry while in midair). There’s also a small side door in the castle wall, and it’s possible to sticky-jump over the walls as well (though, mind the spikes — they’ll kill you). For the sneaky types, you can also swim through a tunnel near the spawn into the moat that surrounds the castle, and work your way around to the side entrance.

Upon capturing the first point, the cone on top of the tower collapses, killing anyone still on the top floor. The second capture point will lower the drawbridge across the moat, allowing an easy, non-airborne entry. The third point wins the map.

This map is a lot of fun, though I think it’s possibly too easy to defend with a couple of demos on the first two points. Two or three engies on the last point, if they get set up in time, can hold off the attackers pretty easily, especially if supplemented by a pyro or demo. Most of the matches I’ve seen have either been easy, steamrolling attacker wins or complete defensive shutdowns. Very few times have I seen the slow, steady push to victory, or near-victory, that marks a well-balanced map.

I think demos will get the most out of the map, especially defending that second point with sticky bombs. Since the map is so vertical there are a number of safe perches to chuck grenades down from or just keep an eye on things, and plenty of room to escape if you’re being attacked. What’s more, the inner castle is a veritable ammo and health dump, with medkits and ammo packs seemingly every few feet on the ground and every level of the towers. Just having stickies on the point will force attackers to find and kill you before stepping on it, so climbing up to perches or backpedaling around will keep them stymied.

The final cap is inside, in a two-story room with pillars on both sides, giving engies lots of nooks to build their sentries to cover the point and still be shielded from enemy fire. A bunch of dug-in engies helping each other out can seriously put the kibosh on even a strong offense.

There’s not a whole lot for medics to do except live long enough to uber out some of those pesky sentries on the last point. There’s tons of health lying around, so most wounded teammates can heal themselves. Building up an uber can be tough, too, as only one person can ride a catapult at a time, meaning you medics will be flying in solo. Once inside the castle grounds, it’s pretty close quarters — a killbox, really — so medics really need the protection of their teammates to stay alive. Scouts, too, might have a tough time being effective in such a cramped environment.

Snipers will have fun trying to pick attackers out of the air, and there are several good perches for both attacking and defending sharpshooters. Spies, especially on defense, will have a great time of this map, with its winding stairs, many alcoves, and, in a pinch, windows to leap out of, and with such a vertical map defenders will be looking up and down but not necessarily behind.

Pyros will do well on both offense and defense. Pyros do well everywhere. I fucking hate pyros.

Lookswise, the map is fairly unattractive. A lot of dull stone textures and, for some odd reason, comic strips on many of the walls. Something to read during setup, anyway. [I’ve been informed in the comments that the map was created for and/or by this webcomics community.]

It’s a fun map, a bit deathmatchy as the main combat area is, like I said, a bit of a killbox. The vertical nature of the map is a huge plus in some respects (it’s a lot more interesting for combat — I’m starting to really dislike flat maps) and annoying in others (I am so goddamn sick of falling off the walls!). I enjoy the catapulting immensely, especially steering in mid-air to land safely on the bridge between the towers.

I wish the first capture point did something besides collapse the tower top — I don’t see how this benefits the attackers. In fact, it may benefit the defenders by giving the attackers one less place to land, thus making one of the catapults much less effective. The drawbridge coming down after the second cap is nice, but quite honestly, everyone keeps using the catapults because they’re faster and more fun. I think it might work better if the first two caps switched places — if the ground floor cap was first, and opened the drawbridge, it would help the attackers take the tower from both the ground floor and the airborne path. It might balance things a bit better.

All in all, a fun, creative, kinda ugly map with a great hook and a few balance flaws. I think serious players might be annoyed by the imbalance and goofy overall nature, but casual and/or drunk gamers, like myself, will enjoy the hell out of it.

Gameplay 8/10
Class Balance 7/10
Originality 9/10
Appearance 6/10
Yelling In Mid-Air Modifier: +.5

Score: 8/10

Favored class (attacker): Demo
Favored class (defender): Demo
Suggested team size: 6+

Get ‘em, lads!