Classic FPS Gaming Maps

AmstradHero here again! The recent release of the Call of Duty 4 map pack has added a few nice additions to its already impressive multiplayer map line-up. While I'll leave a detailed analysis of each map's advantages, disadvantages and ups and downs to Ferris (well, okay, maybe he won't provide that, but I've dobbed him in now!), I feel like I should make a couple of comments about the gorgeous 'Creek'. Firstly, it's visually stunning. Buildings, trees, foliage, a dried creek bed, this map has got character and attractive scenery in spades. Even better, that wonderful eye-candy doesn't impact the performance one iota, and it's still a frantic pace of killing and warfare despite its beauty and large map size. Even better, it's a well designed map. This is one thing that makes or breaks multiplayer maps, and while it's painfully obvious when a map doesn't work, it's not always obvious why.

Rather than producing a monologue of how not to make a map (although I may do that at a later date), let's take a look at some classic maps that have worked. As someone with a passion for building game levels, I would unashamedly say I would have loved to have come up with the design of these three gems.

Counterstrike: de_dust

If you haven't played this map, then either you've been hiding under a rock for the past decade or more, or somehow you've managed to avoid playing one of the most influential FPS titles ever. Not bad for something that was born from a Half-life mod. The elegant simplicity of this level is what makes it work. Even better, it showcases a few great design achievements.

Firstly, it caters for its gameplay. Counterstrike lived and died by its rounds of several minutes. Which means the action has to be tight and fast. If players are sitting around for minutes at a stretch with nothing to do or simply traversing to get to the action (yes, I'm looking at you, Battlefield 2), then it is no good. A round in de_dust could be over in a matter of seconds if things went badly, either leaving you to savour victory, or contemplate brutal defeat. Occasionally rounds would time out, but it was significantly less likely than someone actively winning.

Secondly, it caters for both the aggressive and the cautious. There's the tight inside area for quick carnage, or there's the bridge underpass for a skirmish of sniping and counter-sniping. Both are strategically important, meaning that you're catering for your two character archetypes in FPS games.

Unreal Tournament: Facing Worlds

No list of classic maps would be complete without this map. It's been in every incarnation of Unreal Tournament thanks to the recent addition of it for UT3 - oh, the travesty at it not being included in the shipped version! Why? Because it is unequivocally FUN. Yes, it is a heaven for those players that love sniping, and potentially hell for those that don't, but despite it's massive and imposing sniper nests at opposite ends of the map, this Capture The Flag map again delivers the goods in terms of grandeur and gameplay.While at first it seems like snipers are king, snipers can't capture the flag. So again, it caters for its design. As a pure deathmatch map, it would likely be an abject failure, but its matching of a level made for sniper fodder contrasted against the need for run and gunners to actually achieve the objective needed to win means that it was an instant classic from its inception.

Even better, the game mechanics of dodging (and translocation, if it's not disabled) that are integral to UT mean that sniping isn't the instant fatality provider that it could easily be if this map existed in other FPS games. Not to mention that the potential for countersniping is so high that snipers have to continually monitor their opposition rather than just peppering the running players with headshots.

Quake 3 Arena: The Longest Yard

This level was unusual and innovative for its time in that it consisted of a heck of a lot of nothing. Really and truly, there's virtually nothing in this level. Eye candy is virtually non existent, as is in fact, anything. There's minimal geometry or hard ground for players to stand on, yet it still plays great if you fire up Quake 3 now.

The reason this level is so well designed is due to item placement. If you can control the level in Quake 3, then you have a massive advantage over your opponents. The Longest Yard is a strange and incongruous beast that both enforces this aspect of the game (which is a weakness or strength depending on your opinion - but that is another argument I don't have time for here), but also breaks it ruthless style. The two most powerful items in the level (the railgun and quad damage) are situated in the middle of empty space in clear view (and shooting range) of the rest of the level. Which means despite that you are screaming through the air at break-neck speed with very little ability to kill other people, they very much have an excellent shot at killing you, especially if they've managed to make the jump previously and pick up the beloved railgun.

So there's a trio of classic and brilliantly designed FPS levels. You'll notice a lack of games from recent titles, and you might argue I'm dwelling in a nostalgia paradise, but the truth is that these maps were very influential in the success of their individual titles, and have also influenced the development of levels in all FPS games since. I'm sure if you look in your favourite FPS map, you can see a little fragment of them in there...

(images from moditory.com and gamespy.com)