Map design has always been something of a spotty issue, many a game have been ruined due to braindead map design. In fact, COD4 MW2 had horrible maps and thus the multiplayer suffered miserably for it (barring other issues). And that's just one example. Anyone here ever feel as if more time needs to be put in map design? On another note, I loved GRAW2 (Console versions, yeah kick me ), COD WAW, and the Battlefield series the most for their excellent map designs. Oh and of course UT2004.
MW2 had great maps! I think it is largely down to personal preference, L4D2 has some amazing scavenge maps but people only want to play rooftop so they can charge people off. Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
After playing WAW for nearly a year then going and playing the maps on Blacks Ops is shocking, especially when you consider it must be some of the same team. I didn't mind the MW2 maps but maybe that's because I didn't play an awful lot of COD4 as it was WAW that got me hooked on CoD. I enjoyed GRAW, BC2 and Vegas maps but if you look at the state of most 360 games (which is where I've played those games) the map design feels shocking and there is too much re-use of 'old' maps re-designed for sequel a, b, c etc.
Funny, i thought Infinity Ward's maps made sense while some of Treyarch's were just messy map geometry littered around without any gameplay concept.
I agree there seems to be missing a lot of the fun that was found back in the day on quake 3 era multi player fps. Soldier of Fortune II was a classic. There are certain titles that are built around multi, and others that aren't and it shows. Some titles suffer from engine constraints, while others are just lazy and make single player type maps into multi player which is often not ideal. Luckily a lot of games have a strong mod community to make additional maps, and there are always good indy games like Warsow. I quite enjoyed FEAR multi player, that had some excellent maps in my opinion. I have been liking Brink recently in small doses. There are some pretty good maps in that game, but some of the play elements leave something to be desired.
MW2 maps were good, but the problem was the free for all/team death match used mainly the larger open ones, which were bad - they need to use terminal and high rise more!! I hate how games don't let you pick which map you play on. Back in the day MOH you could chose your server and map - bring that back...
Having only played a couple of hours of MW2, and almost all of that on the co-op rather than multiplayer, I can't comment too much on MW2 maps, but certainly agree that CoD4 and even WaW had some pretty top notch maps which really felt to have been thought out and tested for fun and balance. Overgrowth from CoD4 was one of my favorites. It touched on a little bit of everything: a classic riverbed to divide the map, grassy open fields, close urban buidings, and plenty of places to go un-noticed. Also liked the one that had the three abandoned buildings and small underground tunnel system. All of the maps felt like they had a clear design to follow with a focus on how the flow of combat would be. WaW had a couple good ones, imo. The one set in a European town with the church tower in the center. The circular design was an interesting take on an urban map which, in modern games, is often too rigid and grid based. Sub pens was also one of my favorites, very close quarters without falling into the over-used "World of Hallways" which most CQC maps are. The heavy use of stairs and ladders gave it a fun vertical aspect where enemies weren't just going to be ahead of you or behind you, but also above and below. Really the best part about COD4 and WaW maps is, imo, that they're usually pretty good about breaking up the "run to the enemy side" monotony. There's rarely only one way to get to any given point on the map so players have options and games don't get stuck in the boring grind of forced chokepoints. For some games a good chokepoint can help, but for a smaller scale shooter it sucks away the high paced action. CS/CSS, keeping with the smaller scale shooters, also has some godly maps. The great thing about every Counter Strike map is that it can only be played in one game mode. The best maps take this aspect and run with it and make maps which specifically work to enhance the chosen game mode. Assault, Office, Piranesi, Dust, Season and Port are a few of my favorites. TL;DR the best maps are the ones actually made with the game in mind.
Like DragonovHUN, I've always thought the IW maps were mostly pretty good. Treyarch's don't have that tightness that most of IW's do. Map design is so important though, it's fundamental to keeping multiplayer games alive.
CoD4 had some truly great maps. Crossfire and Crash were some of my favorites. It also had some pretty terrible maps like Chinatown. It seems like a lot of legendary maps are like that in an almost accidental way. Things like Face and Deck 16 from UT, Dust from CS and Strike at Karkand. These maps came along while MP map design was still relatively in it's infancy and it was almost by accident that they got so many things right. It had a lot to do with players doing things that the developers never intended or foresaw. I was thinking about the map design in Bad Company 2 today. There are some cool maps for sure. Arica Harbor comes to mind. There isn't "that map" that you automatically identify with the game though. When you think of BF2 you automatically think of Karkand. When you think of 1942 you think Wake Island. I hope BF3 has a map that is so good it becomes "the map."
When I think of BFBC2 for some reason I think of Oasis. I don't know why, but Oasis on conquest really makes for that tactical experience you can't get. It's just push push push. There's no room for wookie campers. And that's just how I like it.
Oasis is an absolutely stunning map once you reach the latter part of it on Rush. The built-up environment is just chaotic and nasty. From CoD4, Crossfire was my absolute favourite map. Level/Map design is a critical component of making an enjoyable enviroment. It gives you something that you interact with and create moments that you will remember. Knowing that some alleyway is hellish because of the crossfire from merging paths, or a open area that you know you can cross if you think about it right to get the advantage. Day of Defeat 2.0/2.1 had some incredible maps, Heautau (sp?) being one of the more memorable ones had these vicious, absolutely unforgiving alleyways, which my friends and I affectionately referred to as "Death Alleys" and once MG people were set up in them, somebody would yell "Death alley!!!" and we knew that we were in for a bloody hard fight to shift the enemy team. However, we got some of the most intense gameplay I've ever had in an FPS. Certain maps in BF2; Karkand, Sharqi Peninsula, Dragon Valley, a-symmetrical maps but with fantastic environments to run amok in. UT had some awesome ones as well; Morpheus and the mad floating one with the land-bridge between two forts.
I have barely played a FPS since that game because nothing can compete. The only exception for me has been Arma 2.
