This is another good map from Alexus - altough slightly irritating as the Rat's castle is so heavily guarded with archers and you onl had spearmen to siege it with, and battering rams and archers. Shoud have introduced macemen and could have made more of the Snake's attcks - they only slow down your economy outside your walls and never anything more. As is usual a nicely designed map, good castles as normal - almost a 5 for creativity and map design. I thought the centre was perhaps a little ordianry but nice cliffs and mountains around the edges. I do feel more storylien is needed - only just a four needed. You must post more on the site itself. Overall though this is entertaining but irritating as you see so many of your spearmen perish as they attack their castle. It was a good end although I do not think all players will have enough patience to complete the map. Good work!
ericgolf Staff
Posted on 12/06/04 @ 12:00 AM
Rating
3.4
Breakdown
Playability
4.0
Balance
4.0
Creativity
3.0
Map Design
4.0
Story/Instructions
2.0
Another very enjoyable, quite short, map. The "7b'th" of the series :-) And the first of to feature stone. Although I liked the nice wood forts we were given in maps 1 to 7, I was glad to get back to stone!
Playability 4 I had some decisions to make on siting of woodcutters, which was interesting early on. In common with maps 1-7 this one limits your options in various ways. But in the context of the series this is a good thing with your options gradually expanding as the series progresses.
Balance 4 Not too tough on normal level. This helped keep it short and not too frantic.
Creativity 3 Nice selection of terrain but the features were a bit stark. However, this made reading the terrain easier.
Map Design 4 I used stairs to give access to some of the, initially, unreachable areas for my woodcutters. For me this contributed to the game play. Some might consider it a drawback that the map allowed me to do this but I liked it. This aspect led me to my eventual strategy to overcome the defences of the Rat’s fort.
Story Instructions 2 Good in-game instructions. However, almost no story on the site description page. And no minimap.
In Summary
A very good, quite short map. I had good fun and enjoyed seeing my strategy work eventually. I’ve played 1 to 7b of the series and enjoyed them all. Thank you to the author! I am looking forward to playing the rest of the series.
Posted on 01/04/04 @ 12:00 AM 
