Bomberman by mapguy

Bomberman by mapguy

Have you ever played a “clone” game and thought to yourself: “Ah, that brings back the good ol’ days.”  Well, I’ve had that opportunity today.  In Bomberman by mapguy, I was taken to that cross-explosion action with a few twists added in.

Including the default bomb that explodes into a fiery cross, mapguy added four unique bombs to the game: napalm, ricochet, spikes, and super bombs.  The napalm bomb leaves a trail of fire in the area where the bomb exploded.  This is good for trapping your opponent in tight areas.  I’d recommend it for large matches to take out the players who aren’t looking where they’re going.  The ricochet bomb is a bomb you kick.  This is a fun bomb because if someone foolishly runs off into an alley, you merely kick a ricochet bomb to trap your opponent or eliminate him/her.  The spikes bomb doesn’t seem so special though.  When this bomb goes off, spikes shoot out from the ground.  Now, the super bomb is pretty cool.  Instead of making a cross explosion, the super bomb makes a large circular explosion.  This can catch more people in an explosion if they’re unaware of the super bomb placement.

Another unique feature also makes the game a bit more fun: mounts can be randomly found on each battleground.  These can mounts give you a special ability such as shield, a boost in speed, and invisibility.  I never used the invisibility ability, but the last time I saw it used, the person blew up right as he/she disappeared.  Now, I cheered because I won that round, but then it made me realize that maybe disappearing causes some kind of glitch.  I’m not entirely sure at the moment, and I guess I don’t have a huge urge to find out either.

The map’s environment is also very lovely.  Each battleground has its own unique theme, and there’s always a different place to hide and blow up, giving each game a memorable moment because you only experience each battleground once, which could also be a repellent.  The game doesn’t last longer than five minutes in most cases.  Who wants to play a game that must be constantly rehosted?  Not I, especially when there are fewer and fewer people actually playing WC3!  I actually played against a French man in one game, and he wasn’t a pleasant person to chat to.  No offense to any of my French speaking readers.

I give Bomberman by mapguy a 11 out of 12.

That’s it for now.  Keep on mappin’, WC3 fans.

Footman Frenzy Elite by HeX.16

Footman Frenzy Elite by HeX.16

After profound thoughts and lengthily pacing, I’ve decided to sit down and write the next review for Indie Map Review.  Tonight, I’ll be discussing the epic game known as Footmen Frenzy Elite.  I wasn’t really impressed, to say the least.

The game was introduced to us as a “highly rated footmen frenzy map. . .” which also included, “new heroes, items, creep and tech types.”  I’m not really sure what a “tech” is, but I assumed that it was a gamer term for upgrades or technology tiers.  You are probably screaming “technology,” but as a writer, I have to criticize the guy for using the lame word “tech.”  I mean, come on!  The English language has over 616,500 words.  I’m sure there’s a better word than “tech.”

Now that I’m done with my little writer’s rant, I’ll begin dissecting the map.  First, we have a very cliché game: it’s footman frenzy.  What more do you expect?  Well, hold on now.  There’s twist (gasp).  The user can play against and/or team up with computer players, so now the ability to play offline is available to you and your family.  Oh joy!

What’s unique about the game play?  Well, you fight a bunch of computer players, which are pretty tricky.  You have tons of heroes to choose from, and they’re all done nicely.  There are some nice new items, which can be a lot of fun to use.  Like the Altar of the Gods, you can use this item to cause massive damage to your enemy.  Now, that’s a lot of fun.

Also, check out some of the heroes’ names.  They are funny.

So, you got an overplayed game combined with wit and just pure awesomeness for the heck of it.  Eh, I guess this version of footman frenzy isn’t so bad.  Sure, there isn’t anything very unique and jaw-dropping amazing featured in the map; however, this game does get the job done.  It’s footman frenzy with all the features you need to have a fun time with a bunch of footman frenzy enthusiasts.

So, I give Footman Frenzy Elite by HeX.16 a 6.5 out of 12.

Keep on mappin’, Wc3 fans.

Dark Invasion II by Arkan

Dark Invasion II by Arkan

Few of you may not read this review just because Dark Invasion II is an ORPG, but those who are still reading, should definitely give this game a shot.  I’ll begin by saying that I gave Dark Invasion II almost a perfect score.  Sadly, there were some major flaws, which made me feel rather uncomfortable about giving such a game a 12 out of 12.  I mean, AceHart got a fair 11.5; however, unlike AceHart’s games, I played this game for about three hours on solo mode.

Here’s the scoop: the game is very much based on the MMORPG concept.  You grind (kill multiple monsters to earn exp or points) and complete quests.  Your hero has restrictions on what type of spells he/she can accumulate.  You’re often left with a sense of mild accomplishment whenever you gain a new level, and let me remind you that I’ve been playing this game for hours, which should tell you that I was very entertained.

There was a ton to do and see.  The map looked beautiful.  Each region was crafted so professionally that I didn’t really mind grinding so many monsters in one area.  Actually, I kinda enjoyed it.  I also liked the cheesy comments my hero would randomly say (kinda like a Duke Nukem or Gex game).  I also liked the talk-able critters, like a hermit crab.

Each new event or accomplishment brought profound excitement, which is rarely experienced in a WC3 map.  As I entered new islands, I got this overflowing sense of adventure.  I wanted to go fight some ravenous monster with only a broadsword.  I really did feel like I was defeating numberless foes in dense combat.

In this unique ORPG, there’s a whole new game created within the game.  Now, I know that’s silly to say, but the creators actually destroyed almost every foundation of WC3 and replaced it with something else.  The interface, the titles, the information, the descriptions, almost every little detail was modified, including the fight system.  Instead of click and attack and wait, the player is forced to command each and every swing of a blade, fling of an arrow, and swish of a knife.  The challenge is, your swing has a cool-down.  The longer you wait to thrust your blade into your foe – the better chance you’ll have to do more damage!  So, your character can inflict damage ranging from 0 – 100, depending on how long you wait periodically.  I’m sure there’s a formula for success, but I haven’t figured it out yet.  And depending on your luck or some sort of complicated RPG attribute, your character automatically does combo attacks.  I haven’t played the game enough to know how this works, but I’m sure people here would know.

If you didn’t know, Dark Invasion II is still very much a live.  Although the game stopped updating within almost a year now, players still gather to play Dark Invasion and Dark Invasion II on a regular basis.  I can’t join the ranks of elite players who grind until they reach the cap level to defeat the legendaries, but maybe you will.  Hey, if you do, send me a PM sometime.  Maybe we could play a game or two.  It would be fun.  But I’m just sayin’…  I mean: I’m not too desperate.

Add me.

The reason this game’s community can still flourish is because of all the things you can do.  You can cook, fish, explore, quest, dig for treasure, pillage, steal, fight endless enemies, and show off your impressive work to your bodies (maybe even a potential girlfriend, haha) with screenshots.  The save/load system also works wonderfully.  I had no issues loading my character into any new game I made, and I’ve replayed the map about three times.  Every time my character and items were restored, and the game ran so smoothly.  I actually thought for a minute that I was playing one of those big titled MMORPGs like Guild Wars or WoW, yet it was easily acknowledged that there was no one screaming on the chat that they wanted to marry Paris Hilton or wanted to “cybr wth ne1.” Maybe that’s a plus.

I give Dark Invasion II by Arkan a 10 out of 12.

The game was almost flawless, yet there was a huge flaw in the camera.  It was so bad that the gameplay suffered, yet the whole game was just a thrill overall!  I haven’t swore at a game in a long time.  Maybe you’ll have better luck with this turtle.

But for now, I guess I gotta start working on the Wednesday review, so I can’t stick around to fight anymore monsters.  Until then, keep on mappin’, Wc3 fans!

Defend the Tower II by AceHart

Defend the Tower II by AceHart

Many of you are probably familiar with tower defense games.  Throughout various waves of mobs, you use upgradeable towers to defend a certain area from being overrun.  This is an example of a very common tower defense game, but have you ever played AceHart’s version of tower defense?  It’s rather unorthodox and very fun. To add to AceHart’s the stern nonconformism, AceHart uses a Q&A format to introduce his new map.

Q: What’s different to single-player?
A1: It’s multi-player
A2: Some minor details are greatly different

Q: I can’t seem to win anymore…
A: That would be one of the minor details that are greatly different

Q: Any other such “details”?
A: Plenty

Q: Played with comps and they had a truck-load of own units. Where did he get all those Charm charges from?
A: There are other ways…

Q: I’m sure I have more Creeps to kill than anyone else!
A1: Well all know that random really isn’t
A2: It’s a conspiracy
A3: Blizzard hates you

Q: Hey, I found a shop!
A: Tried using it?

Q: Yep. But that somehow went the wrong way…
A: Damn. Use with care. Comps don’t by the way.

Q: It’s not in GUI anymore.
A: I know.

Q: Still looking for replays?
A: Always

Q: What if I didn’t do that well?
A: How badly you (got) owned is of little importance

Q: It doesn’t work!
A: Oh, really?

Q: Yeah, really!
A1: Details man, details. What, where, who, why and what should have happened instead?
A2: Got the replay?

This unique teaser just made me more curious, and I explored this game by playing it multiple times.  Actually, I’ll probably play it later today even!  Do you need more reasons why this game is awesome?  Well, I suppose a quick review is expected.

You begin the game off with little instruction.  You have one tower.  It is your primary and only tower.  This tower is also a hero, so it can level up during battle.  Each time your tower levels up, you can upgrade one spell.  There are four upgradeable spells: extra arrow, extra cannon, extra click, and extra charges.

These upgrades cause immediate changes to your tower.  An extra arrow gives you one more projectile to hurl at the enemy.  The extra cannon creates a revolving, spiked ball above your unit.  This spiked ball fires cannon balls at the waves of enemies.  An extra click ability allows you to cause damage to enemies by merely clicking on them.  This is useful if you’re a quick clicker.  The extra charges spell allows you to accumulate more helpful items throughout the game.

There are also other ways to inflict damage to your foes.  You can use other, non-upgradeable spells: rune summoner, summon footmen, entangling roots, fire bolt, and my morbid favorite – exploding corpses.  Rune summoner changes the runes that are dropped by mobs.  When you collect 5 runes, you gain one item; this is rather helpful if you want to charm a creature or increase health or mana.  Summon footmen spawns two footmen in an area near your tower.  These units can cut through the thick waves of monsters, and they can also collect dropped runes.  But be quick!  Footmen and runes disappear very suddenly.  Entangling roots impedes mobs.  Fire bolt knocks a monsters into a daze and also damages it with fire.  Exploding corpses blows up dead units and causes massive damage.  But the recharge takes a very long time.

Sounds good so far?  Well, there’s more.  You also have items to choose from: charm, health, and mana.  Charm allows you to convert one monster to your side.  Health heals your hit-points.  Mana gives you more mana, which is rarely needed in any of the matches that I play.  The only way to acquire more items is by collecting runes, so make sure you collect as many as you can with footmen or charmed creatures!

Finally, there’s a mysterious shop in the center of the map.  This shop is not for the weak-at-heart.  Here, you can purchase upgrades for monsters that spawn in the entire map.  Though you have three other plays in three other unique regions, they can take a real hit if they are unprepared for a level 8 monster or a sudden change in mana count.  Imagine trying to hold off a wave of 20 monsters without any spells to cause massive damage.  I guess you better start cranking out the health and mana and charm items! 🙂

I give Defend the Tower II by AceHart a 11.5 out of 12.

The game has a great atmosphere and a teasing challenge that will have you glued to your computer for an hour or so.  If you feel like you’re ready for some major losing, try AceHart’s Defend the Tower II.  If you somehow manage to win one game, comment below.  Braggin’ rights are well-deserved.

Keep on mappin’, WC3 Fans.