Ruins of Atlantis + Sumerian Ziggurat

[b] *Apologies to the author for the extreme delay reviewing this file, I am still having difficulty getting through the backlog!* Please note that as these maps were originally created for singleplayer use, they do not contain the necessary file to show up in the map selection menu in multiplayer! To play these in BOTH Singleplayer and Multiplayer, enter [i]/devmap atlantis_final[/i] in the console for the Atlantis map and for the Ziggurat map enter [i]/devmap traum_final[/i] in the console in either single player or multiplayer! [/b] I am a big fan of ancient ruins, there is something alluring about the remains of temples and other great structures that are thousands of years old. I also have a particular fondness for the Atlantis myth and indeed Mesopotamian architecture and culture, I have been to the British Museum and they have some amazing relics in there, such as the Ram in the Thicket and the Standard of Ur. And what do you know, here comes a map pack which contains both! Actually I have always been a little miffed that Mesopotamia has been neglected in games and movies, by far the more popular ruins and locations in things like Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider and other archaeological adventure stories are Egypt, Central and South America and occasionally more mysterious places like Antarctica or the Pacific islands. The seat of human civilisation doesn’t seem to have gotten the airtime it deserves! Anyway, lets split this review up into two sections, one for each map. [b]Atlantis[/b] This map has a definite similarity in theme to the Greek levels from Tomb Raider Anniversary (the Cistern / Tomb of Tihocan level I think?), what with all the diving through watery Greek ruins! There are some long underwater tunnels as well, something you will need force speed for if you want to get out alive! Of course, if Atlantis did exist in the real world, it most certainly would not have had Greek architecture. Everyone just makes Atlantis look Greek because Plato, who wrote about it, was Greek! If it ever did exist I would say it would have architecture closer to the Egyptian/Mayan styles. In any case, the map is very well put together, with nice high resolution textures and good architecture. The ambient sound effects also add nicely to the atmosphere. There are multiple rooms to explore including one that is half underwater, which reminds me of the Poseidon section of St. Francis Folly level from Tomb Raider Anniversary! As far as improvements go, I think the rocks could have done with a little more work to make them look more natural and less angular, but overall the map is great! [b]Sumerian Ziggurat[/b] While I like the Atlantis map, I have to say that this is definitely my favourite map out of the two. Mesopotamian art and architecture is very unique and can be quite colourful, if you have ever seen the Babylonian Ishtar Gate. This map is also pretty huge with several distinct areas that you have to get through, from the main interior area at the start, then to the village area outside, and finally past the walls to the Ziggurat itself. All the while having to deal with those pesky time travelling Reborn\'s jumping on you from the shadows! I really loved both the architecture and the texture work, both looked great and the textures were nice and detailed, photo sourced presumably. The architecture looks brilliant, overall it is very authentic and fairly accurate to all the pictures and reconstructions I have seen, one thing that really irked me though were the shiny shaders on some of the textures, especially on the ceiling! I’m guessing these were supposed to make the textures look like polished stone, but the shader is so obvious there is almost like a glare coming from the ceiling in the corridors and on some of the wall decorations, which looks very odd next to the normal textures on the rest of the interior! Apart from that though the map is really good, the giant Ziggurat at the end and those massive walls are most impressive! Though having to fight your way through loads of those time travelling Reborn\'s does get a little tiring after a while. All in all two good maps here with very interesting - and in the case of the Ziggurat - pretty unique subject matter! Unfortunately this is the last file from Zurvan_Akarana as his new computer apparently will no longer run JKA. That said, if it happens to be because of a new operating system like Windows 7, don’t give up hope as there are still ways to get older games like JKA to work perfectly with them! In any case, its always sad to see a good modder go, but thank you for all your work and your cool files over the years and I hope if you get your compatibility problems sorted you might return! :) [b]Bot Support:[/b] No (Singleplayer) [b]New Textures:[/b] Yes [b]New Sounds:[/b] Yes [b]New Music:[/b] Yes [b]Game Types:[/b] Singleplayer, but ot does work in Multiplayer with the instructions at the start of the review! ~Nozyspy~