This map is set in a relativily small town, divided by a minor lake. Most downtown buildings have been destroyed, but the outskirts remain intact. The bombed out buildings provide excellent hiding opportunities for snipers, although this map also allows for close range combat.
Presentation / Technical
The brush work in this map is well done. I found some Z-fighting, but this isn't really a problem. The destroyed buildings look natural and at most places the proportions are right. The entire map is built on a large piece of LOD terrain, scattered with impact craters. Some patch meshes were used to emphasize certain details. The end result looks good and realistic.
I didn't find any texture errors, but I do think the author has used the same set of textures too much. Combined with the very dense dark grey fog, this results in a monocolored map. The use of a couple more different textures would definately have added to the variety.
The lighting isn't done too well either. I found a couple of lit spots without a light being nearby. Moreover, I think the lights inside the houses waste the war atmosphere and reduce realism. Finally, the map as a whole is too dark, which makes it hard to see your enemy, although this is easily solved by increasing brightness.
The fog is very important to get this map playable, as it's the only barrier between the two ends of the map. The map doesn't appear to be fully vised, that is, none of the buildings block sight. Still, my mtex counter peaked at 15 mega-texels on 1024 * 768 highest detail, which is neat and can be compared to original maps.
Playability / Game Flaws
The pk3 file contains both a deathmatch and a capture the flag version. I found a server running the CTF version, but - sadly - this server was empty. Therefore, I only play-tested the DM version.
Except for the short visibility range, the map is very well playable. Snipers play an important role, but they also risk an attack from behind. Apart from the bridge there are numerous ways to reach the other side, so that gameplay is very varied. A couple of machinegun turrets furthermore add to the ways of playing this map.
Conclusion
Thunder II is a map with varied gameplay but the looks get boring quickly. If you like maps with lots of fog and sniper hide-outs, you'll probably like this map. Otherwise, you may still like this map, so even then it's worth a download. All in all the map isn't spectacular on it's design nor on it's architecture, but it's a decent area to train your fighting skills. It is obvious the author has put a lot of work in it and that has resulted in another nice map.
