Historical sites are usually hard to recreate, but these guys have made a good impression. Having never been there, and only having dusty old black and white photos to look at in comparison, it looks like these guys have made a pretty accurate (space for artistic license, of course) recreation.
Presentation / Technical
As I have come to expect with this mapping pair, textures are well used with some great custom textures. Signs above almost every inside door tells you (in German) where it leads, which I can see being a definite bonus for gameplay. The front of the Reichstag has been peppered with so much shot it looks a bit unnatural however. Also, some of the buildings infront of the Reichstag are textures in the same 'peppered shot' texture as the Reichstag - whilst buildings next to them look untouched. The muddy rubble ground texture infront of the Reichstag is overused, and makes the outside look a bit plain and boring. Ah! And the horribly texured stubby barrels again!
The Reichstag is just great. The building has a very natural feel to it, although quite rectangular in feel, this building has a great amount of architectural variations and similarities to be interesting. Indie-mapped bricks lie behind holes, some windows are bricked up, locked doors are boarded up, they even fitted in some fire. Some of the rooms were very well done -peppered with details, but not overdone. Ending of the map inside the Reichstag was wonderful, but I thought the outside was overall a bit lacking. Not only is there no way out, but the buildings exude a very 'plain' feel, very rushed. The outside area is very hectic, looks rushed, and really lets the map down.
Nicely lit, although there were some coloured lights I felt were quite odd and out of place (the ones in the towers), although they fitted right in the 'facility' part. A nice beam effect on the windows in the chapel, and made the whole chapel look quite spectacular - maybe the effect was a little strong, however. I feel a lot of ambientlight in this map, but it does fit - although the map would probably be fine without it. Overall well lit.
The ambientsound was befitting of the occasion, although maybe a battle elsewhere would have been good to hear alongside it - it sounds a little 'stormy' as it is. Point sound was infrequent, but well used; machine hummings, fire - all well done.
Creative, whilst sticking to the period. The inside of the Reichstag particularly impressed me, with its variation. The outside, however, was a bit of a laggy mess. Which is a real shame - with a little more care, it would have helped the feel of the map tremendously. There were a few mapping styles in this map - Facility, Urban Wasteland, and Interior. The styles were merged well with each other, and the mixed styles helped give the map a natural feel.
Playability / Game Flaws
This map, I can imagine, would be great to play. A series of different playing styles - close combat, sniping, medium range - all there. The objective is a little strange... blowing up the flag? Stealing documents? Well, it kinda works. The spawnpoints are nicely spread out to help with variation of gameplay - and the respawning mode wisely chosen for such a large map. I believe it would be great to play, a siege experience mixed with some close combat - gameplay rarely found in MoH.
Conclusion
The inside is great, really great. The outside is quite disappointing. The gameplay looks cool. What more can I really say? Not as good as some of their other maps, perhaps - but damn close. Well mapped, guys! To download? Quickly!
