Ahh the sweet smell of roasted flesh .. You'll find quite a bit of that here in DM-Arumbar. It's a tad smallish, and the author recommends 4-6 players although it will seat 8 comfortably.. any more than that, and the carnage just gets too intense. Good for 2vs2 TDM though.

I've always been big on traps and tricks, as many of you who read my past reviews know (like those in the Unreal 1 maps DM-DropZonev2 and DM-AdrenalineOverdose) however this level is a bit more subtle in that regard. The twisty little maze that makes up the tight-fragging architecture here, has some turns and dead-ends that end in drop-offs ... landing you in a nice comfy pit of lava. They aren't large or difficult to avoid, nor are they everywhere, so unless you're simply not paying attention (which can happen often when the fragging gets intense), play here will require of the player a darned good sense of spatial coordination. There is a certain diabolical sense of subtlety in this, and I can readily appreciate a good subtle trap. :-) It can be annoying, true, but it's not nearly as bad as those maps you can constantly fall off of that drive us all to distraction (DM-Morpheus, DM-Faith, etc).

Architecture is nice here, not too much nor too little, but nice attention to small details. (see the screenshots) No simple room/corridor/room/corridor, here. It's quite a maze, actually. Some good z-axis action, albiet tight, in some areas. Also another nice architectural feature would be that you can't translocate up to the roof, but the map does extend visually past that point (something I've always liked) -- adds a certain sense that there's a bit more to the place than what you can see.

The Damage Amp, being somewhat farther away from the action, and in a dead-end corridor means you won't have players grabbing for it constantly (although there is a spawn point nearby). Even if you DO grab it as you spawn, you'll still have to run a bit to get a weapon of enough caliber to abuse it, or to get back to the rest of the action going on. A well-thought-out touch.

Texturing is also well done, although I thought the stone flagging on the floor looked a tad cartoonish, however you'll not notice this too much while playing, being too busy dishing out the punishment and watching your step. :-)

Bots go *almost* everywhere and get *almost* everything, with the sole exception being the sniper rifle, which goes strangely un-used.. I would have expected such a lovely nest to be camped by at least one bot in the match. Near-perfect, but no cigar, Raimond. soooooo close though :-)

Weapon placement is darned good as well, though there were some ammo caches I thought a bit incongruous, or perhaps better moved a bit farther from certain powerups (like the rocket packs right next to the shield belt). I prefer a bit of mix-and-match myself.

Lighting? Lovely. Raimond's 'sunlight' is used to great effect here, casting shadows and light through the various ceiling fixtures and other architectural details placed around the map.. nice touch of realism for a tight map such as this. Flames cast their own light, the lava pools also reflect a 'glow' on the surrounding walls, and all in all I have very few complaints. None, in fact. hehe :-) This level is a great example for newbie mappers on what to do with your lighting.

The map itself almost seems like an abandoned Quake design that's been re-cast for the Tournament. heh. Very visually consistent, and solid throughout. I kept expecting some of the bridges to creak as I ran over them. Sound however is also well done, generally, and pretty much everything is appropriate, subtle, and adds to the realism levels.

Flow is very tight, considering the maze-like qualities of the map, but is somewhat hindered by the traps and the architecture; However, once familiar with it, you'll really enjoy it, I think. At least, my clan-mates did.

Playability? just great. Not a shred of lag anywhere, even on my ancient VooDoo 3.

Definitely a keeper, as far as I'm concerned. Download it, host it, enjoy it. 'nuff said. Outstanding job, Raimond. Keep 'em coming!