Third Dimension is like Quake, but for Mountain Goats.

The map oddly reminds me of Lucid Enigma by Dubbilan. A skinny, tall main atrium with a lot of verticality, surrounded by varying corridors that link highly varied levels and platforms. The connectivity of the map is good, although the jumppads take some getting used to as not all lead where you would expect. The map recommends 2-6 players, but I would lower it to 2-4 as there simply is not enough items on the map to sustain 6 players. It could make for a fast and interesting 2v2, with the presence of the Medkit up top to top up the available health.

Being a map with very little space to move and plenty of verticality, it requires fine control over your movement to save yourself from plunging deep down, but the bad, and lack of clipping makes this difficult at times. I understand that this may not be a map for many, but as someone who lives for weird and precarious movement and verticality, this one definitely goes down well with me. There are some sections that I would open out, simply for the extra space to move. The Shot Gun room is way too tight and if the wall were to be pushed back by another 128 game units, then it would make for a much smoother and more used area.

The map can be enjoyed in a duel, although the SG room and GL platforms rarely see any action. The RL and Rail Gun shine in this release, although the former of the two doesn't become a dominating weapon. There are a couple locations that allow you to guard items quite effectively, but these positions are also risky to take, which resulted in lots of back and forth fragging during my games.

The main issues I see with this map, which extend beyond duel, include the rather simple run from RA > Jumppad > MegaHealth. I feel that swapping the MegaHealth for the YA or Medkit would be a good move, as right now it is very easy to dominate the items on the map. Each area has at least two or three different exits, apart from the LG stairwell which can be a bit of a trap which you should be careful heading through. The LG is a pretty powerful weapon on this map, with lots of mid-range and vertical engagements which in a way makes up for the weird cubby that it sits in. I feel it would have been better placed halfway up the stairwell instead, as this is already a brutal area to be in.

The RG Jumppad is very satisfying - when you get it right. Some better clipping and a different shape trigger for the jumppad would make this a much smoother experience. This links back to my issues with the clipping. I understand that it may have been tricky trying to clip it off properly but its simply too tight to reliably use and its exposed nature makes it a bit of a death sentence at times.

Bots play reasonably well, when they aren't being idiots and getting stuck on the 3 jumppads under the RG. They do not seem to go for the Medkit, as it takes some strafe skills or the Rail Gun jumppad to access. This can make for easy pickings, but the small nature of the map makes nightmare bots a reasonable challenge.

Of the maps by Rynvord I've played, the main issue for me was the clipping. He shows great skill and thought with his brushwork, but too often I get stuck on light fixtures and such. In a duel it felt like deaths kills were because we got stuck in a corner, or caught a wall pillar trying to jump across a gap.

Niggles aside, I feel that this is a great map that shows how verticality and tight spaces can make for an enjoyable match, much better against humans. Give it a whirl, I am sure you will get a few interesting games out of it.

Reviewed by Spike

Tigs notes: If you think you have seen this map before, there is a good chance you have. A version of this map was released in 2005, with the same title but a different file name, different BSP name and the author appears to have gone by a different name back then as well.