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So, I just finished the newly released "Beneath the Void 4". That ranks up there as one of the worst CTM experiences I've ever had. Man. I like, want to write a review for it, but I also just want to stop thinking about it.

-Beneath the Void 4 (1.8.7)

Difficulty: 1
Overall Enjoyment: 1

Comments:

This map tried so hard too. However, it managed to fail at pretty much everything it attempted, and felt like a confusing mess at the same time. From the insanely confusing "Class Select" system at the start that failed to even let me do any class selecting, to the way a player progesses from the white wool, I already felt like I had no idea what was going on and that the map maker really didn't do much in the way of testing. Then we got to the Monument, and I discovered where all the effort for this map went. Absolutely stuffed with Command Block features, the monument is also the hub, and swaps intersections based on which button you press (unlocked as you progress). However, it felt very cobbled together. Area titles gave no indication as to the order you should attack them in, some intersections didn't have four areas, and without much clear reasoning, new intersections unlocked as random areas were finished, along with appearing and disappearing chests. The environment outside (that didn't seem worth going into) changed block colors as you selected an Intersection, but it really didn't change the gameplay at all. When wools were placed, an item floated down from above and you were given it. Sometimes. There's even a crafting system, I think. I lost the book early due to one of those random teleporting chests overriding one of my storage chests that it was in. So there's that.

But that's just the monument. The areas are boring. Outright boring, and felt quite uninspired for the most part. Every single area has lazily placed spawners that aren't primed or hidden for the most part, so instead of fighting, you just walk around with a pick, break spawners, and occasionally hit the naturally spawned mobs that rarely turn up. Areas are made of loosely cut out caves, with some random block variation and occasional structures or features, but those never really make an impact on the gameplay. Light Blue Wool for instance was a big cavern with water and islands in the water and floating above, but instead of having gameplay on those, you just swim until you see the wool box, then get it, then leave. No mobs felt threatening or interesting or even really unique. This continued for two intersections before the first custom mob showed up. I was excited, until it died with ease, and then was spammed along with a few other mobs that didn't really do anything super interesting throughout the area. The mapmaker even used weighted spawners, but it wasn't to any sort of impressive effect, it just made the spawners that much more boring. After the first custom mob showed up, I was even more disappointed to see that exact same set of mobs continue to turn up in each area. Making matters worse, the areas got more and more and more boring, turning into just different colored caves carved out of whatever material the map maker had chosen. One area was just full Obsidian and led to an awful looking Volcano. Another was just a wide open cavern made of bedrock, andesite, and quartz, with a bunch of random tunnels in the ground, and random ice trees. For all the custom stuff at the Monument, it was depressing to see how little effort went into each area.

The last few areas just made things worse though. The Brown wool was, of course, a joke wool, and took 10 seconds. The Blue, Green, and Red wools all used the exact same gameplay, asking you to hop over a random assortment of blocks that seemed to have been placed using a randomblocks filter over air, and tried to get you to fall onto other blocks or into void, while mobs attacked you, as you moved from a couple safe spots to a couple more. It was okay with the first one, but then after the second, and walking into the third, I outright groaned. Could the map maker not think of something more interesting and more fun that a THIRD "leap over this stuff to get somewhere else". Even worse, every single one of those areas used the same set of custom mobs to try and kill you - Ghasts, charged creepers, blazes, and spiders with potions on their back.

Then there's the black wool. This one randomly splits any players up based on their class, then sends you through a series of areas to reconnect with everyone. This would seem cool, if it wasn't for the fact that the area just recycled custom mobs again, and once again bored me senseless. It had terrible pathfinding too, with the way forward just being random dark holes that I'd not notice until I was getting fed up. Then, you reached the final bit. A sudden and random redux of the White Wool, but without a floor on the very bottom. It would have been much more interesting too, if it hadn't just been a spawner spam of the same custom mobs, with easy ender pearl spaces, and generally bad design. Once you pick up the wool (not step into the box, I might add, like the White Wool did), you get ported back to the monument, and you can end the map. With a heaving chest, I placed the wool, and then quickly went and drowned myself in the water below. I was free.

All in all, this map was a mess of confusing, half-executed ideas, with little worth doing. Even the custom loot items like "tomes" you toss on the ground to activate, didn't add any real flavor to this map. Custom mobs were uninspired and recycled everywhere. Area design was dull and boring. Don't play this map.

SCORE
Aesthetics: 2
Creativity: 3
Gameplay: 2
TOTAL: 7

Quote from TheCarlushow»

After seeing Fang's review I'm scared of him playing my map. Dang it Fangs.

I'm brutal yo