Aperture Discord/Test Chamber 23 by Korjagun
A map simply about flinging, however a nice map at that, which introduces flinging methods of all kinds. Something I like to see in maps, or in any work, is people extending a method or game mechanic. And this map does just that.
As it starts off, the map is built nicely from the ground up, good lighting, nice atmosphere added into it, and a good sense of design thats solid.
As the map progresses to the next stages, it requires even more balance to added effects. Thats were it falls a part a bit though however. One of the final areas, require the player to actively place portals on walls, while having hardly and room to place them, whilst navigating a energy ball towards a ball catcher. The 'getting the ball in its catcher' isn't the hard part, but its simply getting towards the area to place a portal is. The one thing that was interesting about it was, even though it was difficult, it still had this challenge feel implemented in it, and for that it stays current to the map and very solid.
After that, the map re-introduces new flinging, where the 'Don't forget to crouch' is perhaps forced upon the player in order to make it over gaps. Now thats not a bad thing. It's in fact good, showing that this is a mechanic that many mappers use, even when in multiplayer games and such. Which is why I don't hate the final fling, in fact I really, really like it. It uses that technique while at the same time has sort of that 'whoa barely made that' feel towards it, which is pretty awesome.
In turn, this map is fairly good, with just a few minor difficulties in it. And maybe perhaps far to difficult for some players of different skill levels.
The map teaches a lot of new ways to do simple flings, along with the addition of some new ones.
The map also includes some simple nice puzzles, like the box button puzzle, which is simple and easy. Also i brought back a crusher, so thats always a nice thing to have in portal, and made me smile when I saw it.
The only bad thing in this entire map was the ball catcher puzzle, it felt to hard at a glance, and became even more harder once done, however the inlined window did make it a bit more easily, however its something that might be overlooked.
Gameplay: Very good, with minor difficulties, however was great and very fun. 4/5
Design: Very solid, with just a tiny nodraw face added in by accident. However it was solid, and never felt out of the way or odd within the map. 5/5
Sound: Having Glados in each portal map is always a cool thing, and she was in this one, i add this in due to it makes the environment at times, and it felt right here. 5/5
Lighting: Another addition to the review is lighting, because it can make or break a map. In this map, it feels nice, with the control rooms giving off the main light, and not to mention there wasn't any fake lighting used within this map as it seems. So for that it makes the map feel like your in Aperture labs. 5/5
Puzzles: Solid, nice, and nicely difficult. Maybe a few more tweaks to aid the player in terms of the ball catcher goal and it will be perfect. 4/5
A great Map, and worth playing!