Title: Akasha's Temple
Author: Lestat De Lioncourt
Download: Here

I was quite pleasantly surprised by this map when I loaded it up I was expecting something like a gothic style cathedral or something along that vein but when I was confronted by this Egyptian/ Setite offering I was quite surprised.

My first impression of the map was that it was small, small and surrounded by water. This however is not a problem. As we'll see the map is comprised of two main areas: a temple and a boat dock.

You enter the map on the dock which looks like it was built for smaller sailing boats and I got the distinct impression that this place wasn't exaclty frequented by a lot of people. A secret Setite temple perhaps?

This section of the map is very well put together and the torch lighting gives the run up to the temple a good bit of atmosphere. The work on the ground is good and I didn't feel at any time like I was viewing a flat surface, which is something that bugs me about some maps.

The main temple itself is again very well constructed with only one entrance provided by a set of stairs. Inside and around the temple the author has made good use of the Setite style props with various vases and statues placed around the map. Luckily the props are not too cluttered and the author has exercised a bit of control when placing them.

I like this map but I have a few problems with it, I'll start with the smallest first. On some occaisions the lighting appears to have no source, such as here, this is pretty annoying, a simple torch would have made it look at whole lot better, in a map as dark as this is all the light sources get noticed.

Another small gripe is that on the columns that hold up the temple the textures do not tile properly and as such look disjointed. Luckily for the author this is only a small problem and you actually have to really look for it to see it.

One thing that bugged me about the map was that their seemed to be an island somewhere in the middle of the sea that I just couldn't get to. If anyone knows how to get to it or what it is please e-mail me and tell me, I'll sleep better tonight if you do.

Scoring -

Originality: 4

You don't see many Setite temples when you're browsing the Mod Haven and as such it definately stands out from the crowd.

Artistry: 3

The architecture is ok on this map, there is nothing very compicated here. Lucily for the author the map doesn't need anything particularly complicated so it manages to get away with it.

However there is also some great eye candy on this map. Shown of in screen shots like here and here. This is mainly down to the author's great use of lighting.

Authenticity: 5

This map could easily be fitted into any game involving the Followers of Set and I'd heartily recommend it for use in such a scenario.

Technical: 3

There are some issues with this map such as some textures not tiling properly and the "no source" lights but all in all a very competent map.

Overall: 15

Extra -

Although this pack is available on it's own I would recommend getting it as part of one of the Maps Galore packs from Mod Haven.