Title: House in the Forest
Author: Unknown
Download: Here

I like snow, it reminds me off days off school, snowball fights and other childhood stuff. I still like to watch snow fall from my window as I think it makes the whole area where it falls look so much more clean and pure, for a little while at least.

It's for the above nostalgic reasons that I like snow maps, that and the fact that the NOD engine coupled with NSI's great snow textures make a damn good job of rendering the look of snow without all that unpleasant cold stuff that goes along with it.

You may be asking yourself why I'm going on about snow, well in case you haven't guessed already or glanced over the screenshots to the right House in The Forest is a map that's mainly covered in snow.

When you enter the level you find yourself in the grounds of a small house which seems like it's out in the middle of nowhere. The house and surrounding area are also very dark ages in style with a horse and torches used for lighting. However I suspect it could easily be used in a modern day set chronicle.

This map contains a small house which is, it has to be said, quite small, lots of outdoor snow covered scenery and a cave which hold quite a surprise if explored but we'll get onto that later.

First thing first this map has problems. The first and main problem being that some of the textures either aren't there or look extremely weird. You start on a huge untextured D, the fence surrounding the house also has the same problem as does the entrace to the cave and the tunnel within said cave. Strange stuff indeed.

Another problem with the map is that the snow covered landscape looks extremely angular. That's right I said angular. I don't know when the last time I saw hills that were so square looking. A little time spent making realistic terrain here would have paid off greatly.

Whilst exploring the landscape I also got myself trapped by a signpost. A signpost! I could get past it okay but when it came to the return trip I found myself unavoidable stuck. This is the sort of thing that really annoys players and could mean instant death in some games. Imagine being chased by a Vozhd only to get trapped by a signpost. Authors please, test your maps thoroughly before releasing them.

The last small problem I have with this map is not a technical problem. Whilst exploring the cave section of the map I found myself a tunnel which led to a well put together expensive looking dark ages haven with four coffins inside, a number of bookcases and a great looking reflective floor.

You may be thinking what my problem is with this. Well after a lot of thought on the subject, both while reviewing it and later in work, I decided that this just didn't fit. It seems very out of place.

Don't get me wrong this room looks fantastic as does the cabe before it, it just seems wrong somehow. Why would four vampires be living (if that's a good term for something that's dead) in the middle of nowhere near a small cottage that looks like it was only built for one person?

These problems aside this map is pretty good and as I've said above I've got a soft spot for snow maps. If the above problems had been resolved I would have had no problems with giving this map a higher rating. However as it stands...

Scoring -

Originality: 3

This map does stand out and it has some touches that I've not seen in any other maps yet. Mainly the secret Haven that is inside the cave area.

Artistry: 3

The map is mostly well done with the landscape I feel letting it down. If this had been more realistic the map as a whole would have been much better.

Authenticity: 3

This map could be used for either dark or modern ages at a stretch but due to it's setting it's limited in it's use.

Technical: 2

This map has some serious texture problems and the terrain as already mentioned is to jagged to feel realistic unfortunately.

Overall: 11

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.