Architectural Design

  Jones Crusher presents a fairly-tight little romp in a 4-tier playland. Strong in
design with brick-work & concrete bound with metal-panels, it exudes solid
playability & rich aesthetics. The layout is exemplary & provides realistic
construction.

  The walls are intricately detailed alternating with columnar-structures & inset-
panels. Stairs provide most ascension save for two plats. One plat takes you to the
CG while the other lifts you up a distance from the RL.


Atmosphere & Lighting

  There exists no real ambience to speak of, no sound or movement within. Rather,
its focus is on very intense play. Addition of wind-noise would have done wonders
in the atrium. The lighting is a bit bland with browns seemingly everywhere.
Sourced white & yellow lights are placed well throughout illuminating the board at
just the right spots.

  A standard Q2-skybox provides even more orange-glow. This setting may have
been ideal in a nighttime situation to offset some of the mono-color textures.


Style & Textures

  Due in part to Biff's custom texture-set, theme runs a little too consistent for many
tastes. The textures are excellent but some darker choices would have highlighted
the level better in a few areas. I found only a handful of misalignments in the bricks
but these don't really show when you're running by at 50mph in heavy-battle.

  The walls near the Mega seem a bit bland. Its ceilings are very well done in a
criss-cross fashion while adding strength & variety across. Venting prevails in
most corners & the floors are outlined in well-chosen trim. Only a solitary
texture seems odd, that being the floor-tile in front of the tele near the CG.
It simply is wider than the tile in front of the other one.


Weapons, Ammo, & Items

  During the beta-testing phase, entity-placements were vastly improved. The
weapons are spread evenly & provides the blaster-totin' player to nab a decent
arm within seconds of spawing-in. There exists an RG, RL, HB, CG, & SSG for
your killing sprees. Personally, I would have tossed a GL into the mix. There are
two rooms that cried out for a weapon, any weapon. The RL placement would
have been alot better switched with the RG which sits in the main-arena. This
would have turned out to be the "hot-spot". Regardless, mayhem occurs in all
areas of the level. Weapon-placements are enhanced by indicators beneath.

  Ammunition is plentiful. It was nice to see a limited amount of cells to feed the HB
as it can lag a few players running dialup. Shells make a good showing for all you
SSG-freaks. A six-pack of bullets lie around in 2 groups of 3 providing much-
needed rounds for the hungry CG. Four rocket-packs & two slugs are all you get in
here. Most action comes from the rocks. As an afterthought to beta, I think two of
the rockets would fair better if replaced with grenades. Even without a GL, a slight-
sprinkling of grenades here & there would have filled out the empty rooms while
giving you something else to play with.

  A Mega-Health can be had high above the main-arena tucked neatly away in its
cubby. While playing a hook-mod, the Mega is the item of desire & many a foe
opens himself up while going for it. A Jacket-Armor sits down a short flight of
stairs from the RL, while the Combat-Armor gives the 2nd real control-point in the
level. A set of 3 shards sit below the RG & a set of 4 adjacent give an audible-clue
to enemy location.

  There exists a Quad-powerup somewhere near the plat from the Combat-Armor. I'll
leave it for you to find. One tactic I just piss myself is camping in the Quad with the
Chaingun. When your adversary opens the door, I'll grab the Quad on my way out
& just rip him a new asshole. Surprise!! My god that's the limit. =)


Balance & Gameplay

  Game-flow is hampered near the CG. Everywhere else you simply run straight-
ahead. Around the CG however, you must back-pedal otherwise 180 as it feels like
a dead-end. Even though it sits next to a teleporter, navigation still is awkward in
this area.

  The good news is that Jones fucking ROCKS in deathmatch with anything greater
than a 2-player count. This level is great for 1v1 & really shines through in 3 or 4
FFA. There is enough ammo for the recommended load, but beyond it simply
becomes a frag-fest testing your skills of survivability.

  Connectivity is definately the strongest-point this map has going for it.
Always twisting & turning, you can effectively hunt down your enemies. You can't
really render yourself unavailable when necessary though. The layout supports the
chase-method of dialing in your victims. When you whittle them down to the point
of giving chase, up & down the stairs you'll go firing. All the while taking them
downtown.

  Rounding out the run are 2, two-way Q1-style teleporters. The one next to the
CG throws a cog into your smooth navigation. Upon entering, you may have to
grab the Chain 1st then strafe a bit into the tele. On exit of said tele, you must
be prepared to strafe-right to grab the Chain then spin a 180 to continue. It feels
very unnatural to upset your flow to this extent & a better space for the port
would be directly in front of the CG with the plat to your left.


Technical & Presentation

  R_speeds average around 300-400 & tops-out in the 700-range in one unlikely
spot. Clip-brushes are fully-utilized & absolutely no snags can be found anywhere.
There is a balcony of sorts as you head down the stairs toward the HB. I wish one
could run between the columns & camp out there but its not meant to be. I found
a small HOM-effect near the RL but it could not be reproduced by the author.
I experienced no other anomolies to speak of.

  The accompanying documentation is sparse & the relevant compile-info is not
present for you techno-philes. The most basic information is available &
adequate credits are given.


Conclusion

  Jones Crusher has fast become one of my favorite targets of all time. The furious-
fighting within justifies it as being one of the best maps for Q2 in quite some time.
It can definately hold its own against better known levels like AeroQ2. I highly
recommend trying this killing-ground on my server & you'll agree its deathmatch at
its finest... A-