Map 3 of 6: Bloodlust

Yeah baby yeah! Oldschool Quake players will definitely remember this map from Quake 3 and even Quake 2 and being made for idsoftware by Threewave – one of the best mapping teams for Quake 3 ever – idsoftware now reformed it into a Quake Live release: Bloodlust aka qzctf9.

“Bloodlust” is a regular ctf map without the runes and is suitable for 8 to 10 players.

By now everybody already heard of it and probably might have played a few games on it already, but I especially waited 2 days after release to gather some first impressions.

It seems many find the gameplay on this map troublesome, because it has 5 distinct areas which each form a bottleneck in getting the flag from either side to home base and that this will lead to heavy base camping or midfield lockdowns. Many also don’t see this as a competitive map, just as it did not last that long in Quake 3 as well, especially with W2 and W3 alongside.

However I’d like to point out why it definitely deserves a chance, namely this is the first ctf map in Quake Live where teamplay is absolutely crucial. There is no way you can perform a sneaky in and out on your own to steal a cap on this map. Both powerup cycles (haste/regen in base and quad in middle) require teamwork to hold and then requires that same teamwork to destroy enemy base, grab the flag and run under the cover of your remaining teammates back home.

There is no I in team and this map shows why: on your own, you are cannon fodder, but with 2 or 3 attacking at the same time, and with a decent control of the maps crucial points, a team can secure victory.

I can only hope teams will enjoy the intense concentration that a map like Bloodlust requires in order to bring the flag home!

You can find more information and a few screenshots of the maps here. For next week, the Quake Live team announces the release of a duel map!

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