Custom Map Reviews – Kink

Channel:

Overcooked Sushi

Subscribers:

794

Published on August 10, 2014 8:47:07 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3GndD5J2-8

Game:

Left 4 Dead 2 (2009)

Category:

Review

Duration: 2:27:30

675 views

2

Kink
Can be downloaded here...
http://www.gamemaps.com/details/2825

Campaign Description...
Plot: The survivors have escaped from the zombies by using a boat, but an incident forced them to dock. The army seems to be here, but they quickly notice that they cannot count on them... What happened to that boat? What to do? Where to go? Will survivors survive again? o_O

Kink... the bane of my existence since the day it came out... after so long of not being able to beat it... I finally decided it was time to dig in... Was it worth it?... Yes... Yes it was...

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Pros
+ Unique and challenging puzzles
+ Plethera of custom melee weapons
+ Plenty of dynamic pathing
+ Dynamic chapter intro

Cons
- Mediocre visuals...
- Uber punishment for the slightest mistake...
- Puzzles devolve into guessing games...
- Lots of navigational issues...
- Unavoidable, death trap scenarios that could not have known of prior...

Final Verdict
75/100

**Please note that this campaign is technically unfinished... since it is supposed to be a five map campaign...**

Kink is a lot like 2019 II... it does something completely different... and while I applaud it for its effort for straying away from the path... I will slap the shit out of it for the gameplay choices made in order to make it unique...

Go on youtube right now... search for “left 4 dead 2 kink” since apparently a lot of people don't think to add “L4D2” as a tag... Of the handful of videos CURRENTLY there, how many of them actually beat the map?... because as of today... there is not a single video of the ending... which will lead into the major problem... This map is simply too hard...

The puzzles, while unique and complex, are not well made in terms of player communication... I can guarantee only a dozen of so people even know how that first puzzles works... then only a handful of them know how to beat it... The puzzles in the apartments, how is anyone supposed to know the entire floor will explode the first time, or that the bulldozer will come back, or that there is no subway key, or even that there is a van you can use to stop the hordes?... Not only do most of the puzzles chop of a limb as punishment for failure... but first time players will have nothing to go by on how to solve them... there is no clues, no hints, no communication... which could be easily solved...

Puzzles one, you could at least label the values for one set of valve... which the paper does to some extent... but you need to make it more apparent what the actually goal is... that and maybe fix up the trash a bit... it got stuck in between the trigger pushes once... and never moved...
Platforming section, I would honestly suggest find a way to prevent hanging, remove the navigation to keep the bots on standby, and tell the director to disable fall damage for just long enough so it will enable while still falling... in order to only incap... it gives the player a second chance that way...
Subway Puzzle, Start with a door model that is already busted... communicate to the player that they don't need the key...

Stuff like this... give the player a chance to survive, and give the player a chance to start... do this with all of your guessing game puzzles... and I will have no issues with them...

Now for the good... I liked the chapter intros, that was a nice touch...
I loved the Dynamic pathing... it is always nice to see someone use it, and use it effectively...
The melee weapons... oh the melee weapons... I'll be honest here, finding a new one was one of the few things that kept me going towards the end there... it gave me some happiness each time...

Overall... I don't know what to say... It is one of the hardest maps I have ever played, hands down... and I can't really say that is a good thing... Most players will not put of with that kind of bullshit... once they die to something they couldn't avoid, a large portion of them will quit and never return... that is the risk you take when you make the difficulty too much... Then you have puzzles that at first glance are impossible... it makes the player feel stupid, which will further lower the chances of people continuing the map once they hit another hard puzzle...

It is an extreme exercise in masochism... Most of you know that is right up my alley... but FAR from it for most people... Play at your own risk, and feel free to use this vid as a guide... ;)



Intro music - "Cybernetic" by D1scordant
Final Verdict music - "...Justice for none" by D1scordant

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