"Shallow, possibly the deepest BR map ever"
Review by Sjosz
April 1, 2005

BR-UCMP-Shallow
by UCMP

Unreal Tournament 2004 Bombing Run for 4-8 players

Gameplay

Gameplay is the strongest point of UCMP, and this map proves that yet again. The balanced weapon layout makes sure that no match gets spammy, and everyone gets his/her share of weapons to shoot with before getting fragged eventually. No other map has used the redeemer weapon in a better way than this one. The playercount is about right too, though 2 more would certainly not hurt gameplay. Item placement is done superbly, health scattered across the layout just where you'd want it, and no overkill on healthvials or adrenaline pills. Ammo is enough to go with as well.
Furthermore, the layout itself proves to be quite interesting and will surely bring forth a set of highly exciting matches online.
Performance is awesome, it beats any retail map by far, providing higher FPS than I've seen on any custom map to date.

Construction

Visuals are simply brilliant. Though it's not the main goal for UCMP to create visually breathtaking environments to play in, they surely did now. With an astonishing amount of detail I might add.
How big an impact can a flying asteroid have? Well, check this map out and you'll know. Using detailed terrain, it really feels like you're on an asteroid near a big red planet. Somehow the forest surrounding the area you play in make it just that much better, and the beautiful looking puddle of water (hence the name shallow) tops it off perfectly. I may be biased because I'm actually part of this team, but not a word of this review is lied.
Visually it cannot be compared to anything made prior to this map. You'd almost say it's Unreal 3.

Computer AI

Online play beats everything of course, but if you're that unlucky fellow that still has to get by with a 56k connection, then don't fret. Bot play is the replacement for online matches, and botplay has been taken care of in this map like you wouldn't believe! Bots actually often seem to act way more intelligent than any human player I've seen. Passing the ball over long distances, covering each other in an assault, excellent defensive scripting, it's all there. The bots reach all the pickups there are, if I didn't know any better I would almost prefer offline play over online play, because you get the most tactical match of Bombing Run delivered right to your monitor with this beauty.