Far beyond the western edge of Earth the Elysium Platform lies nestled deep in a Martian crater. Although undoubtedly part of the heavens the question still remains; between mal-intentioned Terrorists armed with C4 explosives and deadly drops onto the cold Martian surface below will de_elysium be a playtime in paradise or a holiday in hell?

Created by mappers 3kliksphilip and SarahB, de_elysium is a classic bomb defuse map for Counter-Strike:Global Offensive. It was submitted to GameBanana as part of the recent Red Planet Mapping contest, and against some very strong competition it was voted the winner by the GB staff. The map has also been highly appreciated by GameBanana users, receiving (at time of writing) 20 votes in just two weeks and averaging a score of 9.85/10. Displaying a great sense of architectural design and a good structural layout, de_elysium is without a doubt a worthy winner of the contest.

Depicting a space-station platform built into one of the huge craters on Mars, de_elysium is a medium sized map that features a fairly embellished three-corridor layout. Although significantly different in its implementation and more complex in its detailing, de_elysium has a basic structure that is comparable to de_dust2; the two spawn areas are connected by three main paths (or routes) through the map, with the two objectives located at the CT end of the outermost paths. As with dust2 there are also additional connections between the centre path/route and each of the outside paths (in de_dust2 these connections being Short A and Lower B Tunnels). However whilst it's true that I did find the approach to bombsite B vaguely reminiscent of de_dust2's Long A approach to Site A (an open bombsite directly ahead on a higher level and just before the site a path arrives from the left, like from CT-Spawn on de_dust2) the rest of the map is very different in its architecture.

The Elysium platform is rectangle with two sides (north/east) built into the rock walls of the crater and the other two sides (south/west) open to the valley. The Terrorist team spawn on the outer edge of the platform in the west, on a sort of loading dock trap door, and the Counter-Terrorists spawn near to Site A in the north-east. Although the basic structure of the map follows the common three-corridor approach there are also quite a few subdivisions and embellishments within each of these corridors, especially on the approach to bombsite A.

Overview of map de_elysium. The green lines show the approximate limits of the walkable space, the other markings are explained in the text below.

I think that the map would ideally be suited to slightly more than five players per team, around seven to nine people would probably be optimum. With only five players per team it may be very difficult to cover all the flanks; when playing 5v5 with friends I found that there were numerous times when I was killed from behind 30-40 seconds into the round (my team did suck a little, to be fair). However the variety also means that with a few more players per team de_elysium should be a really fun and interesting map, hopefully rewarding brave and creative game-play and strategies.

One particularly nice aspect of the map is the contrast between the two bombsites. Site B has a fairly simple and open layout with only a couple of approaches whilst Site A has a more closed and complex structure with generous cover and multiple entry points. The most direct route for the Terrorists to get to Site B is to follow the outer edge of the platform to the south, along the broken walkway. However once the Counter-Terrorists have taken a defensive position on Site B it will be very difficult for the Ts to push forward on this route; there are a good few places where the CTs can find defensive cover allowing them line of sight along the path. A skilled CT sniper could do a huge amount of damage to the other team, and because the walkway is open and broken placing smokes effectively for cover could be difficult. Having said that CT-Spawn is a long way from Site B, and to get from their spawn to a defensive position on the site takes the CTs about 10 seconds (teal coloured crosses on the overview image). In the same amount of time the Terrorists are able to get all the way along the walkway to the foot of the stairs leading up to Site B (purple cross) which puts them in a very good position to flash the arriving CTs. Given that most of the time the Counter-Terrorists are going to need use more players to defend Middle and Site A it is possible that the Terrorists may be too strong on Site B. The timing would be very similar to the Ts rushing Site B on de_dust2, the significant difference being that when the Ts rush B on dust2 there is only one tunnel they can come through to get into the bombsite area, whereas in de_elysium there are two ways in and one of them is fairly wide. The Terrorists could also attack Site B through Middle, but this would probably need to be a slower attack and it may leave them vulnerable to attacks from behind as they approach Site B, coming from the CTs arriving from Site A.

In contrast to B, Site A is an inside bombsite with a lot more cover and multiple entry points. By looping around the north-western corner of the map the Terrorists have two entrances Site A, one at the ground floor level and one at the first floor level. The ground floor entry shares a connection to Mid via a small staircase and is probably the stronger attacking point of the two, the connection to Mid provides Terrorists with the option to quickly rotate if things go badly. The third main entry is from the outside path that runs along the side towards CT-Spawn, the Terrorists can access the site by breaking the glass and going in through the windows. These multiple access points make Site A harder to defend, however there is more cover for the defending CTs to hide behind than at Site B. To get to the first floor the Counter-Terrorists must use a "spiral" staircase that is a little time-consuming to climb and restricts movement somewhat. Also, it would be nice if CTs covering the outside path (from around CT-Spawn area) could get inside more quickly to defend the site itself, because at their end the Ts are able to get from outside to inside very rapidly by going through the windows. A creative Terrorist may also be able to find a way to flank around and enter Site A from CT-Spawn, coming up behind the defending CT players.

For the Terrorist team I think that taking and holding the first open "courtyard" area on the map's middle path (shaded in red and blue on the overview) will prove to be a very important part of their strategy. Holding this area allows the Terrorists the possibility to launch an assault on either bombsite, but will be particularly useful in supporting any attack on Site A. If the Ts take this middle area and also the upper route into A they will be in a very strong position to attack the bombsite (see the orange arrows). The Counter-Terrorists have the choice to rush the middle from their spawn at the start of the round. They are able to reach the covered area (shaded in blue) before the Terrorists, however once they get there they risk getting caught in between Ts coming from Mid and Lower A, and there is little cover to protect them. If the Terrorists hold this middle area (the red and blue) from the start of the round they have to possibility to regroup and head for Site B if the attack on A fails, they are also in a strong position to defend against CTs trying to flank from behind through T-Spawn.

Overall I really like the structure of de_elysium. It has a well designed and well implemented layout and one of the strongest aspects of the map as a whole is the way that the structure has been created within the context of a strong and cohesive central concept. 3kliks and Sarah seem to have found a good balance between simplicity and complexity, and in this respect I would say that de_elysium comparable to a map such as de_nuke. Counter-Strike maps should never be too architecturally complex, too many connections and paths (routes, tunnels, corridors, vents, lifts, sewers, etc) make for confusing maps where the player is constantly being flanked or killed by unseen opponents. On the other hand, overly simplistic maps quickly become repetitive and boring, with each round playing out the same way. It is often surprisingly difficult to get the balance right between simplicity and complexity, but with de_elysium they appear to have made a very good job of it. It is possible that further play-testing may reveal that the map is in need of a little tweaking in certain areas, but overall it has a very solid structure that offers interesting and varied tactical possibilities. I do feel however that as it stands de_elysium may be more enjoyable on servers with slightly more than 10 players. In 5v5 situations I am concerned that there may be too many possible attack routes for the CTs to be able to defend them all effectively, it's possible they will end up being spread to thinly across the map and causing an imbalance in the Terrorists favour. I think that CTs may find that an aggressive gameplay strategy (rushing the Terrorist team and trying to divide of flank them) could be more effective than sitting back and trying to defend the bombsites, and maybe adopting this strategy will result in the map being fairly balanced. We shall see...

One of de_elysium's strongest aspects is its conceptual design. Although arguably not essential to gameplay, it's really nice to see a map that has a strong central idea which unifies and contextualizes the structure and environment as a whole. Having this clearly defined central concept not only gives the map a stronger identity (making it more likely that players will remember it later) but in some cases it can also make it easier for the player to learn the layout of the map. The structure of de_elysium has a logical consistency and provides the map with a nice variation of landscapes and architectures within a single coherent framework - as a player I found the map very easy to understand and remember, after only a couple of walkthroughs I had no trouble navigating or knowing where I was.

De_elysium has a really nice architectural design and contains some nice focal points and custom elements.

I would like to take a moment here to mention de_curiosity, the map that won second place in the Red Planet competition. In many ways de_curiosity is a really good map; it has great texturing and aesthetics; a lot of the individual areas have been really well crafted with interesting structures; there are some really good conceptual ideas (the force fields protecting players from the outside, for example); and in many areas the lighting is also well implemented. However the overall layout of de_curiosity seemed to really lack focus. It is quite a large map and is set inside a space station built on the surface of Mars, where a maze of corridors connect different control rooms, storage areas, computer banks and bio-areas. Unfortunately there seems to be no central theme or concept unifying the structure as a whole. It's one of those maps where you could separate out all the individual sections and stitch them together again in a totally different way, and for the most part nothing would seem wrong. This is something that couldn't possibly be done with a map like de_elysium, where all the different elements are exactly where they need to be in order to for the whole concept to work. It's a shame because there are a lot of things that I liked about de_curiosity. However its size, combined with the fact that it looks very similar throughout and that there is no easily identifiable concept behind its structure, makes it a hard map to learn and navigate. If it wasn't for this major factor de_curiosity could have possibly won the competition.

(Anyway, returning to de_elysium) It's important to remember that because 3kliks and Sarah entered this in the mapping competition they were working to a tight deadline, and any criticisms that could be made of the map can probably be explained by this fact. The truth is it's an almost impossible task to make a full-size Counter-Strike map in 40 or 50 days without there being some areas where the result lacks polish. For the most part they did extremely well, it's nice to see the inclusion of custom soundscapes, overviews, custom models and even the flash loading screen (very well done for that, first one I've seen!) in a project with so little development time. However nothing is perfect and there are some things that could be improved:

• Texturing - Let me be clear; the texturing in de_elysium is by no means bad. Agreed, there are one or two places where textures tiled over a fairly large area seem to be crying out for blending, or just look a little unfinished. For the most part however the textures are fairly harmonious, work together in combination, and with enough variety so that the map doesn't look the same throughout. I just feel though that overall the texturing is a little on the bland side... we're on Mars here after all! Much the platform is made from brick and it seems unlikely that blue or yellow painted brick would be the material of choice when building stuff on Mars.

In some places in de_elysium the texturing could benefit from a little more variety or blending.

Detailing - A few GB users mentioned in the comments for the map that they felt de_elysium lacked detail in some places. Whilst I don't believe that it would be necessary to add huge amounts of detail models to the map I agree that there are some parts that feel a bit unfinished. As mentioned above, re-texturing certain areas would be a good start towards fixing this problem, and a few extra models or deacls in some places would probably do for the rest. One other thing that is found in de_elysium (and is one of my personal pet hates) is big stairs, at least 12 or more units high, although they work fine they just look crude.

Skybox/Lighting - As it stands Sarah and 3kliks have done a great job with the skybox, for something that is actually so simple and contains very few elements (cliffs, pipes, satellite dishes) it creates an extremely effective illusion of size and scale. However given that the sky is such a large part of what the player sees I think that it would be nice to add just a little extra complexity. Maybe a custom texture or two with some blending on the terrain and a few extra objects to break up the monotony of the flat valley floor. The lighting, with the sun coming across the valley, is very nice and the basic principle should be not be changed, but somehow it does feel a little too "terrestrial", I wonder if the environment lighting could be altered to give a more Martian feel. Maybe a slightly different coloured light environment, a darker, blacker sky with the stars being more visible (Mars has no atmosphere after all so nothing to reflect the light) and extremely low ambient lighting would help to create a more extraterrestrial feel. Which brings us to the next point:

Realism - Arguably, discussing realism when the context is a space-station on Mars is somewhat misguided, however one or two GameBanana users commented on the fact that in de_elysium players were running about on an open platform directly exposed to the harsh (and relatively unbreathable!) Martian atmosphere. Whilst I can understand why the mappers chose not to address this point, I can also see why players find it a little contradictory. One possibility would be spacesuit models for the players which, this project aside, I would like to see made! Another possibility could be to create the illusion of the platform being surrounded by a force-field, powered by some central electrical emitter, and maybe using texture like the combine wall that can only be seen when very close. This could even be worked into the map's objectives; I did think that it wasn't completely obvious why bombsite A was actually a bombsite. Site B is a rocket, which makes sense, but A seems to be just some random building. Maybe Site A could be the control center or power source for the platform's force-field, and after the bomb goes off the force-field shuts down and all remaining players start taking small amounts of damage.

Release Format - Although the makers took the time to include an overview, soundscape, flash screens, etc. it seems as if de_elysium hasn't been released with a server-friendly format. None of the custom content has been embedded into the .bsp and there is no .res file for downloads. When I played this on a server with friends, everyone except myself (who downloaded directly from GB) experienced missing models and content. This is a shame as it may affect some peoples decision as to whether or not to host the map.

In conclusion the Mars Mapping competition contained many strong entries from some very good mappers and de_elysium was a more than deserving winner. Around a great central concept 3kliks and Sarah have managed to craft an interesting and varied level with a structure that shows a good understanding of the game, and which should offer enjoyable gameplay and the opportunity for tactical creativity. I very much hope that 3kliks and Sarah will continue working on the project now that the contest is over, they have created a very absorbing and interesting environment and I would love to see it realize its full potential.

COMING VERY SOON TO GB: AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE MAKERS OF DE_ELYSIUM, 3KLIKSPHILIP AND SARAHB... WATCH THIS SPACE!!

Authors Footnote - As most experienced level designers and gamers will (I hope) agree, it is extremely difficult to just look at a map and judge whether it will be balanced and fun. The only way to know for certain is to spend a lot of time play-testing the map, a fact that can obviously be confirmed by the amount of time that a developer like Valve will spend play-testing levels before they release them (and remember, they have very experienced level designers working for them). A map also needs to be tested in different situations, one that is balanced in 5v5 competitive situations may become unbalanced on a Pub server with 24 people. The point is that I couldn't find (m)any servers hosting de_elysium and I therefore have only had a relatively short time playing the map with friends. I tried to give the best analysis I could based upon my limited exposure, however I may well be proved incorrect in some of my statements about balance and strategies, so please remember that this is just an initial impression/opinion, I am not claiming it as fact._

de_elysium reviewed by k@rt (g-maps)

If you have submitted a map to GameBanana that you would like to be considered for review, please send me a PM with a link to the submission and a few lines about yourself and your work.