This is, as Treellama has said, yet another must have netpack. All the maps are balanced, good looking (although some more so than others) and flow well.

From the first release this has been a steady 5 star pack. The complex architecture is nicely balanced with fast, balanced gameplay, and although the architecture does inevitably damage the flow slightly in some areas, it isn't intrusive enough to damage the gameplay or detract from the overall quality of the maps; the flow still rivals (and often beats) that of many of the previous "Must Have" netpacks.

I think we all owe a huge thank you to RyokoTK, our favourite community ruiner.

Yet another must have net pack!

This fine heptadecaptych is a worthy successor to Red Spectrum.

Until now, I haven't given the matter much thought because I downloaded a lot of the maps piecemeal as they were released.

After seeing all these amazing maps listed together, I can comfortably offer my opinion that this is the best map pack I have ever seen.

I have compared the list of PL X's maps to all the other favorites and in terms of both quality and quantity, it stands alone.

It's self-indulgent but here are my thoughts on each map:

1. Serpent's Kiss: fast and furious. Why don't we play this more often?

2. Oculus ex Inferni: I have never had a bad game on this map and I love the way it looks. I like to play oculus, and ile boule consecutively: concentric circles of polygon hell, the center of which is FM which I will mention in a minute

3. Downfall of Paradise: My vote for best map in the pack. Never been able to figure out why the action is so fast on this big map but its amazing. Something for everyone here. You can play Downfall 5 different times with as many different strategies and it doesn't get old. I am consistently amazed by this map.

4. SCB: Just make sure you have 6-8 players.

5. Darkest Insurrection: I'm not a fan of this one but I'm a rocket-whore and I appreciate the concept.

6. Paradigm Shift: Just LOOK at this map! I get killed all the time because I'm admiring the damn walls. Good for deathmatch, koth, and team games. This map really has it all.

7. Acid Rain: I have problems with the flow and there are too many suicides.

8. Metropolis Part I

9. Hourglass : I haven't played these much and can't really comment.

10. Hydrocity: I think this is one of the most underrated maps around. The only reason I can think of is that you need a lot of players.

11. Fortress Morrolan: The center of hell and imo, tied for best map of the lot. I like the original and didn't think this one needed the revamp. I was wrong. This map is outrageously fun and I'm happy that it's getting hosted often. I would play a 20 minute emfh on this map. team games have been better than on the original. it might be a fluke but people seem to camp a lot less on the remake too.

12. Fatal Tragedy: Another huge map that keeps a fast pace. I love this map because I'm a rocket whore and I host it all the time.

13. Dance of Pales: I liked Cenotaph and I love this one. I host this and Downfall when I feel like getting outside for a while.

14. Sevil Alucard: I've heard a few negative comments on this one that I don't quite understand. You have to think a little bit more on this one because there's too much room for straight running and gunning. As long as there are enough players to sustain the action, I love playing this map.

15. Polaris: simple, well-desgined, but it doesn't have anything for me too sink my teeth into.

16. Biohazard: Had some great games with 2-4 players here. Love the way it looks. It's a great complement to the larger levels in the pack.

17. Killer Instinct: Haven't played it but I've looked around and I can't wait to start. Looks like a bare-bones pagan purity. All the open space should lend itself to some interesting gameplay...maybe similar to that we see on the corpus swinus remake.

those three words are what describe this pack, Great Architecture, Astounding Juice Work, Fun To Play With 2+ people,

-NAMELESS-

This map pack is outstanding Ryoko!! The thought and work that went into this pack is amazing! I applaud you on your deserved success. This architecturally rich pack truly brought the feel of Marathon to net maps!! Nicely done and keep up the good work!!

absolutely a top 5! many maps, really good mapping, i can almost bet (5$) that no-one would say that it sucked. (haven't got that kinda money)

The last two maps added really disappointed me. The level design was good, but the overuse of the solid color textures really bothered me, especially in acid rain. I felt like I was trapped in a two year old's toybox. Paradigm wasn't so bad, but both were still very confusing to the eye, and both levels had the same predominant theme (paradigm was more open and used less solid color textures, but still...). They just felt like add ons to each other. If I could give something 3 and 1/2 stars, I would give it to this.

While I'm really an addict of the older kind of maps, namely my own and those from Ryoko's Red Spectrum, I can't help but gape at these immensely pleasing levels. They seem a little more complex than what I generally look for, and I'm not a large game nut, but damn, these are fine.

About a year ago, Ryoko and I were talking about how pleased we were with our map packs. He said something to the effect of, "These maps might look shoddy in comparison to future maps" in defense of older packs like Coriolis, whose popularity I couldn't understand. I disagreed with him at the time: Underworld and Red Spectrum were never to be eclipsed.

Looks like I was wrong.

To me, a level has to look like it would actually exist somewhere. In an intelligent alien world there would probably still exist aesthetics when designing a building, and we would notice those even if their culture and architecture was radically different from our own.

What I like about Ryoko's work is that his levels look like they could be real, and that they'd been designed by an alien architect.

That's not to say that Ryoko is alien... maybe he is... maybe not....

Anyway, that's beside the point that these are gorgeous levels, very playable, don't immediately reveal their secrets so they're fun to explore, and nicely spread the carnage all over their rooms, instead of focusing it all in one place. These are good for hunting, sniping, all weapons, and warfare styles.

They do slow down a bit on older/less powerful CPUs because they are complex, but that is the price we pay for great environments.

And by all, I mean any number of people.

I played through this entire pack with two other people, and even Downfall of Paradise, which is much bigger than the other two, was still awesomely fun. Even though I never ended up seeing the whole map, there was action every second. Excellent flow! I like the other two for different reasons, mostly because they are small but BEAUTIFUL. I especially like the detail that went into Serpant's Kiss (the jjaaro one, i think). The other map (lava one) was very beautiful too, especially in the parts where the walls are broken. I love how in all of these, there is an invisibility powerup, and while the only reason to get it at all on Downfall of Paradise is to cloak against motion sensors, the shadow plays in the lava map and especially serpant's kiss (which are easy to hide in WITHOUT invisibility) make the use of invisibility more strategic than just sneaking up behind somebody. I also like how there are health rechargers in serpant's kiss and the lava map. Health rechargers don't really belong on big maps, where unless you put it in the middle of an arena or something similar, it would be freebe health to anybody, if it's tucked into a corner (CTF maps are arguable here, though); but in small maps the recharger can be used, but only if the placement is exceptional, and it is. In serpants kiss, I only felt comfortable enough to stand there long enough to fill only half a bar, before dropping down the side to hide against anybody who might have seen me, and in the lava map, I made sure that there wasn't anybody in the middle before i started recharging. This is the way it should be; making you brave enough to reach the charger but cautious enough to not stand there for long. In short, great maps! I can not wait for more!

Yet another must have net pack!

This fine triptych is the beginning of a worthy successor to Red Spectrum.