14 DAY TRIAL // Those who play Mass Effect 3’s online mode have been treated with an array of new content last week when the Resurgence DLC pack appeared for free on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
Since then, I’ve dissected the array of new things included in the DLC, like the characters, namely the Krogan Battlemaster Vanguard, the Geth Infiltrator and Engineer, the Batarian Soldier and Sentinel, and even the Asari Justicar Adept.
I’ve also talked about Firebase Hydra, one of the two new maps included in the add-on.
Now, it’s time to dissect Firebase Condor, the other map that’s brought by the Resurgence add-on.
When I first saw Condor, I was amazed at its complexity and was once again stunned by the sheer beauty of the surroundings, as it takes place on one of Palaven’s moons, right during the Reaper invasion of the Turian planet.
Sadly, my admiration was short-lived, as Condor is a big and twisted map that makes taking on opponents a chore.
The first problem consists of its three different levels that make it easy for enemies to flank you, not to mention the array of open areas where you’re practically a sitting duck unless you stick to cover, thereby limiting your field of view.
Secondly, there’s the fact that it’s almost completely grey, which makes hunting down Cerberus opponents much trickier, as their armor is also grey and gives them a natural camouflage.
Besides these two things, the map is a bit too big for its own good, and this makes getting around it a tricky affair, especially if you play it for the first time. This size also turns objective waves where you have to disarm/hack/etc. four different items into a chore, as you’ll mostly run around the map and try to find your targets.
Last but not least, Condor also has a few glitches, as one of my squadmates died when we were holding the middle level and, once he was revived, started floating through the map, unable to actually interact with anything.
While I praised Hydra in yesterday’s diary, Condor is an example that BioWare doesn’t always get multiplayer map design right.
How did your Condor experience go? Are you enjoying the map or do you actively avoid it?