Nice one, Strideh. I approve of your correct
(yet incorrect due to proper noun rules) spelling of Dishonoured.
I should really replay HL2. I haven't played through it for probably around five years.
I think if I was to put a HL2 level in my list, though, it'd probably be one of the Ravenholm maps simply because of how memorable that whole chapter was.
Bringing this down to five was more challenging than I anticipated, and I know for a fact I'll remember potentially better choices at a later date and kick myself.
With that said, let us begin.
5. Invitation to a Party - Hitman 2: Silent AssassinSeptember 2002 - Thirteen years ago and a young, bright eyed Archie tears open his copy of PC Gamer magazine. On the disc included - a demo of a game so hotly anticipated by me and my friends that I was basically shaking with excitement. It's Hitman 2!!! There are arguably more tactical levels in the game, and certainly prettier ones, but in the month leading up to the game's full release I must have played through this level two hundred times, trying every possible method to silently eliminate the target and complete the objective. It's the perfect example of a great Hitman mission: A primary target, an optional target and an objective briefcase which must be secured. Beyond that, you are free to complete the mission however you see fit. Glorious.
4. Vire River Valley - Company of HeroesThree intensely contested bottlenecks and some unimaginably defendable landscape beyond lie on either side of the Vire River in this classic RTS map. Locking down all three crossing points creates an extremely tense stalemate where artillery, airstrikes and cunning ploys become far more important than in other less linear maps. This really, really played to the strengths of CoH's ingenius cover system and created some of the best balanced, most tense encounters I've ever had in gaming.
3. The Map - Dota 2I mean, yeah. It's the definitive version of the definitive MoBA map layout. Balanced down to the pixel, subtle routing provides some absolutely incredible opportunity for clever tactics and teamplay. Incredible Dota plays are more watchable than just about any other game, and it usually comes down to playing the map so brilliantly that even an opponent with thousands of hours clocked wasn't expecting the move. It's a tug of war with one of the most restrictive Fogs of War I've ever seen in gaming, and that means vision of the map is absolutely paramount. With wards providing vision of the map, even a team pushed back to their very last towers can still create a tactical play and win. It's the evolution of the chess board.
2. Strike at Karkand - Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Battlefield 3This was a real toss-up between Karkand and Wake Island - and even potentially Gulf of Oman. They're the three maps I would consider to be
iconic Battlefield locations, and they are utterly brilliant. Strike at Karkand wins the spot because it arguably allows for slightly more tactical play than the others, with the fantastic blend of wide, open streets and tight close-quarters back alleys. It's the perfect example of Battlefield's strongest point which is blending vehicle and infantry combat in an incredibly fun way. BF4 really suffered from its map design either being too vehicle-friendly or too infantry-friendly. It never matched the perfect combination of the two seen in Strike at Karkand.
1. cs_assault - Counter-StrikeArguably completely imbalanced and ugly even by the standards of when it was first released in CS Beta 1, Assault still really stuck with me for some reason. I think I first encountered it in CS 1.5 which is what was shipped with the HL Anthology edition. It was the first map I played in Counter-Strike, and therefore it was my first example of an online tactical shooter. Up until that point I'd only ever played deathmatch games online. It was a total game changer, and despite its many flaws, I would still love to play a few rounds on this right now. I honestly can't even say why I love it so much - I just have so much history with this map.