Game is good, Maps Suck.

I'm new to Insurgency and decided to pick up sandstorm. My first impressions were very positive, I like the Hardcore element to the game and appreciate the load-out system. However the one annoyance that keeps me from playing the game as often as I would a new game is the maps. The maps are not fun. They are too large, there is too much clutter, and the overall design seems uninspired. There are way too many crevasses for the "faster" sort of game-play Insurgency inspires people to play. There is also a LARGE amount of wasted space that just has no reason to exist as the game-modes revolve around specific static points. The design and layout of most of the maps also seem almost exactly the same with few exceptions. Most of the deaths I experience and I view from my teams perspectives is from long range fire from some rock crevasse on the other side of the map where you cant see or from people sprinting around the map COD style. This throws me off from what my friends have told me about previous Insurgency games, telling me its "Like Battlefield, Arma and CSGO had a love-child". I would love to see this slower methodical game-play the older titles suppository had but with the map layouts I just don't see that happening. However, I'm new to this series so my opinion doesn't carry much weight. I hope the game goes well, but I'm unsure how long I will be playing it.

Being an original INS2 player for years, I'd like to see the spawns moved up in like manner to that game. I like the larger maps but running for the first few minutes after spawn (200m out...really?) gets very tedious and can leave you out in the open too long. Once you are on an objective, yes you need to slow it down and methodically room-clear if you want to survive\win. That IS very INS2. The maps still need tweaking but as the devs exemplified with the most recent patch, that is being worked on.

"They are too large"

With the new engine I think the maps should be bigger than Crossing or Hideout. With longer range combat it would be way more realistic, kind of like squad.
Think of all the IRL combat footage you see and veteran accounts of combat. Most contacts are 300m or further. The CQB though is really good apart from the cod-like movement speed and strafe speed.

In push there could just be more objectives to capture than 3. Use the large maps to extend the gameplay, not to extend the running competition.

Also imagination would be nice to see in map and scenario design:

Spawn to A:
Short distance, over a hill on foot. Capture A ->
A to B:
Longer distance, vehicles spawn here to allow faster deployment. Cap B ->
B to C medium distance, different terrain.
C to D, narrow alleys, terrain only manageable by foot.

Now the maps are just numb towns with streets and buildings after another. Even after the alpha the only map i can tell by the name is crossing, mostly cause of the push A.

I feel like they also would need to tweak the AI spawns. Sometimes I just get the feeling they can spawn 2-3 building behind you where you just where and cleared the area and moved up to next "obj". But also the spawns towards the next "obj" could be better if we are fighting a insurgents who should have set up a defensive line they should not poor out of 1 or 2 buildings that are near the "obj" or around it. They should take up a position in those building and defend from there and the "obj" itself and not just rush to it and try not to get shoot while running in a congo line (which i`ve seen many times). Dont get me wrong I like the AI better then the ones from the first title but they need more tactics in my opinion.

I dont really have a good solution for the AI`s only thing I can come up with is have more difficulties like in the first title but not just increasse their aimbot skill and their spawnrate but also allow them to move in sqauds and flank or take up a defensive line.

I agree that the map really feel empty at sometimes and you dont really get to use all the buildings in combat because that area is "restricted" which I just think is a mehh thing to do.
Like why cant I defend this point from this building its just across the street or next to it but nope "Area Restricted".

Well they are still working on it and I really was happy that they pushed the realse back so they could get more feedback from us and make it a proper game.

@steventheseagull said in Game is good, Maps Suck.:

In push there could just be more objectives to capture than 3. Use the large maps to extend the gameplay, not to extend the running competition.

I agree

@tango1 mate insurgency is supposed to be about close quaters combat "Insurgency: Sandstorm is a team-based, tactical FPS based on lethal close quarters combat and objective-oriented multiplayer gameplay." thats straight from the steam store page for sandstorm
"Take to the streets for intense close quarters combat, where a team's survival depends upon securing crucial strongholds and destroying enemy supply in this multiplayer and cooperative Source Engine based experience." thats from the source store page.

crossing and alike feel like battleifeld rush maps not insurgency maps. once you are able to crack out a x4 and slap it on anything that isnt a sniper and do well consistantly you know the map isnt designed to be close quaters