Deathmatch 'R' Us

By Ben Barker

Sometimes you don't need complex objectives, colored flags, or bases to have a great online multiplayer experience. The folks behind DOOM 3®—publisher Activision, original developer id Software, and Xbox® game developer Vicarious Visions—understand that sometimes you just want to shoot everybody else in refreshing yet old-school Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. And with brilliantly designed multiplayer maps that have been optimized for play on XboxLive™, the old school is more than enough to provide countless hours of fraggin' carnage.

Edge 2
• Key Areas: Teleporters, the ramp room
• Deathmatch Tips: This map is perfect for racking up quick frags, and just as perfect for accidentally getting yourself killed. The central (relatively speaking) location is the ramp room, where ramps lead to multiple exits, but all halls eventually lead back here. This map's berserker power-up is, conveniently enough, right next to the teleporter arrival point stationed in this room. So expect a lot of activity there, and never plan to get to the power-up without having to fight for it. In team games, the ramp room is even more hotly contested, and makes a perfect de facto base if you can possibly hold it. The "blowing yourself up" part comes in the form of the rocket launcher just outside the ramp room.

Frag Chamber
• Key Areas: The Frag Chamber, Control Deck
• Deathmatch Tips: The Frag Chamber, I must admit, is hands-down my favorite map among those offered. The central area is the titular chamber, a room that's a very dangerous and, at the same time, a very tempting place to be. Anyone in the frag chamber can be instantly killed by anyone else on the control deck who hits the control panel. When the hapless victim is enfraginated, a stealth power-up will appear—the trick is to get it without getting frag chambered yourself. Once you're invisible, try sneaking up on an enemy and attacking with your ... fists! Yep, a well-timed punch will relieve your foe of the weapon he's carrying. You can even repeat the tactic multiple times and take someone's entire arsenal. Mind you, during playtesting, I was not the inventor of this tactic, but was on the receiving end multiple times.

Tomiko Reactor
• Key Areas: The main reactor, suicide jump teleporter
• Deathmatch Tips: If I ever meet Tomiko, the first thing I intend to ask her is what kind of a nut job puts the teleporter right where an intermittent instant death beam appears at regular intervals. The Tomiko Reactor consists largely of gantries and levels that ring a large central dais, the top of the main reactor. Expect massive activity here, much like the ramp room in Edge 2, since the hole in the center of the dais leads to a berserker power-up and a teleporter. And, of course, that same hole regularly shoots a big orange ray of radioactivity that is instant suicide if it hits you. Wait for the blast to stop, then charge in and drop through the hole for the goodies. But beware—everyone else probably has the same idea.

Delta Labs
• Key Areas: Power-up generator, elevator, stairwell
• Deathmatch Tips: Oh, Delta, will you never learn? Labs in shooters are only ever used for evil! In this case, it's mano-a-mano (or teamo-a-teamo) evil. The lights are bright, but shootable. Unless you want to get caught in the open, shoot them out as needed. The Place Everyone Wants to Get To in this map is the power-up room, which contains a miraculous device that—you guessed it—creates a free mega-health power-up. The trick is that it takes a while—almost half a minute—to make the mega-health appear, and when it does, anyone can use it. If you ever catch anyone starting the machine, let them do it, then take them out while they're not looking. On the other hand, if you create the power-up yourself, you must constantly be on guard against ambush.

These are only four of the maps that you get to tear up on XboxLive, and odds are (don't quote me on this) there will be more maps to come in the future. Watch your back, marine!

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