Maps

MP-Arid

Gametypes: CTF, Fuel, Arena

Vehicles ahoy! Arid is perfect for large multiplayer games, thanks to the open expanses of space and the fact that each team gets at least one of each type of vehicle. The wide-open spaces can make this a sniper’s paradise, as well, so be careful of staying in one space for too long.

The feature of this map that’s most notable in CTF is the paved roadway leading across the water to ramps on either side; this makes it quite easy for a flagrunner to ski all the way back to friendly territory at incredible speeds. It’s difficult to defend the bridge with deployables, as most skiiers will be out of range of a turret’s fire before it’ll have time to lock on, but you might still want to plop them down here if you’re willing to make the trip. It’s a bit easier to park the jump tank or rover in the middle of the road and wait for your enemy to come along and slam into it, but of course they’re liable to just jump over you in this instance.

When you absolutely must protect this house, the assault ship is guaranteed to stop flag runners in their tracks. You’ll blow yourself up, too, but defense is all about sacrifices.

Since it’s difficult to pursue a flagrunner that knows how to get back on the slopes, it’s important to fortify your flag position as much as possible. It’s possible to maneuver the entire assault ship into the flag sphere, if you want, but a single fighter pod can usually serve the same purpose, with less drastic repercussions for your teammates when you fire your weapons. The two fighter pods are also useful for tracking down flagrunners as they speed away.

MP-Cavern

Gametypes: Arena, Rabbit, Ball, CTF

This is one of the maps that gives the grappler its good name. Or bad name, depending on whether you’re on offense or defense. Since the ceilings are so low, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to grapple your way all the way home, if you like, but you’ll want to conserve your grappler ammo while you make your approach to the flag, especially if you’re in light armor, since you won’t have enough rounds to get to the flag and back in most instances. It’s better to approach with a few teammates, giving your enemies a bunch of targets, and save the confusing movements for when you’re attempting to escape with the flag itself.

On the defensive side, you do have two turrets with which to cover your flag. These are hidden away behind the stalagmites near the flag pedestal, so they’re impossible to fire upon from the middle of the cavern, but if you make your presence known, you can expect the next heavy armor unit that comes along to pelt you with splash damage from his mortars. If you start taking damage, then, you’ll want to immediately abandon your position and retreat to safety.

MP-Detritus

Gametypes: Ball, Arena, Rabbit

This interior map might as well be called grappler city, as there are dozens of likely spots for skilled grapplers to ply their wares. Most notable of these are the girders that stretch between the many spires in each of the two large rooms; if you attach your grappler to these, it won’t break, even if you do a complete loop-de-loop around the girder (although it will break if you go around one of the spires). This will let you pull off some pretty impressive mid-air maneuvers and dodges, assuming you can actually hit the girders with any degree of accuracy. Don’t forget that you can switch weapons while you have the grappler hooked onto something; if you’re playing Ball, for instance, you can hook on somewhere, switch to the ball, and throw it while making Ender’s Game-ish aerial shifts in direction.

MP-Emerald

Gametypes: Rabbit, Arena, CTF

Emerald is an open level, with CTF flags that are just close enough together to make for some high-scoring matches, especially when you consider the availability of the flag points themselves; they’re not on a pedestal or otherwise obscured, making them easily capturable by any enemy that happens to come along. Defending your flag will thus be somewhat more difficult here than on maps that keep your flag elevated off the ground.

The flag points themselves have baseball-like chain fences behind them, which prevent weapons fire from coming through. This makes it much easier for heavy enemies to perch atop the ruined buildings in the center of the map and bomb away with mortars from there; the mortars will be caught in the netting and explode, clearing out the flag area for any light-armor cappers that come through. The fences also prevent the enemies from seeing your marker, though, so you can use it to hide from them, at least at long ranges.

To protect your flag, then, you’ll want to either obstruct a runner’s path by parking a deployable item or the rover on top of the flag itself, but again, anything you plant there will have a limited life span. A better plan is to just establish some defenders at medium range, in the buildings in the center of the map, and have them pop out with a fresh jetpack when the flag-carrier goes by. Don’t forget that you can also use your buggy as a mobile spawnpoint; planting it in an out-of-the-way spot near the enemy base is a good way to get quick flag pick-ups.

MP-Fort

Gametypes: CTF, Fuel, Arena, Rabbit

The tactical aspects of Fort, at least in CTF, are dominated by the two large underground complexes on either side of the map. Although there is an energy barrier that prevents access directly to the rear, the front entrances, and the entirety of the interior of the bases, are open to players from either team; when your opponents attack in force, you’ll have to spend a fair amount of time to repel them, especially if they come in with a few heavy armor units. This is a good way to open a flagrunning assault, then; send your heavy armor infantry into the base entrances to form a distraction, then have your light armor flagrunner slide down one of the slopes leading into the base and jet away at top speed with the flag.

In addition to the interior of the bases, though, each team will get a rover, a pair of fighter pods, and a couple of turrets to assist in defense. There are also plentiful deployable items inside the bases; use these to clutter up the skiing ramps near the flag, and you’ll force your enemies to make a conventional assault if they want to grab it.