Filling these out as I test them (I put a lot of 10's for Performance, as I didn't really have any performance issues on any of them, but that may just be because I have a strong computer):
Asymmetrical Maps|Gameplay|Balance|Aesthetics|Performance|Technical
Breakout|8|8|6|10|8
Canyonfodder|9|8|7|10|9
Copperhead|10|9|8|10|9
Desertion|9|10|5|10|10
Frozen Assets|7|6|2|10|6
Mojave|7|9|6|10|6
Pilolukpass|6|6|7|10|7
Powderhorn|7|6|7|10|6
Relay|10|10|9|10|10
Sekhmet|7|7|10|10|9
Ship|2|5|4|8|8
Slush|10|10|6|10|8
Zig|8|9|10|10|10
Symmetrical Maps|Gameplay|Balance|Aesthetics|Performance|Technical
Clocktower|8|8|10|10|9
Croissant|7|9|8|9|8
Omen|10|10|10|10|10
Process|7|10|8|10|8
Breakout - My Overall Rating: 8.0
I thought the strongest point of this map was the concept of there being a jailbreak. I've seen it implemented before (cp_jailbreak), but this map did a much better job of it. I really love how Blu start's in jail cells which open into the spawn room. Having the gates to outside world open up upon BLU winning were also a great idea. There is plenty of room for improvement, however.
The first thing I noticed was how big the building is. It could be scaled down a bit and have more detail added to it, such as security stations and monitors, along with more walls of empty jail cells (or perhaps not empty, you could put some animated dynamic prop blu guys stuck back there as well, maybe even some reds, like the ones in thundermountain). Adding a couple things like that here and there across the map will really give it the aesthetic feel of a large jail house.
Also the outside looked particularly underdeveloped with missing parts of buildings and the edge of the map being thrust right up against the exits. I'd open this area up a bit more and add some more visual indicators of there being an end to what the player can travel so they aren't just walking up against nothing at the end of the map.
There were only a couple issues I noticed in terms of balance. The first point was often fairly hard for a team to capture, and this could be fixed by sizing the whole area down a little but (but not too much, don't want it to get cramped either). Experimenting with this might yield some interesting results, particularly on servers with many players.
This map shows signs of becoming a great 3-map attack/defend map. I really like what the author implemented and look forward to seeing the final version.
Canyonfodder - My Overall Rating: 8.55
This was a particularly interesting map. What it lacked in aesthetics it made up for in complexity. With all the various intricate paths, balconies, one-way doors, it can be very confusing. This could be easily remedied by adding plenty of arrows with signs saying which point they go to. With that little bit of navigation players will spend a lot less time getting lost, particularly if they are new to the map. I'm not sure I even found all the possible paths there is to take (I had a hard time finding the first point as BLU, and so did RED team). But once I found my way the map a little bit after playing through the whole thing on both sides it was a
whole lot of fun. I really enjoyed this map.
The aesthetics, as I mentioned before, could use a little work. Right now it is pretty standard looking, which is fine, but not any part of it really catches my eye. The final point didn't really feel like it was a final point. It didn't seem to be around anything important enough to be captured. The large radio tower looming over the map is a nice touch, but it could use a little more (perhaps more than one? I know the maker is avoiding gimmicks and focusing on gameplay, which I can respect, but the background could still be touched up a bit). Making the smokestacks a little taller would also make it more interesting looking. This may be because you haven't gotten to it yet, but a lot of the walls and floors look kind of empty and plain. I'd recommend adding posters (along with the arrow signs mentioned before), paint marks, rubble, etc. to give it a more detailed look.
There only a couple things in terms of balance worth noting. Right now it's current setup it seems like it's rather difficult to defend as RED, as there was a barely a time when BLU didn't power through each point (though a good RED team could stop them if they had plenty of people that knew the map). I'd recommend making a few tweaks here and there to give RED more of an edge and more places to defend the points.
Besides the couple of things mentioned above, this was a really really fun map. I can tell the maker went to a lot of work, especially being a full three stages, all fully developed to near perfection. I can't wait to see it get completed! Great job!
Copperhead - My Overall Rating: 9.25
I really look forward to this map being finished. The only thing really keeping from giving this a full 10 is because the aesthetics and balance are a little rough in a couple areas, which is to be expected with a beta of this stage. The last two stages were the strongest of the three, both in balance and aesthetics. The background of the map is superb, particularly with the ocean. My only complaint with the aesthetics is that a lot of walls looked plain and sometimes featureless. When you get around to it, I'd recommend adding more details to the walls and natural ground (the cleaner look is more appropriate for the later interior setting). Arrows, signs, patches of paint, rubble, that sort of thing. A couple buildings in the background also seemed a bit dull looking, and I'd try to add some more features to them. The first stage was also a little bit generic looking compared to the following stages. I would recommend adding a couple more things here and there to make it stand out. (The second point appears to just be a barn, which seems a little underwhelming).
The balance on the first two maps was a little off. Every time I've played them, BLU has captured the points with relative ease. The first stage is balanced fairly well for a first stage. BLU has a slight advantage on capturing the points, though I can see the intermediate distance between the first and second stages slowing them down if RED is defending well. Because of this, it's a bit iffy on balance, and would really require a bunch more play throughs to see if anything needs any changes (having BLU getting on stuck on points for 10 minutes isn't good either, so you don't want to make it
too easily defended either). On the second stage, the first point was balanced perfectly. I don't think it needs any changes. The second capture point is a bit more iffy. A team with plenty of medics can defend it well, but otherwise it can be a bit hard to defend and easy for BLU to cap. The third map was perfect in terms of balance in my opinion. The final point, including all the paths that BLU could use to attack and all the ways RED could defend, it was a very fun climax for the map.
Overall, an outstanding job for a beta at this stage. Keep up the good work, and it'll be perfect. Awesome work! Loved it!
Desertion - My Overall Rating: 8.75
Desertion was a pretty solid map in terms of gameplay and balance. There were plenty of ways to get out of spawn (though all being positioned on the same face of the spawn building may lead to spawn camping, would recommend making some side routes as well) and tackle the first point. The last point was fairly dependable, though very wide and open. Neither of the points were two hard or easy to capture. Although only a two point, one stage map (I don't know whether or not more are in the works), it is fairly dynamic and replayable, much like a desert version of gorge. However, having a second stage would certainly make it more so.
The main complaints I have are with the visual aspect. It looks like a slightly lighter and more linear version of Dustbowl. The large barns are a nice touch though. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table and ends up looking a little dull. Adding more farming/mining equipment here and there would help aesthetically. Right now it looks like a bunch of rocks, boulders and barns (the final point is probably the strongest aesthetically. Also the 3D skybox, while not a big part of the map, since it's not particularly visible, looks like it wasn't scaled properly. Large steep hills of sand surround the map rather tightly. I don't know if these were supposed to look like mountains in the distance or what, but I would recommend expanding that out a bit with a little more detail.
Besides a couple aesthetic things here and there though I thought it was a fairly strong map overall and I applaud the maker(s) in their efforts.
Frozen Assets - My Overall Rating: 6.26
The first thing I noticed when I was downloading this map was that it was in alpha testing, and it shows. I'm not entirely sure why the maker entered this map in such early stages of development. That being said, I'm not entirely sure what I should say about it. Right now it has a lot of issues, and not just with aesthetics.
In terms of gameplay and balance, as well as aesthetics, the whole map seems way overscaled. All the buildings and hallways are absurdly large and open. These need to be trimmed down
a lot. Not only does it look bad, but it leads the map to being much bigger than it really should be. Without a forward spawn, BLU has to rely solely on teleporters to get anywhere near the final point (I don't know if more stages are in the works or not). I'd also up the amount of time it takes to capture the first point, since this is only a two-cp map.
Moving on to more aesthetic things, the textures need a whole lot of work. Right now everything is bland and undetailed looking (though I kind of liked the mine shaft), which is to be expected in an alpha. Be careful choosing textures, as some were not meant to be used in the way you are using them. For example, I saw the metal door texture being used a lot for walls and ceilings, and this doesn't look very good. I'd also recommend making use of the door frame objects and overlays to give your doorways a much less blocky feeling. I would definitely recommend fixing the layout in the way mentioned above before starting to add details.
All this being said, this map still needs a lot of work, and I'm sure the author is already at work making improvements on it, and I wish him/her the best of luck with it.
Mojave - My Overall Rating: 7.8
This may just be me being tired of desert maps, but this is pretty generic looking, particularly the first stage. The displacements aren't very detailed and are blocky looking. The skybox scenery is very bland and there aren't any mountains or anything visibly in the background that stands out against the rest of the map. It's just very dull looking and it gets tiresome on the eyes since it's all the same color. The second stage improves on this a bit with more industrial areas, and it'd be nice to see more of that in the first stage as well.
While it's fairly well balanced it doesn't flow all that well. The first stage should be a bit more dynamic than it is right now. The way it is currently is the second point of the first stage is functioning like the second stage should, giving attackers a long time to attack and making it easier to defend. Less time should be spent here, and this can be easily remedied by making it harder for RED to defend while giving BLU less time to attack. Tweaking the balance that way could improve the flow of the map greatly so you don't spend 10 minutes on the same point for each one.
On the other hand, it's very straight forward; I didn't once find myself getting lost and I never thought like anything was out of balance with points being either too easy or too hard to capture. Overall, I'd say working on the aesthetics a lot and tweaking the gameplay a bit to make it flow much more smoothly without getting stuck so much on intermediate points.
Pilolukpass - My Overall Rating: 7.10
I get the feeling that maker might have gotten a bit carried away in the making of this map. It has a lot of excessive areas to it that make it quite a confusing map to navigate without there being much benefit for having those areas in the first place. It took me a while to find the first point way off to the side. Arrows and signs indicating which point they go to, a common suggestion I seem to be making, will help a lot with navigation. There is one major flaw with the map in it's current state. It really has enough areas to suit a three point gravelpit style map, but for some reason it only possesses two. The large train tunnel seems like it's not really there for any particular reason other than to give a new way for RED and BLU to attack each other. Except it opens up past the first point...making it not much more than a place for snipers to spawncamp BLU's spawn. I'd recommend either expanding this area to include another intermediate point that you have to capture to unlock the final point, and then perhaps providing a forward spawn for BLU to capture the last point.
This isn't the only area that needs fixing. The layout overall is quite awkward, particularly the train to the left of BLU's spawn. Having it there is quite obtrusive and just seems in the way of the battle. The lower parts and the tunnels of the map also seem strangely organized. It's incredibly difficult right now for BLU to get to the first point if RED has any kind of defense set up there, since the only ways there are through the train tunnel which opens up past the point, the lower tunnel, which opens up past it, walking on top/behind of the train which is just a big bottleneck right now, and finally walking up the stairs from the lower path which gives RED quite a large height advantage. The only time I ever saw the final point get capped was when BLU team just snuck behind with a spy or soldier and started capping it. As RED I was defending where BLU generally was shortly after the first point, and by the time I made my way to the final point, it was already fully captured.
What this map really needs is some adjustment of the cps and some trimming and redesigning of the layout. That being said, the aesthetic aspect of it is fine. I'd work on detailing the walls and textures a bit more and making use of overlays and door frame objects to make the doorways seem less blocky looking. Also a pretty glaring bug is having the top of BLU's spawn isn't clipped properly so that not only can people shoot through it, a Soldier or demoman can hop right up there (though he can't crouch through it, just stand on top shooting) before the round even starts. A block bullets brush needs to placed along this whole section.
Overall, this map needs some trimming and fixing, but is easily salvageable with a little work and more playtesting. I wish the author the best of luck.
Powderhorn - My Overall Rating: 7.25
This is a couple steps from being a really decent map. My main two issues with it are that A: It is only one stage and only possesses two points, which harms its replayability (Gorge is setup similarly but for reasons I can't put my finger on it executes it much better) and B: There are two absurdly distinct portions of the map, one looks like something straight from sawmill the other straight from gorge, which are kind of smashed together in a way that really makes them clash together.
Both of these issues could be solved in one go, though it would require a fair amount of work. Already in place is a small transitional part which is a small section of cave. I think it would be spectacular if you stretched this part way out to include a second intermediate point there following the first point. This way there is now three points in the stage and the beginning and ending don't clash as much. The cave was the strongest part aesthetically of the map too. A large cavern with entrances on all sides surrounding the point, accompanied with the needed sheds and defensive stations would make this map spectacular. Right now, I get bored of it rather quickly.
A couple other small suggestions I have would be to add
a lot more arrows to make the paths to the points much more straight forward so that players never find themselves going "Wait...am I going the right way?" This is a common problem that I see with a lot of the submissions and it isn't as noticeable here, but it would be a nice improvement. Also, the first point is really weak aesthetically. It's an old barn that's indistinguishable from any of the scenery. There should be at least something noteable about to make it stand out, like a switch that opens doors into the cave or something. Also I'd recommend, if nothing else, to put some windows on the top of the shed much like the ones at point B on gravelpit. That'd make it a bit more interesting to defend/attack.
The final point needs some work as well. Currently it is very wide and open with RED team exiting the spawn direclty into the room. I'd try to design the spawn room much like the one on Gorge, so there is a little intermediate area between the spawn and the final point area with more doors going to more locations. This way RED isn't spawning right on the point and they aren't getting spawn killed when BLU is pushing in. Adding some more structures like barriers would also make it a little less open and more dynamic to defend and attack.
Overall, I'm fine with the aesthetic choices you made, there just needs to be more transition and perhaps another intermediate point in the middle somewhere to ease the flow of the map so it isn't so jarring to go from Sawmill to Gorge. A couple tweaks on the first and last points as well will make this as good a map as Gorge or Manor/Mountainlab (if not better).
Relay - My Overall Rating: 9.8
This is probably one of the strongest maps on this list. The level of detail that went into the making of this map is unprecedented. Each of the points was perfectly balanced, all of the spawns were well designed, and the aesthetics were superb. I absolutely love the expansive 3D skybox displaying the urban industrial environment of hangars, cranes, smokestacks/factories, parking lots with trucks, etc. The map itself was great too with its driveways and custom made (are they? I haven't seen them before) cars/trucks. I think that Valve could (and should) easily pick up on this map in its current condition.
The only issue I had with it was the lighting of the map. I know there are a lot of maps here set at night time, but I think that kind of environment (or perhaps dusk, rather than sunset/sunrise) would work really well with this map, as you could light it up with street lights and various other sources. I'd also experiment (if you haven't already) with trying different daytime environments. Right now, even with all the detail it rubs off a little dull looking after a while, and I think this is mainly because of the low lighting. Increasing the brightness of the lighting so you have areas that are lighter than others (so that those locations stand out against the darker areas) would keep it from getting dull.
I think the maker of this did an absolutely brilliant job with this, and I certainly hope Valve considers adding this officially to the game. The only thing left to try out with it would be experimenting with the lighting in various places to give it a more dynamic look. Overall though, wonderful job!
Sekhmet - My Overall Rating: 8.4
My first impression of this map was cp_egypt by night. While making good use of all the egypt textures and stylings, it's surprisingly distinct in it's appearance from egypt. The nighttime environment certainly gives it an edge. I really liked the look of it overall, though nothing in particular caught my eye, I thought the maker did a really good job with it. The layout could use a little work though. The BLU spawn starts out on the far side of a fairly large expanse with RED team not only having full view of every spawn exit but also having a height advantage.
Though this isn't a huge problem, and a good team can press out of spawn without too much trouble, it is very conducive to spawn camping. While I like the small tunnel on the side, it exits only a few feet away from the main exit facing the same direction. I would extend this tunnel more to the left and exit on the side of the expanse, and perhaps have a right exit doing something similar. I would also recommend decreasing the spawn times for BLU down from 22 seconds to something like 15 seconds. Though this may be less necessary if you have already taken the stuff mentioned above into consideration.
Another potential issue, though this isn't as big a deal is that it has lots of tight twists and turns between points. More arrows are always nice, though I myself didn't particularly find myself getting lost, as the map was designed fairly linearly. However, on a server with 12 v 12 or more (though I can understand if it was designed for less than 12 v 12), I can see a lot of these areas becoming huge choke points. The health and ammo packs are spread nicely enough that engineers can't camp these spots so easily, but a couple medic/heavy, medic/demo, medic/soldier pairs could hold these off quite effortlessly. Opening the tighter areas up just a little bit should solve this.
Overall, I enjoyed the map, and wish there was more stages. With a little tweaks on BLU's spawn area and exits, this should turn out to be a pretty decent map (it really already is).
Ship - My Overall Rating: 4.95
I feel like I'm being fairly harsh in my ratings here, but let me explain my issues with this map. I was told that this was done for a student project, and I can tell that a fair amount of work went into this, with a plethora of custom textures and the complexity of the map itself. However, it seems like it's in the wrong place. It doesn't adhere to any of the aesthetics of TF2, looking more like something out of a Quake III: Arena engine game. I think this would be a good map for specialized game modes like Hide and Seek/Prop Hunt and RPGs. Right now as a capture point map...it's not really that fun to play. There are next to no directional arrows telling you where to go and I found that a lot of the paths I took made me go around in circles or led me to a dead end (it didn't even have any health or ammo packs...just no reason to be there at all). The layout is just excessive for a basic tf2 mode.
While I applaud the amount of custom textures used, more focus could have been put on the quality. They're lack of detail and flatness contributes to its Quake III look. Spending more time on these, adding shading and cubemaps would make the map look much better. A lot of textures that are supposed to be metallic end up looking like plastic. Making more shiny textures would give a much more sci-fi look. At first I thought I was in a submarine, until I saw the backdrop of stars outside (which looked a little pixelly). The glass was also hardly noticeable. I'd recommend using one of the textures with the little fencing on top to give you a sense that something is actually separating you from the dark void of space beneath or beside you.
Overall, I'd say that this should configured more for specialized game modes rather than basic game modes like capture point. It just isn't the kind of layout and look that's conducive to being a fun attack and defend map. The only thing that could really improve it for being an attack and defend map would be chopping a huge amount of the map off so and adding much more directional arrows to help players find their way. Regardless of what you do, the texturing also needs a lot of work. I don't know if the author plans on updating this since it was a school project (that is if it was a project, I'm not sure...that's just what I heard), but it needs to find a direction to go in. Either make it a specialized mode map or start cutting down on the excess to make it an attack and defend map.
Slush - My Overall Rating: 9.0
This was a pretty solid map. I'm afraid I don't have as much to say as some of the other entries, but that may be because there's not that much room for improvement. In terms of gameplay and balance, it's as solid as you can get. I have no discrepancies with the layout of the map at all and it was a lot of fun to play. My only complaints was that it was not very aesthetically pleasing and nothing really stood out to me in it's cosmetic design. By cosmetic design I mean things like giant lasers or rockets standing out the background, blocked off espionage rooms, computers, nothing that really makes the setting of this map unique.
Right now it looks a little like the half way point between Viaduct and Gravelpit. I'm ok with the pseudo-snowy (slush obviously) conditions of the map, but I think you could do a little more towards that. You could include little splotches of snow on the roof tops and even little strings of trickling melting water combined with puddles where the snow has melted. The sky was also very bland and cloudy looking, and I'd recommend tweaking it a bit so that perhaps there is a break in the clouds where the yellowy sun is peaking out. It's sort of late-day cloudy look leaves a lot to be desired. Making it a brighter and more strongly lit map would help a lot aesthetically.
Overall, I think that nothing needs to be changed in its layout, as it probably has the most solid gameplay of anything on this list. Putting some work into making it more aesthetically pleasing will go a long way and would be sure to make this map a real popular hit.
Zig - My Overal Rating: 9.25
This was the first out of these maps that I played and I thought it was a pretty fun, albeit small map. Aesthetically it was perfect. The design of the rocky terrain and surrounding area is superb and unique. I loved it. The crystals were a little strange and out of place looking but I can live with that (perhaps some more mining equipment by it?) In terms of gameplay I have few complaints. The first point is perfect in terms of balance. The second is a little awkward. I wouldn't say it's too easy or hard to capture, but defending it and trying to attack it is really...icky. While there are side-paths they open up a fair distance from the actual point, so it doesn't make much difference which route you take. The point itself is a little claustrophobic with RED spawning right next to it with a couple small platforms on the side.
This brings me to my next point which is the map overall is a little too tightly bound. It's relatively narrow design funnels players so that there is really only one way to attack a point. Opening the area before the first point (width wise) would ease that claustrophobic feeling a little and making area surrounding the point, including the main structure larger and a little more open would make it much less awkward to attack and defend. I've heard that a second stage is already in the works for this map so I can't really say much about its replayability, though I'd definitely say it will benefit in replayability from having a second and even a third stage. Playing that same first stage over and over got a little tiresome.
Overall, I was greatly impressed by this map and look forward to the final product. The only thing that really needs to be done is open it up a little more so it is less claustrophobic. The only other thing I have to say is keep up the good work!
Clocktower - My Overall Rating: 8.9
The first impression I got from this map was it is just
dying to become a Halloween Event map. Playing it right now is like playing Cp_Manor without the presents and Horseman. This isn't a bad thing, but something like that would give it an extra edge to make it a really fun map (though I'm not really sure whether that's within your power or not, since Valve controls all the official events). That being said, it still stands as a really well designed map. The aesthetic feel is great. It has a spooky rural feeling to it that I could only compare to harvest_event. I especially like the design of the clocktower itself.
Gameplay-wise though, I have a couple complaints. While the middle point is set up just fine, the penultimate and final points (on either side of course) could use some work. When I played it I found a lot of the battle happening at the center of the map regardless of what points were captured. The only way points were actually captured were by scouts running behind enemy lines. This might just be a product of the way the game happened to be working out, but I do think that the end points are very scout reliant. The penultimate and final points are so close together that as soon as one point gets captured the final point is already getting captured which only takes a couple seconds to cap, giving red very little time to respawn let alone even move back. Badlands has this same problem to a certain extent but it is much more noticeable here. I would recommend making the final point more defensible and increasing the distance between it and the penultimate point. Decreasing spawn times on defense, particularly when the enemy team is approaching the final point, would probably help with this as well.
Overall, I enjoyed playing it, but because the battle was mainly centered around the middle point, I got bored of it after a round or two. A couple tweaks here and there will make it a perfect harvest meets 5gorge.
Croissant - My Overall Rating: 8.2
I like the direction the author took with this one. I especially like the design of the final points. However, it suffers overall from being too big. The middle point was a little awkward since there was an upper part and a lower part that could both capture the point. I often found myself standing there with a couple teammates seemingly alone when the point would suddenly get blocked inexplicably, only to find there was a spy hiding in the corner below us interrupting the capture. I realize this design was on purpose, but I found it a bit off-putting.
I got lost a couple times along the way, and it could benefit from having more directional arrows with signs indicating which point they go to. That would make the pathways much easier to follow since the map stretches out pretty wide. I'd also recommend either squeezing the map in a little tighter or perhaps adding more things in the large open expanses. I also had trouble finding healthpacks and ammo. While the map overall is fairly aesthetically pleasing, besides the final point, it really all looks the same. I'd add some more distinct things to the penultimate points to distinguish them more from the rest of the map, as well as the areas around them.
I encountered a couple bugs with the water, including graphical artifacts that may come from the cubemap or something else. I also though the water in general was a little awkward since it instant killed you on touching it. The skull signs were a nice touch but I'd recommend also putting in a small fence along some areas.
Besides these issues, the balance of the map is pretty solid and it could be a fun map with a little more work on its layout, perhaps shrinking things down a bit.
Omen - Overall Rating: 10
I have almost nothing but praise for the author of this map (some of which I gave while he was on the server). From the detail of its design, setting, layout to the gameplay and balance, it is pretty much perfect. I've enjoyed it more than any other symmetric CP map that I've ever played, including Valve's. While being symmetric the designs of both sides had unique elements, such as the ocean (with waves!!) behind one spawn and the giant dam behind the other, giving a sense that one team is actually working up hill from the ocean to the dam or vice versa. The giant electrical turbines at both final points were awesome, particularly the RED team's one. There were just so many fine details to the map that I really wanted to explore and look at everything. Really just stunning work.
Glowing compliments aside, there are a couple things that could improve it, most of which I mentioned on the server. Namely that being a complex looking and laid out map, I got a little lost at times. This could easily be remedied by adding lots of arrows and signs indicating which points are in what direction. Don't hold back. I think you could easily add at the very least an arrow sign at most corners and pathways without blocking or interrupting the aesthetic appeal of the map at all. This way people who are new to the map can easily adjust and returning players don't get disoriented when they get moved up to the forward spawn sort of below the middle point. Another small suggestion would be to make the water a little deeper by lowering the displacements below them towards the middle of the stream. A common problem that me and other players had was that we thought we could douse ourselves from fire but ended up standing about waist deep in the water while still being on fire. Making it a little deeper should do the trick.
Overall, I was amazed by this map and plan on playing it a lot more. I sincerely hope Valve picks this one up as I really want to play it more. A couple more tweaks here and there and it's perfect.
Process - My Overall Rating: 8.65
This was a pretty solid map, albeit a somewhat awkward layout. The aesthetic is fine as is, but doesn't bring much to the table. There isn't anything that stands out to me besides that cool big glass ceiling above the final points. The rest just kind of reminds me of 5-Gorge and Hydro, which I guess is what you were going for. My only real complaints with it are of the layout. This might just be me, but I really can't stand maps that bend around corners like Manor/Mountainlab. It just makes it seem really cumbersome to get where you want to go when you are coming out the left side of spawn and run into a wall and end up having to trek all the way over to the right and then back to the left again to get to the center point.
If you want to keep this layout I'd recommend making a center pathway that connected the final point to the center and penultimate points in a controlled manner. For example, you could have a pathway leaving from the left side of the final room up, down, and then connecting with that small lower room you have next to the penultimate point, which already connects with the center point. While this might require some balancing since it shortens the distance between the attacking team and the defending team's base, this would make it a little less annoying to get to the points.
EDIT: Or another idea I thought of was to just make it so that it was one way so the defending team would drop down, and the attacking team would have to go around. That way it wouldn't need to be balanced. There are other ways you could fix this by moving around the center and final points relative to the penultimate points, but those ways would require more work.
While I think you should take a lot of this into consideration, this is just the impression that I got playing it. Other might be OK with it, I don't know. I'd enjoy it more if you could find some way of making the corner points less cumbersome to get to. Overall i thought it was an alright map, and with some more work it could stand up to 5-Gorge.
EDIT: Fixed Overall Rating with the proper weights
