Where to start on this review? I played Skylight, and came away looking somewhere at my feet for my jaw.
To begin with, the bases are nothing short of a symbol of greatness. The high, arching ceilings, sculpted walls, and the frame for the "skylights" (custom, translucent ForceFields) are all incredible. It's the kind of base you don't mind getting killed while gazing at.
A short distance downhill from the base is the flagstand: one lone turret and a bowl-shaped platform hold the flag. Low, gentle hills surround the area, passing into the higher and steeper foothills which make up the boundary of the playing area.
The terrain setup makes depoyables a breeze: turrets have easy view of the entire area, and when targeted by nearly 7 turrets, even the most skilled capper will have difficulty. Just in case, however, an ELF barrel in the base turret should be enough to ground them.
the midfield is comprised of medium-sloped hills, making skiing fairly easy, even for novices in the area of foot travel. Heavy Offense can make fairly decent time across the map, and get into good possition.
That tactic, namely: Heavy Offense, will be key to the cap of the flag, and any win. It's imperitive to give the surroundings a liberal saturation of firepower to take out the depoyables, and the base turret before trying to run the gauntlet. However, an alternate strategy exists. While playing, I found that if I took a sensor jammer into the area, and activated, it would allow my fellow capper to sneak in without being shredded. This being said, there was nowhere near full capacity of players. Perhaps this tactic wouldn't work with higher numbers.
Base defense does not require much work, but you do need to keep an eye out. With a juggernaught in your base, only a few mortars are required before rendering the entire place ruinous. Even tho' there are no generators to power down, having to repair multiple inventories is a pain, and a waste of precious time.
Once you've been in the map for a while, you begin noticing things. There are many, many alternate routes to and from the bases, and if you choose the ones that take you near the boundaries, you'll notice the mountains getting higher and higher, and the terrain getting more "frosted" as you go up in elevation. This was a stroke of genius. I felt as I moved up that it really was getting colder.. and you can actually look down and see the green, lush valley, as if it were some paridise that holds humanity protected from the freezing outerworlds.
The one and only thing I would change about this map is the organics. I didn't see a tree or a bush the entire time, and a few carefully placed bits of eye candy would only serve to elevate this map into the upper echelons of gaming.
Playability is perfect, and an absolute joy at all time, from the visual aspects, to the simple tactics. Attention to detail manifests itself not only in the base structure, but in even the terrain texturing, and only takes the smallest hit from lack of organics. The map is excellently Balanced between sides, and between offense and defense. Both roles are required, but neither overtly so. Item Placement is well thought out, with the inventories being slightly in the open, but not so much that an attacker can spam from safety; he must get down into the base to actually blow things up. The Mechanics, from the forcefields to the ski routes are all detailed and layed out well. You can't help but marvel at the time and thought that must have gone into this map.
Final words: "Play it". It must be played to be experienced. I can't say enough about it.. there should be no reason in the world to be dissapointed with this map.